Mount Whitney Wildlife--bears, deer and attack Marmots

Whitney Wildlife

Bears are definitely the most talked about wildlife around Mount Whitney. There were warnings everywhere suggesting that the bears are lurking behind every tree, just waiting for campers to leave food unattended. In this picture, Audra is practicing her defensive moves, in case a bear does attack.

The Forest Service (the same people who came up with the Wag Bag) require all hikers to carry bear canisters in which to store all food and items with a distinctive scent. The canisters are heavy and unwieldy and, in general, a pain to carry.

We tried our best to follow all the rules, and we left all our extra food in bear-proof lockers at the trailhead. Even so, when Rose returned to her car, she found a giant rebuke threatening fines and imprisonment for leaving a bear-worthy item in her car. The item? That old bear favorite: contact solution!

If you look very carefully, you can see a deer in these pictures. She wandered by as we ate our lunch on the first day of the trip.

When we got to Trail Camp, we quickly realized that our bear canisters should have been called Marmot canisters. These pesky creatures were very interested in eating any food we would share. They constantly circled our tents looking for a treat.

The Marmots were chubby and well-fed.

Audra was afraid the Marmies (as she called them) would carry her off into the night so Pat and I played a little joke on her and Raul after they went to bed. We snuck up on them and started scratching at their tent. However, when they jumped back in shock, we started giggling hysterically and the ruse was over.