Hey Ya'll,

I've been wondering this for a while and I figured I might as well see what some more experienced people thought on the subject. I was recently out for a long weekend on Grandfather Mtn. here in western NC. The park is somewhat known for bear activity and many of its backcountry campsites are closed occasionally due to marauding bears. I usually go solo and cook only ramen at night and oatmeal in the morning, in my shelter with the flap open, and never use a bear hang. Ive been doing this for nearly 5 years in black bear country without an incident. The worst thing that has happened was early in my travels, a mouse ate a hole in my GORP bag when I accidentally left it out. My strategy is to "mark my territory" around my shelter, and I keep all my food deep in my pack wrapped in my rain proof contractor garbage bag. I am also extremely anal about spilling food and crumbs in my shelter and I keep it very tidy. I dont camp in campsites, I spend very little time at camp, and usually hike right up to dark, eat, sleep, and then get back on the trail very early. Am I crazy thinking this is safe? Since the mouse incident, Ive gone to extremes to make sure I dont leave any morsel of food where I camp and I havent had an issue with any animal since. I understand that out West the bears are not as scared of people and can be very aggresive when it comes to people food, so hangs are very neccessary. But in areas where bears are sparse, still shy, or non-existent, should you still hang your food?

My thinking is that since I go solo, cook very little, and am anal about my cleanliness while eating, no bears/animals should come looking for some dinner because there arent any smells to attract them. Maybe Ive been very lucky and am pushing it. In my experience, its alot easier to set up my shelter, boil a little water and ramen and go to sleep without messing with the bear hang. Any thoughts??