Day 11: Hunting a bear can.

No time to sleep on this day zero! We have a lot to do!

But first, a breakfast muffin and a coffee. Next stop: Dollar General and Ingles for a full restock. After this, we went to the Outdoor 76 supplier with all of our purchases. With the idea of ​​putting my purchases in my new bear tin!

Just one small problem…they don’t sell the large bottles, only the smaller sizes. I tried to fit it all into the smaller can, but no luck. The small sizes only work if you bring a lot of freeze-dried meals or super calorie-efficient foods, but I like to bring cakes and stuff. So just the permethrin. We need some protection from ticks before they get us.

We returned to the hostel, «permethrinated» our clothes and tried to call the other supplier. But we couldn’t reach them. So, there’s nothing to do except walk there. It’s 1.2 miles away, but US towns and cities aren’t made for walking, so it’s a 3-mile walk. We’re not too excited about this, but for a can of bears it’s worth it!

But… it’s all in vain. They didn’t have the one we needed. Defeated we had lunch at McDonald’s, making another plan. Walmart might have one! We could get an Uber there. But bad luck, none in the area. We can’t walk there. There’s nothing else to do except go back and buy a bear hanging kit from Outdoor 76 and learn how to make a PCT hanger myself, until we can get a big bear canister.

I did get new shoes though! Spoiler alert: they are amazing. Best purchase so far! I told you before that I had some problems with my pinky toe. After trying bandaging them, wearing socks, and even both at the same time, it still didn’t fix it. I needed a little more room in the toe box and a little cushioning doesn’t hurt. These new Altra Olympus 275 seem to have solved my foot problems!

Relax…it’s vacation after all.

After a long day chasing the elusive can of bears, we were done with the day, even the week. Both my dad and I were sick of the whole bear thing. We just want to walk here and enjoy the country. But we are so busy with secondary things like bears and bear safety, that it tired us more than we expected.

We realized it when we were at the Lazy Hiker brewery, drinking a beer and watching live music. We realized that we have been unlucky, but that is why we do it. After all, it’s vacation. We really want to finish the whole tour, but the most important thing is that we enjoy it. And that’s what we’re doing right now.

Health!

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.