Bears, Food, and Your Camp: The Grown-Up Version

You're going to see bears in British Columbia. That's a feature. The goal is that every sighting stays a good story, and that comes down to how you run your camp, not how brave you feel.

The kitchen rule

Bears don't want you, they want your cooler. The truck solves most of it: food, garbage, and anything scented lives inside the rig, always, no exceptions. The expedition truck is the best bear locker ever built. Cook downwind of where you sleep when you're tenting away from the truck, and keep the fish smell off your sleeves.

Camp habits that work

Garbage sealed and stowed the moment you're done. Grey water handled properly, never dumped at camp. Dog food counts as food. The campfire blankets stay smoke-scented, not bacon-scented. None of this is hard, all of it matters.

If one visits

Most encounters end with the bear leaving first. Make yourself known, speak firmly, group up, and give it a lane to exit. The bear spray in every truck rides where you can reach it, and orientation covers when and how it's used. Respect over fear: that's the whole posture.

The bigger picture

We run by Leave No Trace and Tread Lightly standards because habituated bears die of our laziness. Clean camps keep the backcountry open, the wildlife wild, and your grandkids' trips as good as yours.