Re-acclimating to the neighborhood

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

Roadside grizzly in Glacier NP

 WEST GLACIER, MT -- We have arrived at our summer destination and have spent the past few days visiting old haunts and greeting old friends.
 After a couple of days of annoyingly wet weather, Saturday was sunny and fine, and we drove north to Polebridge, a rustic community off the grid just west of the park boundary. 
 But before we'd left the park, we came upon this grizzly bear lumbering along the pavement on the Camas Road.  Our arrival sent him off into the grass, but we were able to track his movements for several minutes and get some pictures.
 Once we got to Polebridge Mercantile, we availed ourselves of a couple of their wonderful baked goods.  I had a huckleberry brownie which probably satisfied several days of calorie requirements.
 On the way back, another griz sprinted across the road in front of us and out of sight into the undergrowth before we could get a camera aimed.
 The bears were two reminders that we must be diligent in bear-country awareness, which means never leaving food or anything else with a fragrance, outdoors at our campsite.  We don't want anyone who looks like this fellow visiting us.