Definitely overnight in the wilderness area, say for permit purposes. Actually, he did not travel through any area in Sequoia where a canister is required: they are surprisingly few. He was in and out of the Rae Lakes Loop, the only area in Kings where canisters are required, in a few hours, and in the Whitney Zone for a fraction of the time most dayhikers spend, and they are not required to carry a bear can. In Sierra, you are only required to keep your food away from bears, canisters are only one way to do that. In INyo, only the Whiney Zone and a short stretch from above Tully Hole to Duck Creek require canisters. He definitely did not sleep in the WZ or in that other short stretch in Inyo, so I think he was ok so far. Probably the only time he was on the edge was at a bridge near Tuolumne. DOesn't say exactly what bridge that was, but it may not have been in the wilderness, so just holding on to food may have been ok.
As far as not recognizing the record because he carried no bear can? None of the recent record setters have either. If that makes sense then Ralph Burgess holds the only record, supported and unsupported having gone SoBo in 4.5 days.
