Bears...

On the 22nd, Beth and I entered into bear country and not just bear country but Grizzly Bear country. For those of you who don't know, I (Betsy) am deathly afraid of bears, any bears. I have learned to live with Black Bears in Minnesota and Virginia but I vowed long ago that I would never camp in Grizzly Bear country. The thought almost makes me sick. Well, when we planned this trip I knew we were talking about spending time in Grizzly country but somehow I just ignored the thought that we might actually sleep in a tent in such a scary place. Grizzly bears are not very populous anywhere and so I thought that my fear that a bear would come and eat me in my tent was probably (remember, probably) a bit irrational. Of course rationality doesn't help to calm a fear. Having been to Yellowstone and the Tetons before and having never seen a bear in either park, I was hopeful that Beth and I could spend a couple of days seeing all the warning signs about food storage and hiking safety but never really see a bear. Well, as you can see from the pictures below, we not only saw one bear but quite a few. We have pictures of 4 bears but I think the actual count for the day was 6. We are unsure of how many were Grizzlies and how many were Black Bears. Needless to say, it was scary to see the bears so close yet in processing it with Beth later, I realized actually giving sight to my fear has helped me to better understand and control my terror!! Although I love Yellowstone and the Tetons, I am excited about getting away from the Grizzlies and having only to worry about the Black Bears from now on!


This is the first Grizzly Bear Beth and I have ever seen in the wild!! He or she was grubbing around in the dirt!

The brown spot behind me is the same Grizzly. You can see how far or maybe how close the bear is to us. It helped to see the bear ignoring me and the other gazillion people who were watching it. Maybe it doesn't really want to eat me after all.

We saw these bears by Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. We think they are Black Bears even though they are brown!

This is not a great picture but it was taken as the sun was disappearing behind the Tetons. This bear, probably a Black Bear even though it was brown, was rooting around for food. We saw it shortly after we entered the Tetons from the North.

Consequently, we spent two nights camping in the Tetons. The Tetons are known for having Grizzlies and Black Bears. I tried sleeping in the tent the first night but gave up after 2 and a half hours of sleeplessness and slept that night and the next in the car! Who knew the car could ever be so darn comfortable!

An afterthought - While shopping in Jackson, Wyoming we saw a shirt that was very appropriate for me. It said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself. (and bears)"