Post by kings6 on Aug 8, 2011 1:32:31 GMT -5
Well the wife and I just got home from an 8 day, 2000+ mile trip to, through, over and around Glacier National Park in northern Montana. It was my first time back since 1972 and my wife's first trip ever. Since she teaches 8th grade Earth Science, she wanted to actually see a glacier while they still exist in the park. Part of the trip included a couple of boat excursions at the Many Glacier facility. As we got onto the second boat I was scanning the surrounding hillsides and lo and behold, a beautiful blond grizzly bear was walking across a clearing and into a small patch of trees. I was able to catch a couple of more glimpses before it disappeared but unfortunately everyone else was too busy listening to the cute tour guide to see the bear. It was just a couple hundred yards above a trail that several hikers were using to get back to the second lake but neither the people nor the bear were aware of the other. Ironically, just up the trail I could make out the new RED sign that stated that the trail to Grinnell glacier was closed due to a rather nasty mother grizzly and her cubs.
The above sighting was on Weds. and when I got home tonight, the news told about a 50 year old hiker who was chewed up by a mother grizzly with a cub on Friday in the same area. He was carrying pepper spray but could not get it deployed quick enough to fend the attack off. It was rather humourous watching the other boat riders who had their backpacks and bear spray canisters. About 50% of them had the canisters either IN their backpacks or hung some other place where they were darn near impossible to grab quickly. Me, I didn't carry any bear pepper spray simply because I know how fast I can run. No, I can NOT outrun a grizzly bear but I don't have to. All I need to do is outrun the slowest person in the group! :lol:
The next day my wife decided we needed to see the Canadian side of the park and use those passports we spend hundreds of dollars on getting. The only problem is I do not travel cross country in a truck and spend nights out in the various Natinal Forests without carrying a sidearm. Now we all know you can NOT take a handgun into Canada unless you want to become a guest in some of their "facilities". The question was what to do with the gun while playing out of country tourist. Rather than do like my father did years ago and hide the gun in the campers toilet, I decided on a more legal action. Did you know that if you pull over to a wide spot in the road just before the border, reach into the back of the truck and haul out a shovel and a roll of TP and head into the brush with a pained expression on your face that NO ONE will follow you and watch you bury the ziplock encased gun in a hole marked with a wad of dirt stained toilet paper? Yep, that is what I did and I will be darned if the unloaded gun wasn't right where I left it 3 hours earlier! :wink:
After the grizzly spotting, the black bear chasing along the Canadian road and the latrine retrevial of the handgun, I felt like I really needed a reward of the gastronomical style. That is where the memories of Tank Hoover, Sixshot and the insurmountable Callshot came to mind. Ah ha! a Huckleberry shake from the Park Cafe in St. Mary's on the east side of the park and my reward was claimed! It was so good that I had huckleberry syrup on my pancakes the next morning and huckleberry pie for dessert after dinner the next night!
Over all a great trip and my only regret was not trying to outrun the older lady in our boat in the grizzly race. I could have beaten her but now that I think about it, she was kind of ugly, stood about 6'2", was on the level because her bubble was in the middle and she was wearing Steeler Crocs! On second thought, maybe I would have needed that bear spray after all!
The above sighting was on Weds. and when I got home tonight, the news told about a 50 year old hiker who was chewed up by a mother grizzly with a cub on Friday in the same area. He was carrying pepper spray but could not get it deployed quick enough to fend the attack off. It was rather humourous watching the other boat riders who had their backpacks and bear spray canisters. About 50% of them had the canisters either IN their backpacks or hung some other place where they were darn near impossible to grab quickly. Me, I didn't carry any bear pepper spray simply because I know how fast I can run. No, I can NOT outrun a grizzly bear but I don't have to. All I need to do is outrun the slowest person in the group! :lol:
The next day my wife decided we needed to see the Canadian side of the park and use those passports we spend hundreds of dollars on getting. The only problem is I do not travel cross country in a truck and spend nights out in the various Natinal Forests without carrying a sidearm. Now we all know you can NOT take a handgun into Canada unless you want to become a guest in some of their "facilities". The question was what to do with the gun while playing out of country tourist. Rather than do like my father did years ago and hide the gun in the campers toilet, I decided on a more legal action. Did you know that if you pull over to a wide spot in the road just before the border, reach into the back of the truck and haul out a shovel and a roll of TP and head into the brush with a pained expression on your face that NO ONE will follow you and watch you bury the ziplock encased gun in a hole marked with a wad of dirt stained toilet paper? Yep, that is what I did and I will be darned if the unloaded gun wasn't right where I left it 3 hours earlier! :wink:
After the grizzly spotting, the black bear chasing along the Canadian road and the latrine retrevial of the handgun, I felt like I really needed a reward of the gastronomical style. That is where the memories of Tank Hoover, Sixshot and the insurmountable Callshot came to mind. Ah ha! a Huckleberry shake from the Park Cafe in St. Mary's on the east side of the park and my reward was claimed! It was so good that I had huckleberry syrup on my pancakes the next morning and huckleberry pie for dessert after dinner the next night!
Over all a great trip and my only regret was not trying to outrun the older lady in our boat in the grizzly race. I could have beaten her but now that I think about it, she was kind of ugly, stood about 6'2", was on the level because her bubble was in the middle and she was wearing Steeler Crocs! On second thought, maybe I would have needed that bear spray after all!
