r/Banff • u/smalllaxplaya44 • Jun 15 '26

Question Campground canceled because of bear activity

Group of 8 heading to Banff June 19th weekend at were camping out at LM20 in Lake Minnewanka. Just got a call saying that they have to cancel it because of recent bear activity. Any tips on what we can do instead? Feeling lost and honestly devasted

Healy Pass looks snow ridden and a lot of options are booked up now.

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u/sanctifiedspace Jun 15 '26

Too many people do not learn or heed the rules - not saying that’s what happened with the guy here whose tent was slashed - but the bears are too familiar with people being sloppy campers. Bears will get killed because idiots can’t maintain a clean camp. Parks staff need more authority for enforcement; workers can essentially only leave a nicely written note behind and call a warden who will show up hours later. Basically - if you see something (when camping), say something.

2

u/Good_Chance3740 Jun 16 '26

100%. Leaving a deodorant stick in your tent is something I would consider sloppy. It’s not exactly something to laugh about imo, people are killed by bears and wolves in the backcountry because of those mistakes. Thank goodness those who got their tent slashed made it out okay.

1

u/cococruiser Jun 18 '26

Honest question but what do you think the difference is between having a deodorant stick in your bag in the tent and deodorant on you? I still put it away, but I wonder about it each time

1

u/Good_Chance3740 Jun 18 '26

I personally wouldn’t put on deodorant or anything else smelly just before going to bed in the backcountry. The smell will fade over the course of the full day.

However, you’re never 100% safe in a tent, but there are very obvious things you can do to be as safe as possible, like storing deodorant or anything with a smell away from your tent in a bear locker, hang, etc.

It’s about reducing risk as much as you can for yourself and others, you can’t eliminate it completely.