Glacier Weekend: Two More Bears

Like I mentioned, after camping in Two Medicine in the back of our Xterra, we got an early start in the morning (left at 5:15 am!). We were heading up toward Many Glacier to hike the Grinnell Glacier Trail. 

I love driving on the edge of the National Park in the morning - the sunrise isn't blocked by other mountains and so the beautiful morning light hits the park just right :)

Well, the excitement started on the Many Glacier road - only a mile or so away from where we saw our first grizzly bear earlier this summer while showing my parents around Glacier. This little guy crossed the road in front of the vehicle in front of us. Of course we stopped and took pictures. He's much smaller than the one we saw earlier, but he was so cute just chomping on the shrubs :)

Interestingly enough, the fun didn't stop there....

 We were on the trail by 7 am. One other group was ahead of us, but only by about 5 minutes or so. About 15 minutes into the hike (just toward the end of Swiftcurrent Lake), we came around a bend and there was another bear! This was our first grizzly sighting while not in a vehicle!! The bear was bigger than the one above, but smaller than the one we saw with my parents.
Above you can see Grizz crouching like a bear to show about how far away we were when we saw it.

 Here Grizz is counting the paces...
Well, I saw the bear first, said Grizz's name and then turned sideways and slowly walked away. You are never to look a bear in the eyes, you are never to turn your back on them, and you are never to run away from them. I knew all of these things, and in my head, I was doing everything correctly... of course, Grizz says I walked away too fast, but hey, it was my first bear-on-the-trail sighting! Scary!!

 He counted about 30 paces, so we were about 30 yards away from a bear!
Thankfully, the bear didn't even look up at us, so we got away just fine. We stayed down the trail for about 5 minutes before Grizz thought it was safe to continue (yes, we continued to hike after this). We both carried bear spray as we walked onward. No signs of the bear, and we never saw another one. All I can say is that my heart was pounding for a good hour and I made a lot more noise after the encounter!

Glacier Weekend

Camping at Two Medicine

Two Bear Sightings

Grinnell Glacier Trail

Trail Closed

Many Glacier Hotel

Animal Sightings in Glacier

 While heading out of Glacier via the Going-To-The-Sun Road, we stopped and took some pictures of St. Mary's Lake. Other cars were stopped too. While snapping away, one stranger saw this guy above us. Bighorn Sheep!

 Mom was the one who spotted his friends, even higher up above us.

While driving toward the Many Glacier entrance, a car had stopped on the road in front of us. As we slowed down, we saw why they stopped...

A BEAR! Well, at least a bear's butt. He (or she) didn't turn around for awhile, but we gladly stopped and started snapping bear butt pictures.

 It did eventually turn around for us (how thoughtful of him!). You can't always use color to determine what type of bear you are looking at (black or grizzly), but this guy had a hump on its shoulder - definitely a grizzly!

 He did look up at us a few times (we were safely still in the vehicle), but mostly, he just kept on chomping away at the grass.

 Pretty neat, huh? :)

 I was stuck in the back, in the worst seat possible, but Mom didn't mind me leaning over her though to snap some pictures! Grizz even stood up through the sun roof to get a few more pictures. Dad had the best seat in the house :)

 During this entire time, Grizz had left the vehicle running - just in case the bear decided to walk our way. We all agreed that it is easy to see how some people get the courage up to risk getting out of the vehicle - I mean, there's a bear, happily eating a few 30-40 feet away. It didn't look mean... it looked cuddly, actually. Why not just step a few feet from your vehicle to get a few more pictures? Of course, this is the wrong way of thinking! Stay in the vehicle. If you see a bear while hiking, follow Glacier's recommendations (they hand out info as you enter the park). Do not stay to take pictures! BE SMART! BEARS ARE DANGEROUS!

 After the bear walked away, we continued driving. Yet, the fun didn't stop! We saw some mountain goats on the slopes!

Even though the weather wasn't ideal, it was a great day trip. We had a picnic lunch in the car before hiking and we stopped at the Lighthouse near Valier for supper.

**Grizz and I haven't seen a bear the entire time we've lived and explored out here. My parents just have a magical touch I guess. Last year when they visited we saw a moose... in a small mountain range that doesn't boast a lot of them. Now this year we saw a grizzly bear. Grizz joked that maybe my parents should come out during hunting season... he'd be sure to get his elk with them along :)