Yesterday, Pseudo Sister and I drove into the Many Glacier valley and walked from the dam at Lake Sherburne to the entrance station, a round trip of probably 4-5 miles.

Pseudo Sista.

We checked on the freaky baby head, which has now been painted pink.  Even scarier than it was before.

We also met the Many Glacier Hotel caretaker, Jeff, and discovered that he’s been blogging this winter – wish we had known this sooner!  Jeff seems like a great guy, and we’re always curious about who is watching over the best porch in North America in the winter time.

After we walked back to the truck, our Glacier itch still wasn’t quite scratched, as we knew the plows were scheduled to start on the Going to the Sun Road that same day.  So we drove down to St. Mary to supervise.  Driving up the Sun Road, just shy of Rising Sun, we spotted this guy, standing up on his hind legs and stretching in the spring sunshine:

Grizzly bear!  So glad we did not see him on foot, but it was amazing to watch him from the car.  We think he had just taken a swim in St. Mary Lake – see how his fur is wet from the neck down?  I reckon he was a stinky bear after a winter of staying warm and dry and conserving his energy.

The winter didn’t seem to hurt him any, though – he’s still got quite a wide end.  Might be time for 1-800-95-Jenny?

Few critters make my heart sing like a grizzly.  They are everything that’s wild and untamed in me.  And they’re up and at ‘em, so y’all be, too.  If you don’t already own a can of bear spray, pick up some Counter Assault this spring.  At about $40 a can, it’s cheaper than life insurance, and you might live to tell your story and appear on Oprah!  It’s Made in Montana, too, so you can feel good about buying it.  I’m pretty passionate about bear awareness – it’s not so much that I’m scared of them (clearly, I spend every day I can in July and August in Glacier National Park), but I’m fearful for them.  The more people/bear incidents, the more bears that end up dead.  And what would Glacier National Park, the Crown of the Continent, be without grizzly bears?

So, be chatty in the woods and let them know you’re coming, so that they can get out of your way.  Carry your Counter Assault.  I carry two cans.  This has been your occasional public service announcement from the Glacier County Honey Co.  We love y’all.  We love bears, too.

Grizzly photo credits to Natalee Rowe.  2010.  Glacier County Honey Co.  All Rights Reserved.

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