Bearicade Gear Report

“Surprisingly, got my Bear-i-cade on Friday, just a few days after I ordered it. Wasn't expecting it, so hurridly packed & headed out for a weekend BP trip in the Santa Cruz mountains.

LOVED it for a lot of reasons...
1. A place to sit.
2. My crackers were intact
3. I no longer worried about my "smellables", where did I pack my toothpaste, etc?

And a NEW idea, contributed by my BP mates this weekend... I no longer have an excuse NOT to bring deoderant!”

“Til you wake up with a bear licking your pits :)

Congrats ...I luv my Bearikade!”

“Where were you backpacking, wanderer? Who cares about the gear report - let's have a trip report!!”

“Use the deoderant on the bears. They stink! Usually you can smell them before you see them. LOL”

“Welcome to the bearikade world. It's a super piece of gear. I bring it even if I know I won't need it because it's a great "stuff sack" for my entire kitchen.

Geobeet will probably be posting soon with examples from my upcoming novel, "1001 uses for the Bearikade."”

“Make that 1002 uses. The lid is so shiny that Windwalker and myself use it as a mirror when scraping our noggins.”

“So can someone show some video of a bear going to town on those bear cans????

8)”

“You actually use deoderant on the trail?!?!”

“You don't?”

“I don't want some bear licking my arm pits!”

“They eat carrion, do you think they'd turn down smelly pits?”

“Sometimes I do becuase my smell is well just full of love.

8)”

“Oh s#!t, here we go.”

“You've been drinking again haven't you Mikey!”

“I, like the dude, do not use B.O. stabilizer on the trail.

However I do rinse off whenever possible.”

“Ya I have!

8P”

“Dang Pennsy, and the proofs went off to the printer's already for 1001 uses. Now we'll have to reset the thing and the cost will come out of your royalties, not mine.

Make that 1002 uses, not 1001 uses Bubba. Yeah, Pennsy blew it, not me. So wizz in his spring, not mine! Harrrumph!”

“I took a bath once at Ethon Pond in New Hampshire (AT trip) and some fish turned belly up. I hear the moose still won't go in there.”

“Is it a superfund site now?”

“This sounds cool.What does it lok like?How much?
There's lotsa bears around here.
Does it come with the 1001/1002 uses manual?”

“At Marty B's request...Big Basin Redwoods State Park Trip report:

Have been on the Skyline-to-the-sea trail about 4 times now. LOVE trekking thru the Giant Redwoods, but never liked the fact that there were so many people around. Solution... go when most people (read: casual hikers) aren't out.

Anyway, headed out Sat AM, took the traditional route from Big Basin HQ toward Waddell Beach. For those who aren't familiar w the area, it is AWESOME AWESOME. You hike through a couple mile long stand of ancient forest (we're talking 2,000+ year old redwood trees), down to the Pacific Ocean. About 14 miles I think, nobody beat me up on mileage, please. Anyway, we had the normal excellent hike on the way down to our campground at Twin Redwoods BP site Sat Nite. Saw a Bobcat Sat nite creep up to the stream we were camped by, very very cool.

Sun AM we woke up, headed up trail with the idea we'd discuss taking the McCrary Ridge Trail back to HQ. On previous hikes we'd done the Sunset Trail, so were up for something new. The McCrary Ridge Trail meant climbing from 0' (remember, we were at the ocean, so we were literally 0'elevation!) up to Mt. McAbee overlook at 1730' over about 2 mile trail. Hmm...1,000 ft/mile for nearly 2 miles, quite a hike!

We started up the McCrary trail about 9:15 AM. The first hour or so you're in forest so deep that you can't take a bearing or even have your GPS penetrate the leaf-ceiling to know where you are. Hiking through this dense a forest setting was somewhat un-nerving for those of us more accustomed to being able to see for miles & miles & shoot bearings off mountain peaks in the Sierra!

Anyway, about 11/2 miles in, we came across a lone person (hiker?), who obviously was a burnout from the 60's druggie crowd in Santa Cruz / Northern CA.

He had a bicycle (?) and a cardboard box (we think with a sleeping bag inside), and was "contemplating" his direction.

