Blue Lakes Camping - Bear Proof Food?

Planning on camping at Blue Lakes in a couple of weeks. Do I need to plan on taking rope to hang my food? I hadn't ever heard that it was really bear country but wanted to check so I can take the right gear.

Thanks

When I was there during the first week of august we saw two bears along the trail. Both were just below lower blue lake. One was a mama cinnamon bear and the other was presumably her cub. We saw them within minutes of each other near the waterfall below the lake. Both were very frightened of humans and ran from us. I would say, take a rope! And don't have any food in your tent!

What Phillip said. Since having a black bear ravage my campsite several years ago I hang my food nearly everywhere I pack into and never have food or anything that smells like food in my tent. I used to cook fresh trout in camp and that practice has ended. I think trout are second only to bacon as bears favorites. Catch and release only. Probably the only exceptions I make are above timberline. I use a light cord and it doesn't weigh much.

In all my years (50+ year old codger here) of camping, hiking and backcounrty fun here in Colorado I've never seen a bear. A situation I'll probably lament until I get the crap scared out of me by one. I was climbing at Woods Quarry behind NCAR about 10 years ago and heard a guy shouting from down below that he's startled a bear and cub but that's the closest I come.

First, can I ask where the Blue lakes you guys are talking about is?

Second, does anyone here see bears very often here in Colorado?

Russ
www.AlpineGalleria.com

Russ - Blue Lakes is in Southwest CO. Near the Ouray/Telluride area in the San Juans. Other side of the pass from Yankee Boy Basin.

Roger/Phillip - How much rope do you typically take to hang your food?

I put all my food and any trash that smells like food into a stuff sack. I keep my cookware pretty clean and don't hang it. I tie the cord to the stuff sack closure cord. I'm not sure how long my cord is, but figure if I can reach the food bag so can a bear. So probably go for a limb at least 10 feet or more high. So maybe 30 feet of cord. Finding just the right limb to hang from is always a small challenge, but also try to get the food a few feet away from the tree trunk.

Russ, bears tend to forage at night time so sometimes they are there, you just don't see them. You know those little rustles you hear out side the tent in the middle of the night...

My bear encounter was in the Wind Rivers backcountry of Wyo. I think once you get away from public coumpgrounds and human habitations, the odds of a bear encounter are pretty slim, but the precautions are easy to follow.

Just saw this in the Denver Post: bear attack in a campsite above Crater Lake, Maroon Bells.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18723627

So, it appears this year with the late winter, the food supplies have been limited, and precautions should be taken in areas that have not been known for bear activity.

ALWAYS use bear-safe practices. Period. Failing to do so is simply inviting trouble for yourself and/or the bear.

Luke, I always carry 50 ft. of para-cord as part of my emergency kit. That does the trick (with some practice). But for all their bulk and weight, canisters are just plain easier and work much better above treeline.

I might add that I will also carry a small canister of pepper spray when car camping and sometimes when backpacking. I put it inside the tent at night time. You might notice from the articles Bill linked to that the bear encounters occured in the dark of night while the campers were sleeping. The local news said that one of the campers had an empty food bag in his backpack inside the tent that may have attracted the bear.