Anyone here taken a child car seat to Yosemite?

y_p_w

New member
It's my favorite place in the world, but they've got black bears that know how to break into cars. It's one of the few places in North America where that happens. I haven't gotten to the point yet where I've taken a child car seat there, but I remember the National Park Service would recommend that seats either be cleaned out or even taken out - because of the assorted food smells that might be trapped in the seat. That's definitely what's recommended in campgrounds, and I saw a few fellow campers with their car seats sitting on their picnic tables instead of inside their cars. The theory is that if bears can just explore one up close and personal, they'll figure that it's just a smell without any food. If they smell it inside of a car, they might just break into the car to explore what it is.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm

How to Store Your Food...

In your car

You may store food inside your car (out of sight, with windows completely closed) only during daylight hours. Do not store food in your car after dark: use a food locker. Remember to clear your car of food wrappers, crumbs in baby seats, and baby wipes. Even canned food and drinks must be removed from your car.
 
ADS

mish

New member
Oh my stars. People set out their seats knowing a bear might come into camp while they are sleeping? No.Thank.You!!
 

christineka

New member
I went to yosemete 4 years ago. We were there during daylight hours only and it was winter:) I'd simply clean out the car seats thoroughly before the trip and take snack breaks outside the car on the way there. My car seats are very clean except during road trips and then a good turn upside down is usually all that is needed to get the crumbs out. I would not set a car seat on the picnic table. I think dew on the straps would not be a good idea. Also, I've camped at yosemete many times. One time I camped with my crazy aunt. (This was back in the day when we piled on top of each other in the back of her bug or sat in the bed of a truck.) My aunt left her dishes out. The bears had fun playing with them. My parents had their cooler carried off and dumped by a bear. (It was one of those old, sturdy types and the bear couldn't get it to open.)
 

mamabear

New member
we camp in Tahoe every year. We also have a big black bear problem there. They are so aggressive that if you leave your cooler in your car with a door open while you unload, bears have entered vehicles. In broad daylight.

We get the usual bears that wander through the camps at night. It happens every time. With that being said. I've never had a problem with my car seats.

I've camped with MA's and Frontiers and boosters in all combos in my car. I keep my car clean by habit, we don't usually allow eating in the car anyway. There is always that random cheerio however. Just vacuum really good before going. If you stop to eat, eat outside the car. Keep all food outside the car when you get there and keep your car locked (yes bears CAN open car doors).

Don't worry too much. These bears are SMART.They see hundreds of campers a week. They will go after a grocery bag of food or a cooler(and there will be the dumb people who DO leave that stuff in the car despite the warnings). They aren't going to bother with a carseat that has a few crumbs in it:twocents:
 

y_p_w

New member
Ummm I'm gonna stick to hotels! LOL

No advice but just want to say you are a brave woman!

Brave woman? That would be my wife. Well - actually she was a bit scared when this guy paid one of our neighbors a visit. He's only munching on mayonnaise because that particular bear box had a jammed locking mechanism, he was pounding on every box along the way, and hit the jackpot. I couldn't manage to scare it off, so I figured that I would just take some pictures until a park ranger got there (it knew the ranger who showed up and probably knew not to mess with her). I think this one was a repeat offender. It had the radio transmitter collar and ear tags. The cavalry showed up quickly since they have antennas in the campgrounds to pick up the signal. We actually locked up our stuff and checked into a hotel that night. I would have rather stayed there, but my wife needed some time to decompress after our animal encounter.

campgroundbear.jpg


Bears don't bother me. I think they're rather cute (especially cubs) as long as you respect their space. The exception is if they're raiding a campground, and in that case you make sure they know they're unwelcome. I don't know how safe bear slobber is on a child car seat, but I suppose that's better than bear slobber on the passenger seat after it's peeled off the car door frame (thus breaking the window) with its claws.

beardamagetocar_2.jpg


I love bears. Every experience has been interesting - especially cubs. You can ask my wife about this one. She was terrified while I was excited.

cubs.jpg


I'm not sure about taking the baby with us; it might be better to skip it until he's older. A former coworker told me about taking his baby with him camping in Yosemite. His big worry was that the baby was throwing up food all the time, and that it might attract bears to the tent.

