Posted on 03/13/2017 4:45:16 PM PDT by SJackson
A reader visits a notorious site in Glacier National Park—and comes back with a story of his own.
Why did I get so infatuated with Trout Lake? First, some history: Back in 1967, on a single night, Glacier National Park had two fatal grizzly attacks. They were the first ones ever in the park. One of them was at Trout Lake.
Forty-three years later I was working at the park’s dispatch office and I found the original incident report. I’ll confess my brain doesn’t work like other people’s—I was soon convinced I needed to visit the place so I could see my first grizzly.
My first attempt was in early June and I got maybe 2.5 miles—halfway to the lake. I came to the top of Howe Ridge and it was just white—no trees, no nothing. I was alone. I turned around.
The second time, there was no snow on the ridge, but every 100 feet or so, there was a fresh pile of bear scat. Soon, I reached a slide path: Where the trail should have been was anyone’s guess because there was just debris. That was the end of trip number two.
I was frustrated but not defeated. For the third try, I went in the height of summer, intending to hike past Trout Lake to explore the waterfall-rich drainage behind it.
But really, I was hoping to see a grizzly. I was on my own, so I was being very cautious about the bear spray. Somebody I worked with told me that to really be prepared, I should make sure the safety was off. Otherwise, by the time I saw the bear, it’d be too late.
I got to the ridge where I’d lost the trail, no problem. I got to the place where the avy had been, no problem. I kept going and finally reached the lake. I was feeling good and decided to take pictures.
I had my tripod with me and I set it up near a creek to do a nice long exposure of one of the waterfalls. When I went to pack up, I heard hissing. What the hell? I thought. Is that a snake? I saw this cloud of orange coming at me and my eyes went wide with surprise. The bear spray I’d accidentally fired wafted in from point-blank range. I instantly started gasping and wheezing. I doubled over, my eyes burning and filling with water. It was like chopping the hottest pepper imaginable and rubbing it in your face. I crawled over to the creek and dunked my head as though it were on fire, which it was.
I stumbled down the trail, blind and breathless, stopping to soak my face in every creek I could see with my swollen eyes. It took me four hours to get back to my car, gasping and coughing.
So yes, I made it to Trout Lake that day, and even got to enjoy it for a minute before I blinded myself. I’ve hiked to many other lakes in Glacier since then, but that was the last time I went to Trout Lake. I think maybe I’m not supposed to be back there. Never did see a grizzly.
I usually buy several cans of bear spray and give them as gifts to my bear friends at Christmas.
Bears have bad BO (Bear Odor).
GMTA! (See my post #15). Bears are MONSTERS. They can absorb one heck of a lot of large caliber hits sometimes before they are no longer able to rip/maul a human being into shreds. No Walt Disney/Grizzly Adams ‘cute’ Yogi nonsense up here in the mountains. And I like seeing them, from inside, especially with their cubs......but I have a personal ‘To close’ number of yards from momma/daddy to me if I’m outside, before I gotta do something. They are So FAST, even their ‘bluff charges’. And stalking quiet when they want to be. Fascinating animals! I wish they were as mellow as all of my Deer pals up here tho!
A little mark. It’s just that realization when you say to yourself “I bet that’s blood running down my face.”
I remember that.
And he’s still posting...
bad ass
I don’t know why. Most people I have seen have the Super Black Hawk. I have nothing against the Red Hawk, its a fine hand gun.
I meant people who spend a lot of time in grizzly country
geologists, well drillers ,foresters etc. Those are the people who I have known working in grizzly country.
Probably because the Super Black hawk is cheaper single action......but I dunno for sure.These kind of guys and gals carry guns because they have to, not because they hunt or carry for sport , they do not want to use it unless they have to.Most of then complain about having to carry the extra weight. It beats getting eaten.The gun is just another tool to them.
Bear wash is a better gift , they don’t need as much water to smell nice
Yes, and give them a loofa with it.
Grizzlies love a good loofa.
Single action vs double/single. A bit cheaper. I’ve read the perceived recoil of the Black Hawk is a bit gentler, but doubt I’m sophisticated enough to notice the difference. Probably personal preference, though I’ve never shot a Red Hawk. I acknowledge that along with a Black Hawk I’m one of the few people here who carry grizzly spray as well. Hope never to have to use both.
My bear spray says Smith and Wesson on the side of the 8 3/8 inch barrel.
And the authorities will determine "bluff charge" by whether they were still running at about 20 yards from you. Leaving a few seconds to make a single kill shot. Not trying to rechannel the thread to the legalities of shooting a threatening, or "threatening", bear in many areas.
I really like bears.
