It's a Bear, It's a Bear, It's a Bear!

 

Bears are taken very seriously at Glacier National Park.   There are numerous warnings about bears in the park information and you absolutely should carry bear spray with you.  While bears are not likely to bother you, you should still take sensible precautions while hiking.  You don't want to come across an unsuspecting bear, especially a mama and her cubs.

Before we left, we somewhat joked about what we would do if we came across a bear.  I told Mona, I wasn't worried.  I only had to run faster than her -- which I can :).  While we love encountering animals and nature, self-preservation is certainly rule #1.  We bought our bear spray knowing the likelihood of encountering a bear was very slim.

Imagine our surprise to encounter a mama black bear and her two cubs.  They we feasting on huckleberries next to the Going to Sun Road which traverses the park.  We were able to get our of the car and watch them eat from a safe distance.  The mama bear was so into eating I'm not entirely sure she paid any attention to the 10 of us or so who had gathered to watch.   We've sampled the huckleberry since we've been here and it's very tasty -- tastier than we are to the bear I'm sure.