Bear Canisters:
In the Eastern High Peaks you need to use a bear canister if you are staying overnight. Bears have learned over several generations that people = food. In the area of the NPT, bears are hunted and are still afraid for the most part of hikers. Not all bear proof canisters are in fact “bear-proof”.
Bear canisters “currently” aren’t required on the NPT, even at its northern end in the High Peaks. The reason is that none of the bears who frequent the NPT have been successful in getting food from hikers. NPT bears for the most part are afraid of humans and disappear almost as soon as they are spotted.
Please help to keep the NPT bears under control. Use a proper bear proof container or hang your food and follow good sense in keeping food and other items such as toiletries out of reach of bears.
Here is a good food hanging strategy to follow.
If you are going to hang your food, get a waterproof bag big enough to hold all your food and toiletries. Use a 100 foot piece of nylon parachute chord, it is strong but light weight. Find two trees about 30 to 40 feet apart with branches about 20 to 30 feet off the ground. Use a rock tied on one end to throw the line over one branch. Tie it off to the trunk of the tree. Take the other end and do the same thing only leave the end loosely tied around the tree. Find the area of the line that will be approx. mid-point when hauled up and tie a loop. When you are ready to hoist your food connect your food bag to the line using a carabiner but also insert the carabiner into the loop in the line. The weight of the bag should be on the line and not the loop. The loop simply keeps the food bag from sliding when hoisting it up. Now hoist the one end that was loose but leave the line slack. The bag should still be about 20+ feet off the ground so a bear can’t reach it easily. The reason for keeping the line slack is to make it difficult for squirrels or chipmunks to walk the line to the food bag. When you hang a food bag directly down from a limb, these little critters can easily slide down the line and get your food. Keeping it slack and using the two tree method generally will keep you food safe from squirrels and chipmunks as well as bears.