Welcome to Bear Country
Glacier National Park

Also on the front page of the Hungry Horse, was the story of a Helena woman who was charged by a bear.  She repelled the attack with an expired can of bear pepper spray.

There is no place you can turn in the towns near Glacier without seeing the image of bears.  Mostly griz but there are lots of images of black bears as well.  Usually it is a large grizzly on the attack.  Get your grizzly bear tee shirts and coffee mugs here.

No doubt this is because a lot of people come to this park to see bears.  And there's absolutely no doubt that you've got a good chance of seeing a bear at least this time of year.  I've now seen three black bears and two grizzlies.  Every sighting is thrilling as was the views of the mountain goats and the slap of a beavers tail as I cycled by.  Today I saw three golden eagles playing with each other in the air just above and to the left of the road I was traveling.  It's also amazing that wildflowers that in Wisconsin start to bloom in May are just now blooming here in northern Montana in August.

However thrilling it might be to see lupines flowering in August, the most thrilling experience for me was sharing the road with a black bear.  I was climbing, moving slowly, and upon rounding a bend, I heard the crack of a branch breaking.  When I looked up it was into the face of black bear with it's forelegs on the road.  We each seemed to pause, not knowing what to do, and then we both continued so that when I passed the bear it is fully on the road in the opposite lane.  I have to admit, I put on a good fifty feet before I looked back to see only a car approaching.  This sighting made the trip on Going to the Sun Highway over Logan Pass a once in a life time experience.

I would share the road with another black bear.  This time it was a cub and it entered the road ahead of me on the right and ran away quickly as soon as it saw me.

I would later see a grizzly and a black bear along the road to Many Glacier Hotel.  There on the road were about 20 tourists watching these bears forage for berries on the hillside.  My second and favorite sighting of a grizzly came while I was kayaking.  I was drifting with the wind on Swiftcurrent Lake, exploring the shoreline opposite the hotel.  I heard something move in the brush and used my paddle to get a better view.  Seeing nothing, I continued to drift until I was caught by the inclination to turn the boat so the I could look behind.  When I looked back, I saw a large grizzly with its forelegs planted at the waters edge and its head turned to watch me drift on.  When I used my paddle to hold my position, the big bear slowly turned away and disappeared into the bush.  I have to admit to keeping my distance from the shoreline after that.  And another thing.  I've now taken to singing when I'm on a lonely road.

Looking up from where the photo on the right was taken, a mountain goat was seen standing sentry on a rock high above.  Just beyond this point and below the level of the road, a group of sheep were seen grazing on some bright green grasses.

Q. How can you tell Black Bear droppings from Grizzly Bear droppings?

A. Grizzly droppings contain bells and smell like pepper spray.