Oh my stars. People set out their seats knowing a bear might come into camp while they are sleeping? No.Thank.You!!
People have all sorts of stuff out. The important thing is supposed to be that there's no actual reward. They'll smell the grills and fire rings. People leave out stoves, pots, and other stuff. It's a campground, and it's impossible to avoid leaving stuff out that has odors.
 

mamabear

New member
oh, and we've brought the kids since they were babies. I wasn't too worried about spit up either. Bears know where the real rewards are...they aren't going to bother with barf or baby wipes unless it's an extreme desperate situation:p
 

y_p_w

New member
Don't worry too much. These bears are SMART.They see hundreds of campers a week. They will go after a grocery bag of food or a cooler(and there will be the dumb people who DO leave that stuff in the car despite the warnings). They aren't going to bother with a carseat that has a few crumbs in it:twocents:

Venturing off-topic here, but I remember going to the Rockies (Yellowstone and Grand Teton). I asked where to store the food, and was told that it was acceptable to leave it in the trunk or out of sight in the car, and to not worry about any smells. I mentioned Yosemite, and every park ranger rolled the eyes and looked glad that they didn't have to deal with those particular bears.

At Olympic and Mt Rainier NPs in Washington, we were told it was OK to leave food or coolers in plain sight in our car, and they have bears. They're just not Sierra bears.
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
Yogi set a bad precedent...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2EzOtE4u1k"]YouTube- Yogi Bear 37-Booby Trapped Bear[/ame]
 

mamabear

New member
Tahoe bears are pretty bad too. I've never camped at Yosemite, but I can imagine it's pretty bad. Probably becasue Yosemite is SO big and SO popular, You've got the most sophisticated bears at work in those conditions. The reward must be so much bigger for them.

Where we camp you see bears every day. Daylight, nighttime, whenever. You hear them come through the camps every night rummaging through your fire pit and banging on the bear boxes hoping one isn't closed all the way.Air horns go off randomly as baby cubs are in the tress above someones camp and now mama bear is pissed, rubber bullets being shot to scurry them off. Every year someone gets their car broken into because they left a box of granola bars in the backseat. People just don't want to heed the warnings. It's a $1000 fine if you leave food or soiled cooking utensils out in your camp if they aren't actively being consumed or used, yet every year there is that campsite that you see has coolers out while they are down at the beach:rolleyes:. The bears get the good stuff, and usually don't have to mess with breaking in cars;)

Sounds like a blast, have fun!
 

y_p_w

New member
Tahoe bears are pretty bad too. I've never camped at Yosemite, but I can imagine it's pretty bad. Probably becasue Yosemite is SO big and SO popular, You've got the most sophisticated bears at work in those conditions. The reward must be so much bigger for them.

Where we camp you see bears every day. Daylight, nighttime, whenever. You hear them come through the camps every night rummaging through your fire pit and banging on the bear boxes hoping one isn't closed all the way.Air horns go off randomly as baby cubs are in the tress above someones camp and now mama bear is pissed, rubber bullets being shot to scurry them off. Every year someone gets their car broken into because they left a box of granola bars in the backseat. People just don't want to heed the warnings. It's a $1000 fine if you leave food or soiled cooking utensils out in your camp if they aren't actively being consumed or used, yet every year there is that campsite that you see has coolers out while they are down at the beach:rolleyes:. The bears get the good stuff, and usually don't have to mess with breaking in cars;)

Sounds like a blast, have fun!

I'm not planning on camping any time soon. The baby is on the way, and the earliest I would think of doing this is maybe 2011.

I've camped in Tahoe before - over at Fallen Leaf Campground. They didn't seem to have a huge problem with bears. I heard that Camp Richardson Campground is bear central though.

I was just curious as to whether or not anyone bothers to take out the child car seats.
 

skitle1802

New member
We went when DD1 and DS2 were almost 3 and almost 2yo. We had 2 old car seats, very crumby. The bears went after the easy stuff, DH's sister and her boyfriend left their box open and the bears ate their vegan stash.
 

monstah

New member
In my first reply I wrote "Sounds like a blast!" but I was just being polite. ;) Every time I see this thread title, my stomach turns over and I have a mild panic attack. I need to log off. :p :p
 

mamabear

New member
I'm not planning on camping any time soon. The baby is on the way, and the earliest I would think of doing this is maybe 2011.

