Bear Warning

I keep being asked "what if you run into a bear in the woods?". Well, there are a lot of precautions one can take and you find warning signs at every trail head and along the way, too.

The one that always gets my attention is the one that is placed, periodically by the Park Service, stating "Caution - Bear (or Mountain Lion) has been frequenting this area".

But the one below, sent to me by my brother, has got to be my favorite. You will probably need to double click on the pic to enlarge it enough to read. Be sure to read the entire message.

Other, more common, warning signs.

So far, the only Grizzly seen this summer was by Jon and I in the Many Glacier area. It was high in a mountain meadow and we were able to watch it with his spotting scope for over 30 minutes, from a really safe distance.

Walk in the Woods

I took a short hike along the McDonald Creek Oxbow Trail today. It was through bear country, but I saw no bear nor any other animal for that matter. Just a few pics.

Jon, & His Friends - July 2008

Jon and four of his friends met in the Tetons National Park for a short, 40 mile, backcounrty hike along the Teton Crest Trail. Due to the snow and ice in the passes, they had to carry and use ice axes. They also carried their food in the aluminum bear containers, obviously, to keep the bears away.

I understand they had a great time in spite of the snow and ice.

(L-R) Jon, Stephan, Tavis, Michael & Bill

Jon's Visit

The following pictures were taken during Jon's recent visit. For those of you that don't know, Jon is my youngest son of whom I'm extremely proud. He has made an effort to visit me each of the years that I've been doing my work camping and we have also worked in a couple of other trips these past three years. He's also the one who really got me "hooked" on coming out west. Before I retired, he, his mother and I took several trips that he had planned to visit many of the western National Parks. We were even able to include his Grandmother and Aunt on some of these trips.

Jon is a Captain in the US Air Force and until recently was stationed in Minot, ND and flew as a crew member on a B-52. He spent 4 months, a couple of years ago, deployed to Diego Garcia - Indian Ocean, flying combat missions over Afghanistan. He recently transferred to FL where he is doing work on the B2, lending his expertise as an Electronic Warfare Officer. As soon as he returns to FL from his leave, he will be deploying to Baghdad to assist the Army with their Electronic Warfare efforts.

We spent a couple of days around Glacier NP then headed south through Idaho ending up in the Grand Teton NP where he met four of his buddies for 3 days of back packing the Teton Crest Trail. I understand they got some experience using "ice axes" since there was still heavy snow and ice in the mountain passes. I'll post some pictures of the Teton and Yellowstone areas, as well as his buddies later.

Hope you enjoy!

Going to the Sun Road & Logan Pass - Glacier NP.

Polebridge, MT and northwest Glacier NP area, just south of the Canadian border. Kintla and Bowman Lakes.

Hidden Meadow - A nice hike through a "spooky" area. Brush and thicket was about waist high hiking in, opening up into a really pretty meadow. "Spooky" because this is Grizzly country.

Southern MT and northern Idaho.

Craters of the Moon NM in Idaho.

Entering the Teton / Yellowstone area, by back roads, naturally!

The Grand Tetons.