Bear proofing you camp requires planning before you hit the trail as you'll need some special, yet inexpensive, gear to do it properly. Exactly what you need to pack depends on the terrain you'll be traveling in. Mountainous, treeless terrain requires different bear-proofing equipment than forested terrain where there are plenty of large trees to utilize.

GENERAL RULES OF THUMB

Set up your camp so that your sleeping area is upwind and two to three hundred feet from your cooking, washing, and food storage area.

Have some idea of the bear activity in the areas you will be traveling. Contact the agency managing the land, or, once you get to the trailhead, the kiosk should have such information. Knowing ahead of time, however, helps determine all of the bear proof supplies you'll need and whether bear proofing facilities like bear poles or bear boxes are provided.

Of course, you don't want to leave food out for the bears and you don't want to keep food in your tent or sleeping bag. Yes, you'll have to kick that late night snacking habit!

The key is smell, not taste. You need to "proof" anything that is or smells like food. This includes the empty packages, the pots, pans, and utensils, and the clothes you cooked in.

FORESTED AREAS

In areas with suitable trees, bear "bagging" is the best method for bear proofing your foodstuffs. In a nutshell, this involves placing all the items with food-like odor in a bag and hanging the bag from a tree. However, there's a little more to it.

Bears are large, smart animals that can climb trees. In order to keep them out of the bear bag, you've got to hang it properly. The ideal is to hang the bag at least ten feet off the ground and at least four feet from the nearest tree trunk. You can do this either by hanging the bag from a line suspended between two trees, or by finding a lonely branch that allows you to hang the bag that far away from the trunk, but that also doesn't have other branches around it. Here's a good illustration of a couple bear bagging options:

http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/t raining/bearbag.shtml

There are bear bagging kits available. Essentially, they contain a tough bear bag, synthetic rope, and carabiners or clips. See http://store.everestgear.com/3 71486.html for an example. You can easily make a bear bagging kit. You'll need:

75 feet (23 meters) or more of a synthetic cord or paraline approximately quarter inch or 6mm in diameter (this is standard paraline);

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