A case of 'Track Tremble'

There I was, all alone in the woods because I had lagged behind friends hiking up Going to the Sun Highway three weeks ago. Had turned off at the McDonald Creek inlet to photograph the falls. Snow was deep in places but it did enable me to see deer, lion and… grizzly tracks. "Grizzly tracks!"

That's when it was discovered I'd left my bear spray in the car at McDonald Lodge. Was embarrassed and a little uneasy (track tremble). Reassured myself by noting the bear tracks were not "real fresh." Got the heck out of there anyway. The next Thursday, two members of the Gang saw a "large" grizzly between the inlet and the Lodge.

This case of personal carelessness motivated me to dig back in "the files." Maybe to help me remember better, and if you are an older hiker… help you.

Grizzly Attack Records — Yellowstone Park — Aug. 27, 1999:

"A male hiker from Switzerland and a female hiker from New York were hiking towards Bighorn Peak when they heard a moaning noise. Unsure what the sound was, and thinking the noise was farther away, they continued with their hike. They had only gone a few steps when they saw a bear with two cubs (by their description, probably a grizzly) approximately 10 yards away on a slope to the left of the trail. The woman stepped away from the bear and quickly dropped down on her lower legs into a ball position; the bear charged the woman, huffed a few times but did not touch or harm her. At the same time, the male hiker stepped uphill in the direction the bear was first spotted. He was approached, but not touched by the yearlings. The male hiker deployed his pepper spray (he was unsure whether the spray hit the young bears). And the adult bear immediately turned away from the woman and charged toward the male hiker.

"The hiker continued to spray, falling on his back in the process, but the bear did not touch him. Thinking the adult bear was going to attack, the man raised his leg inflicting two gashes and other minor injuries. The adult bear then sniffed at the cloud of spray, retreated. The two hikers, now out of spray — remained on the ground, very still, until the bears left the area… The hikers chose to return to the trailhead and drive to Bozeman, Montana, for medical treatment."

Yellowstone Park Records — Sept. 1, 2000:

"A Belgrade, Montana, man received minor injuries during an encounter with a grizzly bear in the Black Butte/Daly Creek area at approximately 1:30 p.m. The man was riding his horse into the area and stopped along the cutoff between Daly Creek and Black Butte for a lunch break. The man's horse snorted, alerting him that something was wrong. When he turned to look, a grizzly bear was directly behind him. The bear swatted him in the face and chest area, knocking him into a tree. At that point, the man, who was face down, pulled out his bear spray and rolled over, giving the bear a full spray in the mouth. The bear reacted to the spray by rolling off the victim and coughing. The man caught his horse and immediately left the area, returned to his vehicle and drove to Big Sky to report the incident. The victim received lacerations to the right side of his face and forehead. Was taken to Bozeman Deaconess… treated and released."

Glacier Park, as well as National Parks in Alaska, have similar incidents where pepper spray drove a grizzly away from hikers who were attacked.

Why did it take so long for the National Park Service to recognize, then endorse, the use of pepper spray to protect hikers from grizzly bears?

The answer is "public liability" and "bureaucracy." Having worked a few years within the Federal System, I'm well aware of internal concern for putting the government in a position of responsibility for public safety. The philosophy is one of agency protection, both individually and collectively. The Park Service did not want to recommend something so new.

They usually always take the slow road of "wait and see." There is some defensile logic here but time proved the efficiency of the spray. To the Park Service's credit, it did start tentatively recommending its use a few years back, and now strongly endorses it.

Official recommendations are nice, but all the endorsements in the world may not help people who are "organizationally challenged."

G. George Ostrom is a Kalispell resident and Hungry Horse News columnist.