I was with two other people, and advised both that we should move on with all possible speed, which we did. I looked back to see if the "hiker" was following us, and saw him ripping the bark off a fallen tree and eating the bugs underneath for lunch. YUMMM

After leaving our lone encounter behind, we completed the trail back to park HQ. In the future, we would recommend that anyonee that wants to do the Skyline-pto-the-Sea trail to go down to the ocean via the McCrary trail (EXCELLENT scenery all the way!), and return via the traditional Skyline trail past Berry Falls, and take advantage of the walk thru the giant redwoods on the way home.”

“Just like Chernobyl!”

“Oh Geo - what am I going to do with you? Save that use for the 2nd Edition, and so on.

And you are in the literary biz? I might have to find a new agent. Hey CMB?”

“

Bearikade Site”

“Well it's not a movie but you get the idea.”

“i got the Expedition for my birthday, hee hee! haven't needed it yet (macho settlers killed off all the bears in my local hills many years ago), but i've had fun seeing how much food i can cram into it. (a lot!) i'm so happy i'll never have to carry another $#@%! Garcia canister again.”

“Cool place wanderer! I've dayhiked Big Basin twice (Berry Creek Falls "Loop"). I've always wanted to backpack there.

Can't afford the Bearicade...my Garcia has served me well so far.”

“oops... I guess that would be 1003
unless you guys have come up with an extra 1,000 uses .”

“Thanks, wanderer. I aborted a trip at Big Basin in November after an hour or so of heavy rain. My 7-year-old and I were headed to the Sunset camp, but had enough of the rain and turned back. We may try to get down that way again sometime this spring, although baseball and other stuff may take up too much time!”

“Cool Bearicade Wind Walker.I want one. :~)”

“Thanks Trekkngirl!”

“No way WW! Did you really put that on your 'kade?

sing with me: You're so vain, you probably think this bearikade is about you, don't you?

But it is another use... Geobeet, stop the presses on the 2nd Edition.

BTW - great trip report wanderer!”

“I'm not the only one...when you camp with a bunch of TTers with bear canisters... it nice to be able to spot your canister.
You should see Snow Nymphs ;)”

“My Bearikade is still a plain jane.”

“Kathy ...maybe you could type your name in Wingdings and put that on your bearikade :) Or you could put the words to WLD's new song on your canister.”

“ok, I will to order mine tonight. Maybe I will get it before this weekends trip.”

“My top is not as fancy as Windwalkers, but the sides . . . ”

“You're sure he wasn't a burnout stockbroker from the 80s... ?”

“Well, it is on it's way! Now for the art work! LOL”

“Maybe I'll paint some bear taunts on the side of my Garcia: "Hey bears, you suck! Just try to get into this!"”

“Like the cracks on the sides of the bombs in Dr. Strangelove, LOLOL


"Nice Try, Yogi!"

"Better Luck Next Time, Boo Boo!"”

“The Bearikade is very cool, but ouch very expensive!!”

“I have always used a waterproof roll top bag for my food bag but have always wanted something better.I have seen the ursack,they say a bear cant tear into it but you might as well take a sledgehammer to all your munchies and have pot luck the entire trip after a bear mauls the hell out of it. the garcia looks ok as does the bearikade.I,m going to Alaska this summer and would like something better than what I now use.any personal experiences with these products will help. Also a note on deodorants,a variety of products made for deer hunters,scent killer soaps and deodorants are available at any k mart, wal mart type stores,bowhunters take that a bit farther as they have a mouthwash available also,would make a great christmas gift for some friends of mine!When in bear country the only thing I wont take is citronilla,the idea of a bear rubbing itself all over me is a bit unsettleing, but would make a great photo!”

“The only time I've seen bears is when someone in the group hangs their food. I've had bears come into camp and walk right past the Bearikade. They know they can't get in it so why bother. Bears are smart.”

“I want to get a Bearikade,but on the site I couldn't find a phone # to order.I'm not to sure about this online buying.Do you have such a #? Like your artwork on yours.”

“That's the phone # inside the lid of the Bearikade.
It's also on their Contact Us page...”

“Thanks!Wind Walker.I'm in business..”

“Dang...to bad I'm not on commission. ;)”

“It arrived! I ordered it yesterday and it arrived today. Hmmmm, now on to the art work! Any ideas?”