this question is mostly for bivy users or those who have to store their packs outside of a tent/vestibule...what methods do you use to protect your pack from the elements? I suppose the easiest method would be to draw a pack cover over it as best as possible and prop it up on a rock against a tree with the open side down.

Other creative methods?

I've used a garbage bag. In the morning the pack was under several inches of snow but was dry. It's a cheap method but it works.

Yep, garbage bag.

I also go with a garbage bag. I serves so many functions. I line my pack with it, then use it to step out of my hammock. I can use it to cover my pack in weather. Maybe we could start a new thread for other uses of a garbage bag. Oh yeah! It will hold garbage. LOL

Trash compactor bag. Its thicker than the regular garbage bags.

I use the big 50-gallon contractor-grade trash bags. Really tough and plenty big for use as a poncho. You wouldn't believe how many of the Boy Scouts in my troop always forget their rain gear. You can use them as waterproof sleeping bag covers, you can store firewood in them to keep it dry, you can split it open and use them as emergency shelters.

They have lots of uses.

I line the inside of my pack with a compactor bag so as to keep my sleeping bag and clothes dry. At night, if using only a bivy, I put my pack inside the compactor bag and this keeps it dry and clean.
Oz

I consider small critters to be one of the "elements" so I suspend my pack from a tree branch if possible. No personal experience but I've read stories of empty packs being gnawed on just for the salt. If rain is expected I cover it with my poncho, taking care to secure it against the wind.

Or......if I'm using my Vapor Trail the pack becomes part of my sleep system. It goes under my legs and a 3/4 length pad does the rest of the job.

Another vote for a garbage bag. When my pack is inside one the little critters around the PNW never bother it at all. Keeps it dry and safe. And the bag can be diverted to other uses during a hike.

Yes, I too vote for the garbage bag. I usually carry a couple of them and covering my pack at night is one of the primary uses. At night I try to make a small harness for my pack and that goes over the pack and garbage bag. I have a carabiner at the top and with this I can hoist my pack up in the air and I almost always do this too...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!!!

I'm not a bivy user, but I'm a hammocker, and in canadian parks I freqently just hang my pack on the bear hang with...

*ding* another vote for the garbage bag. On the bear hang
I just poke a hole through the top to bring the carry strap through to hang it from.

I won't leave my pack on the ground even when not worried about bears because of the possibility of little critters chewing on it. so even when not hanging on a bear hang I'll
hang the pack in a tree with a garbage bag over it.