One ( a black bear) watched me paint every day for a week LAST SPRING. Then he stood on me behind a 55 gallon oil drum trash can. He wasn’t letting me near “his “ trash can. I laughed and eased on back, he was about 40 feet away, danger close.
He was still on his mother and she was behind him moving slowly away into the brush.
I made the mistake of telling my wife, she called the wild life officers and Mr. Juvenile Bear was in their culvert trap the next morning, he was placed 70 miles into the wilderness.
Sort of miss the little guy, he weighed about 250 pounds, and grew up on our acreage from a wee cub, often leaving muddy paw prints while looking inside our vehicles.
We have a dozen or so bears here every fall, gorging on the many hundreds of wild apples. They eat at night, burp, shit and the go away. They do not bother anyone. But we keep our eyes peeled in late August , September and October.
"Nevertheless, today’s Washington Post reports that bear-spray manufacturers are getting a lot of heat. It turns out that their products tend to do what I’d like to them to do rather than what the bear-o-phobes would like. You see bear spray attracts Mr. Bear, the way an intern smeared and tied to a stake attracts Mr. Clinton (I guess Mr. Bear would dig that too, but for different reasons). One brand is basically a re-labeled pepper spray for 98-pound inner-city crackheads (them I know plenty about). But apparently pepper spray on bears in excess of 400 pounds tends to have a different effect than what you’d expect in a repellent, something like, 'Hey! Mexican food!'"
--Jonah Goldberg
I heard that Kanawa bought some acreage near me. I think I might see if he is up for a visit.
Yep, he is a brave man.
I carried the Super Red Hawk because I preferred the grip. The SBH grip seem designed to slip downwards when I fired it.
My favorite would have been my 45-70 Marlin Guide Gun which I outfitted with a very long eye relief scope. Extremely quick sight picture. All somewhat irrelevant now at my age. I sold all my hunting gear and moved to the city.
pepper spray on bears in excess of 400 pounds tends to have a different effect than what you’d expect in a repellent, something like, ‘Hey! Mexican food!’” >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That’s what I heard too, from people who tried to use it on grizzlies.
Its eau de bruno!
I worked as a Trail Ape for the US Forest Service clearing trail in Montana.
They gave me a safety briefing on my first day. Part of that training dealt with bear attacks.
I believe the guidance was that if a bear attacked you should lie face down and clasp your hands on the back of your neck. You should never run as the bear will catch you.
No bear problems for the first month. Saw lots of bear scat, but never saw a bear.
We had come across a huge Huckleberry bush one day, so I was carrying a brush saw the next day to clear out the Huckleberry bush.
My partner was pretty far behind me using a Pulaski .
I got to the Huckleberry bush and put on my cutting chaps. I pulled the starter cord on the brush saw.
A bear exploded out of the Huckleberry bush.
I ran screaming down the trail. I did exactly what you were not supposed to do.
I got away, but that’s just because the bear was laughing so hard that he couldn’t catch me.
I don’t have any great advice for dealing with bears. Some of my coworkers told me I should have held the brush saw in front of me and revved the motor.
Here’s what my thoughts were when the bear charged out of the bush:
“Oh shirt! Oh shirt! Oh shirt! Run! Run! Run! Big bear! Big bear! Big bear!”
I didn’t have a pistol. If I would have had a pistol, it probably would have been moving on down the trail with me as I ran screaming.
Eff the ‘authorities’. Up here we determine what is what. Do I want to shoot?....No. No way! I like Bears. But damn it, if they somehow get within my ‘zone’, to close for comfort, as in moving at me with not enough time for me to get back inside....well, then it is me or them. They are aggressive sometimes. Not to be fooled with. I have been nose to nose with them. Terrifying. They are huge AND fast beyond belief. The ‘authorities’ can screw off.
That is VERY funny !!!!!
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I don’t know. We used to camp in Cloudcroft, NM all the time. It was a nice primitive campground and we were good friends with the managers. The worst thing was the tremendous lightning storms and getting rained out constantly, but riding 20 miles to town sopping wet builds character.
We saw a few bears around, but the kids generally ran them off with all their racket. We made a trip back after moving out of the area and there was hardly anyone there. When I asked, the managers said a bear had killed some poor guy in his tent the week before. We stayed, and had no problems. When it’s your time....
They are fun to see! From inside the lodge here! But....the next time I open a door and one of those MONSTERS is RIGHT there sizing my old butt up...well, I can do without anymore blasts to the old ticker! In the spring after Hibernation...with Cubs....Need to eat....Good lord can Momma Boo-Boo be rowdy! I never go outside unarmed and making a lot of noise first. Usually they scoot. But you never know.
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