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Sierra Nevada Bear Boxes
Details for WC10

Updated 21 Jun 2008, see revision history for details.
CORRECTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED! contact Steve Eckert.
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For bear box data, including maps and location instructions, you can jump to:
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    Bear box 'WC10'
    (Middle Rae Lake)

    Detail Map: (scroll down for directions, waypoints, and area map)

    1. WC10 is 2 standard boxes, at about 10600 feet, in the Woods Creek, Northern Rae Lakes Loop region.

    2. Note: There is a ranger station between WC090 and WC10, with a sign on the trail pointing uphill from a spot roughly 100 yards northwest of the cabin that shows as a dot on the USGS maps.

    3. Directions from Steve Eckert, with GPS waypoint, 2007:
      Laura's description is right but I'll add coordinates and clarification: There is a metal sign on the trailing pointing toward the lake and the bear box camping area. The boxes are about 40 yards from the lake in a large open sandy area where high impact indicates continuous camping. One box is on the west edge of the clearing against the east side of a huge rock. The other box is 30 yards away on the east side of the clearing, under some trees. Campsites continue some distance north along lake, but there are no more boxes there. There is no longer a box at Upper Rae Lake, which appears to explain why there are now two boxes (and lots of impact) at Middle Rae Lake.

    4. Directions from Peter Stephens (NPS), March 2006:
      Use of these lockers is only available to through hikers on the PCT and JMT. People who are starting or ending their trips in either Sequoia NP, Kings Canyon NP,or Inyo NF and passing through this area are required to carry portable food storage canisters and all food and scented items must fit into the canisters. The public [should not] be misled into counting on food storage locations that are not available to them. [Editor's Note: Peter attached the document 'Special Public Use Limits and Closures for 2006' which does not prohibit locker use by non-through-hikers, but does require carrying a canister.]

    5. Directions from Laura Civiello, Aug 2000:
      Two boxes together in a large open space on the east shore of Middle Rae Lake.

    6. Directions from Mineral King ranger info sheet, dated 1991:
      Two boxes, one on the each east shore of the upper TWO Rae Lakes.

    7. Find waypoint WC10 in region waypoints or all waypoints file.
      (NAD83 decimal degrees or NAD27 UTM data suitable for TOPO! software or Waypoint+ software)
        (lat,lon) = (36.8068800, -118.3994300) in decimal degrees, NAD83.
  (zone,east,north) = (11S, 375246.0, 4074166.0) in decimal meters, NAD27.
    8. Previous box is WC09: Lower Rae Lake.

    9. Scroll down for a regional map of the entire Woods Creek, Northern Rae Lakes Loop region.

    10. Use Google Maps or Google Earth to view this region overlaid with roads and trails on satellite images or maps.
      (Click on any icon to get details in a popup, double-left-click to zoom in, double-right-click to zoom out.)


    Map exported from TOPO! software, used with permission.