Smelly Old Food in Yosemite National Park

April 4th, 2006 chelle2

I went on a week-long trip last fall. It was both the worst and best trip that I’ve ever been on for many reasons. But since this is a worst trip ever competition I’ll focus on one of the “worst trip” moments.

A friend and I drove to Yosemite National Park in September.  For any of your familiar with Yosemite, you’ll know that due to local black bear populations all visitors are required to store food and scented items in metal “bear boxes” which lock out bears, and reduce human to bear contact.  Since wilderness campers and backpackers can’t be expected to haul 30 pound metal boxes in their packs, an ingenious item called the “bear canister” was created.  Backpackers are required to store any of their food in these thick plastic, black, airtight canisters that lock out bears as well air, and lock in the scent.

My friend and I decided that it would be fun to go wilderness camping for a night.  Following protocol we checked out a bear canister, stuck our food and chap stick in the canister, stuck the canister in my backpack, and continued on our merry way. Now some may say that I have strange taste for camping food, but I’ll admit I find hot dogs, cheese, and hard boiled eggs to be excellent and tasty sources of protein during a long hike.  With these food items in mind, I’d like to remind you that said canister is thick, black, and airtight. I’d also like to remind you that the name of this story is “smelly old food.”

We went on a shorter than planned hike, camped out under the stars, and decided in the morning to, instead of eating our food, hike back into civilization and get pancakes. This would have been a great decision if we’d remembered to take the food mentioned above out of the bear canister.

During the next couple of days we stayed with my granola sister and her family who took us kayaking and climbing.  It was truly a great trip.  We slept at their house and ate their food, leaving ours (drum roll please) in the thick… black… airtight… bear canister in the back of the hot car under the hot September sun.

We didn’t leave the park until the absolute latest time possible (the day before classes started again). So by the time we got to the Ranger station to return the canister it was dark and quiet.  And by the time we opened the canister it was smelly and rotten. Imagine 4 day old, unrefrigerated eggs, cheese, and hot dogs and multiply it by about 500. 

It became apparent that I was about to experience a new “first.” My first time ever to immerse my hand in rotten food (yes it was warm) and somehow remove a decent sized bag of nastiness (yes it was oozy) from a lid-opening about the size of my fist. (and yes my hand smelled through the next couple of rest stops) 

About halfway through the process a ranger stopped in to check up on the stopped vehicle in the empty parking lot by the empty station in the dark.  We let him know that all was fine, and I held back my gag reflex so he would believe us.

Fellow campers- learn from my mistake. Don’t let this happen to you.        

Entry Filed under: Whatever!, Tips and How-To's, "Worse Trip Ever" Comp.