Anniversary Bears, 399 with its cub and Bear 1063

We had been in the park for four hours and arriving at a new spot, we saw people moving away from their cameras and tripods. Asking if there had been a bear, they replied yes but added that the bear had just moved into the forest and was no longer visible. One of the ladies showed Renita a picture of the bear, a grizzly with a single cub. It was 399, the most famous grizzly bear in North America.

Hoping for her to reappear, we heard a voice behind us yell, “There she is”! She had circled the forest and was grazing on the lush grass. Photographers grabbed their cameras, many set on tripods, and the shutters started up. We had left our place in Star Valley at 6:30 am. Nothing special about the time but it’s an hour plus drive to Grand Teton National Park. We wanted to spend a full day in the park. Our friends Fred and Becky had agreed to meet us at the Park Headquarters, and they waved at us when we arrived. The plan was to take the Teton Park Road to the places we had seen bears. There wasn’t much traffic and so we stopped at places but did not espy any bears. A few solitary bull elk were feeding on the grass and sagebrush bench. Some vehicles were at the Potholes, which are a serries od depressions caused when block of ice had been buried In the last ice age. As the ice melted the surface rocks collapsed forming kettles or potholes. No bears. There is usually a bull elk that grazes near the Chapel of the Sacred heart, but not today. Crossing the Jackson Lake Dam we drove across Willow Flats, which is one of the calving places for cow elk. It’s a good place to see a grizzly as they hunt the newborn calves. No bear were visible.

We next drove to Pilgrim Creek, Colture Bay, and Leeks Marina. Nothing except sunny skies and spectacular views. Fred took our picture on the dock.

Next, we drove north but no bears were visible. Stopping we continued to glass but no luck. We then decided to head to one of the fields alongside the road. There were a few people waiting but only one person and he was taking pictures of flowers, hmm. Still we parked for awhile before deciding to check another place only to find the road was closed. Parking at another open field we talked with a member of the bear management team who said the closed road was now open and after a lengthy discussion we headed to the road, (its always a tough call if we should go or stay). As soon as we drove to the parking lot we saw about thirty people, many with cameras all talking about the bears they had seen in the opening paragraph. Suddenly she reappeared in a different spot. It was 399 and her new coy, (cub of the year). She grazed on the rich grass and clover and her cub stayed with her often touching her backside with one paw as it stood and looked at us.

At one point the cub ran to the forest edge and turned to look at 399. IT wanted to be fed but she ignored it and it returned to its mother. They got closer and the bear management people told us she was too close, so we retreated to keep a safe distance.

The bears finally disappeared into the forest. What a great viewing. A little later they reappeared in a closer meadow and crossed the grassy spot before passing into the trees. Meanwhile hikers were coming down the trail, MOST WITHOUT BEAR SPRAY! They had passed a sign warning them to carry bear spray but the tourons had ignored it! (tourons is a word to describe a tourist who deliberately gets to close to wild animals, bears, buffalo, elk, etc). As they approached us a ranger walked out to escort them to safety. We figured the bear photo ops were done when another person yelled bear! This time it was a different grizzly, bear 1263.

She grazed and got near the cars. The Bear management team told us to retreat to our vehicles. She continued to approach, and the team told us we all had to evacuate the lot. As we left the road was closed and guarded by a different team member. It had been one of our best days of bear watching.

We celebrated our anniversary by going to the pizza place at Leeks Marine. Tired from the long day we headed back home, what a great anniversary. Clear skies It is extremely rare to be attacked by a bear. The rules state that you should carry bear spray, stay one hundred yards away from a bear and at least twenty-five yards away from other animals. The biggest danger, we think, is to accidently disturb a grizzly bear guarding a cache, (a place where a bear has covered a dead animal with leaves and brush. It will often lay on top of the cache to guard it from being stolen. We have discussed it and we both agree that if we are attacked it is our fault and the bear should not be harmed. We have been bluff charged by a black bear but it stopped when we did not run, (don’t run from a bear)!