Grizzly Encounter

I've biked through a few hundred miles of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. I've seen the Yellowstone River. What I haven't seen is the famous park itself.

Time for a trip to Yellowstone National Park, a few days before the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

The route to Gardiner was familiar—right through the Paradise Valley (on the road not taken last Monday). And it was still filled with smoke from the wildfires.

It seemed as though I reached the highway in no time. The trip was going to take less time than I'd expected, with speed limits ranging between 70 and 80 mph.

When a sign for Grizzly Encounter said “next exit,” I decided to visit. I was too hot and tired to take advantage of a tour when we had a rest stop here, last Monday.

When you hope to observe animals, timing is everything. Brutus and Bella were napping in the shade, and were just about to be switched out for another pair (Jake and Maggi).

These bears were all rescued from less fortunate circumstances; they cannot be returned to the wild. Bella had been found as a young cub, orphaned, in Alaska.

Before bringing out the new pair, a guide went into the empty enclosure and left some treats for the bears to find: peanut butter slathered here and there on logs and under rocks. You know that feeling of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth? So do the bears.

Maggi was reluctant to come out into the open; when she did, she walked around in tight circles. Our guide explained that she does that when she's anxious; they think she's reacting to the smoke from the wildfires.

Jake, on the other hand, was a show-off. When he sat up like a teddy bear, everyone reacted with oohs and ahhs—and he ate that right up, rolling around and stretching out on his back in the sunshine.

I was surprised to learn that a major food source for them in the wild is ... moths. That's right, moths. Here, one of their favorite foods is avocados—not surprising, given their calorie density.

I was feeling a bit hungry myself, so I fetched an apple and returned to watch the bears. I kept my eye on Jake, and he clearly noticed. He turned his head in my direction and sniffed. I was at least 50 yards away. This is why you need to keep food in bear-proof containers if you're camping in bear country.

Our guide had lots of practical information about staying safe in the wild. Make lots of noise (talk, sing); be a smelly human (don't brush your teeth, wear deodorant, etc.); don't sleep in the clothes you wore when cooking (lest you be mistaken for a tasty human hot dog). We learned how to distinguish between a black bear (which might be brown) and a grizzly. Powerful muscles used for digging form the hump on a grizzly's back.

But she also had a sense of humor. “You might have been told to climb a tree, if a bear is chasing you. If the bear climbs the tree after you, it's a black bear. If the bear knocks the tree down, it's a grizzly.”

So noted. I don't think I could climb a tree, anyway.