I've camped in Tahoe before - over at Fallen Leaf Campground. They didn't seem to have a huge problem with bears. I heard that Camp Richardson Campground is bear central though.

I was just curious as to whether or not anyone bothers to take out the child car seats.

Ahhh no baby yet, gotcha;)

We camp near Camp Richardson, further up the mountain in DL Bliss or Emerald Bay. The campgrounds back to the open woods and the bears come down the hill like grocery shopping.

It's really nice up there, If someone can't get a Yosemite reservation, I'd recommend South Tahoe as a good back up:)
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I've never thought about this, but given that we're going to be heading to all these places soon, I'm glad you brought it up.

We typically don't eat in the car, but we'll bring snacks on long trips. Typically they're non-messy snacks, but with kids, everything is messy. I'd also probably just shake/vacuum the seats before getting there and then not worry about it.
 

scoutingbear

New member
We camp in Kings Canyon/Sequoia areas every year (Sierras, south of Yosemite) (well, not this year...there is an elephant due during our vacation week). If we are in Kings Canyon, we don't take the seats out. If we are in Sequoia, we do. Reasoning is that the bears most aren't going to mess with it when the see it up close/smell it and realize there is no food to be gotten from it. But they do break into cars just because they see the seats if they have gotten food out of them before...that's how conditioned they are.

Yes, we tent camp. yes, we bring the kids. C was under a year old his first trip. Heck, when I was 4 I slept "under the stars" outside my parent's tent and a bear came wandering through the campground! (I never saw it, but my dad was still up and watched it walk right by.)
 

christineka

New member
Yes, we tent camp. yes, we bring the kids. C was under a year old his first trip. Heck, when I was 4 I slept "under the stars" outside my parent's tent and a bear came wandering through the campground! (I never saw it, but my dad was still up and watched it walk right by.)

Once we were camping in a south Tahoe campground. I was 10-12 years old and had my own tent. My brothers were in another tent and my parents with the dogs in yet another. In the middle of the night, first night a bear came treading down the path to my tent and roared an enormous roar. I have always been the type of person that needed to go to the bathroom at least once per night. That night I did not sleep, but stayed up trying to hold it and being scared that a bear would kill me. I did not like that camping trip. Since then I have always preferred a campsite near the bathroom. I could get there and back quickly.
 

y_p_w

New member
We camp in Kings Canyon/Sequoia areas every year (Sierras, south of Yosemite) (well, not this year...there is an elephant due during our vacation week). If we are in Kings Canyon, we don't take the seats out. If we are in Sequoia, we do. Reasoning is that the bears most aren't going to mess with it when the see it up close/smell it and realize there is no food to be gotten from it. But they do break into cars just because they see the seats if they have gotten food out of them before...that's how conditioned they are.

Yes, we tent camp. yes, we bring the kids. C was under a year old his first trip. Heck, when I was 4 I slept "under the stars" outside my parent's tent and a bear came wandering through the campground! (I never saw it, but my dad was still up and watched it walk right by.)
I took that photo of mama bear with 2 cubs visible (there was another up a tree) at Redwood Mountain Grove at Kings Canyon NP. It was magical. We'd finished about 5 miles of a 6 mile loop when I heard a little rustling and told my hiking companion (now wife) to be quiet and look out for what it might be. Then past the trees we saw these bears. Then we got startled by the sound of cub #3 and its claws digging up a tree right in front of us. We might have been about 100 feet away and we didn't approach or crowd it, so I don't believe we broke any rules. We stayed on the trail during the entire encounter, although going off trail is legal.

She was terrified even though the bear didn't seem interested in us. I assessed the situation and figured that there was no danger, and started taking the pictures. I would have liked more, but mama bear just walked away with cubs behind. That was the first and only time I'd ever seen cubs in the wild. I've seen plenty of adult and juvenile bears before and since, mostly when they were going through human encampments.
 

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