true story

I finally got my hands on this picture. When Brandi, Kelly and I went on our hike up to to Holland Falls, this is the sign that greeted us:

fun in glacier

Last week, Bird and I went camping in Glacier for a few days. Upon arrival, we set up camp and headed out for a hike. The hike was in Griz Country, so I was on alert. Fortunately, we did not come across any bears on the trail, although there was a tree stump that put a good scare in us. When we got back to camp, we noticed a bunch of people crowded around our campsite. They couldn't all be gathered for a deer, could they? No. Oh no. They were crowded around for a bear. Yep, that's right. A bear was milling around my tent and the tents of the people in the next site over. By the time Bird and I got to our site, the bear had moved off into the woods, away from all the people and commotion. I caught a glimpse of him, and he appeared big. Of course, any bear near your tent will appear big.

The Forest Ranger came and shoo-ed him off. Apparently, the bear was a sub-adult black bear. He comes around this camp ground often, but has never gotten into people food/trash or bothered anyone. Surprisingly, I was not freaked out, and felt confident I would sleep through the night.

As I was cleaning up dinner, I told Bird that the ranger said to wash our dishes at our site, but to use the dump-sink for our drippings. I told her this as I was heating water in our chili bowl so I could better clean it. The bowl sat atop my trusty pocket-rocket stove, and as I'm saying "we just have to be sure not to spill any of our drippings," what do I do? Why I knock over the bowl of chili water all over the table and ground. Seriously. Now, for those of you who have witnessed my klutziness, this may come as no surprise. It did not seem to faze Bird. I, however, was freaking out that there was now chili all over the ground of our campsite. A campsite visited by a bear not 2 hours earlier! I thought about moving camp, but instead just removed any dirt that was anywhere near the spillage, and called it good. Needless to say, the bear did not come back to eat the chili or me.

The next day we saw another bear (on the side of the road on our way to a hike). Bears are awesome, but I'd rather they not be near my tent.

Cute or down right scary?

I went to Cute Overload today because I needed a little pick me up. As well as some really cute photos of adorable pets, I came across "The bears are hogging the playset again" Maybe it's just me, but I find the idea of several bears hanging out at a playground disconcerting. At first I thought it was a zoo and the playground was for the bears, but I don't think so - if you look at the picture I think it's more likely that this is a playground in some picnic area of a national or state park. Can you imagine coming across that scene? I'll bet Panda can...

Alright, break's over...back to work!

Matt's Neat Links & Missoula

If you go to Matt's Blog, and all 5 of my readers do, you probably have visited some of his "neat links." Right now, there is one titled "Bear vs. Tranquelizers vs. Trampoline." I suggest you click on it. This is amusing to me because the clip actually takes place in my favorite town, Missoula, MT. Bears in trees are actually not all that uncommon there. During my sophmore year of school there was a bear stuck in the tree outside of my freshman year dorm. Another time a bear was found sleeping on the quad ouside of the building where I checked my e-mail every day. Luckily for me, the bear was snoozing at the same time I was (early morning) so we did not encounter eachother. Ahh, Missoula....the last best place.

Most Awesome Thing Ever!

Last night I saw the most awesome thing ever. A "more you know..." psa with The Office's Rainn Willson about the dangers of Bears. Go to The Office to watch this one and more (there are a bunch). HI-freakin'-larious!

In case you like polar bears

mama and cubs

cute cub