Category: Glacier National Park

Video context:

• First and foremost, safety takes a back seat to nothing. Never get this close to wild animals.
• Spent nearly five hours hiking to Mountain Pass (7,600′), enjoying lunch, relaxing
• Sun will soon be out of sight
• Car is five miles away
• Been hiking in Grizzly Bear country for 50 years
• We are alone on the mountain Pass, late September
• i miraculously spot a bear 800 meters from the Pass
• The bear is 10-15 meters from trail
• Trail is the only way to safely pass the bear to return to car
• As we hike down, we become blind to Bear’s location
• We clear small forrest and see the Bear
• Without hesitation, our only choice is obvious to me
• We must get past the bear or risk being trapped
• Once Sun disappears behind Continental Divide, it gets cold quickly
• There is no safe way to pass if we attempt off-trail route
• Trusted my gut from 50 years of wilderness experience
• We talk loud so the Bear knows we are coming, to avoid surprise
• Bear is foraging in a hole it dug, eyes “buried”, we quickly pass
• We walk (never run) far down the trail, peering back often
• We pause, grateful to be on the car side of trail
• In this moment, i sense something for first time in half a century
• Bear is focused on eating, not us
• We observe Bear is a surreal encounter
• Scariest animal encounter ever, and also the most incredible
• Finally, this is absolutely the most dangerous position to be in. NEVER think for a moment that you can safely do what we just did
• i know i will be a fool to think this would ever be safe in the future. You should too.

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