Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Bears At Horseshoe Meadow Campground?

I will be arriving very late at Horseshoe Meadow. I would like to just park my car and sleep inside with my food, etc. so I do not disturb others who are already sleeping in their tents. My reason for this is my experience last year at Horseshoe. I was awakened several times by people arriving at all hours who subsequently walked right next to my tent, talked noisily, banged around with the bear boxes, and shined their lights into my tent as they set up their camps.

Unlike the people I encountered last year, I would like to be considerate of others around me. However, if the consensus is that I need to put my food in the bear box, I will try to do it as quietly as possible.
Thanks for your input!
Brian

I've seen bears there. The guy that runs the horse packing outfit made it sound like they showed up regular. I don't know how agressively they go after goodies.

You're right about noisy. There's also some pulloffs before you get there, or you might try the upper lot.

Just use the bear bins at the trail head instead of the campground. That way you don't have to worry about a bear messing with your car, and you wont bother any campers.

Spent a few days there last week getting used to the alitude, I personally hiked for hours around the areas surrounding the campsites, never saw a single bear print!
Doesnt mean they dont go there but none have been for awhile.
One camper even left a cooler out because the bear canisiters were full, matter of fact every campsite was full, something I have rarely seen.
If there are a lot of people head up the hill in your car to the equestrian campground, the campsites are right next to where you park and when we stopped on our way out there were only 3 people staying there vs the walk in area being packed

I don't know if you are backpacking and all your food and other scented items are in your bear canister? if so just leave your bear canister outside of your car. I would never leave any food or scented irems in a car while sleeping in it or just the food alone in bear country.

Thanks for the good ideas! I'll leave the bear can outside and put the other things in the trailhead box.
Brian

Think about using ear plugs and a sleeping mask. People show up at all hours and act like people looking for a bear box and a place to erect a tent, like Whitney Portal this is a fact of life.

I rarely have a problem sleeping at Whitney Portal or Horseshoe Meadow because of a bit of vinyl foam in my ears.

My wife and I camped there last week prior to hiking the Cottonwood Lakes trail and didn't see any bear. People are noisy there as they are everywhere. We had arrivals at 3 am who thought it was noon time. Oh well. Just don't be like them. To bad more people don't watch this blog. My concern was all the junk in the bear boxes other than food. Duffell bags, BBQ's and other things. Wrong. Don't tempt the bears with scented items in the car. It's not worth it.