A bear encounter day in Grand Teton Park, Always carry bear spray

We decided to go back to the park in hopes of seeing a bear. Our friend Vickie has taken great pictures of several Grizzly! Earlier, we encountered a Cinnamon Black Bear while birding. It was on trail that usually has posted signs, during berry season. They state that one should carry Bear Spray/However the Wildlife management team had removed the sign and so we decided to take a short walk, looking for birds. On the way out we heard crashing brush and a Cinnamon Black Bear, probably a four-year-old, ran out into the clearing and stopped to look at us. It was about thirty yards away! The bear had new ear tags and a radio collar, so we knew it was probably a bear that had recently caused trouble. As we were only thirty yards away, we knew not to run, never run as you become prey. Instead, I raised my camera and started to take pictures and the bear decided to leave us alone, not the first time this has worked. None of my three pictures turned out, I had just taken pictures of a bird and had my camera on manual focus. Returning to Jackson we drove to REI, and bought their largest canister of Bear Spray, (to go with the one our friends Dan and Barb had given us. Now we have four canisters. For anyone hiking, eveb a short hike, in Grand Teton National Park, ALWAYS CARRY BEAR SPRAY! We will. We were lucky. Ps Last weeks Grizzly Bear attack in Yellowstone National Park, was on a trail that had been closed and had just been reopened. It appears that the grizzly might have been protecting a kill. They will often cover a kill/carcass with brush, and lay on it. That’s one of our fears when hiking, surprising a bear on its kill or encountering a cub.