Black Bears are very aggressive and kill more people than grizz. Black bears will actually follow you in the woods if they are hungry. In N. Ca i.e. Yosemite the vehicle issues are all Black bears. Grizz are more lazy and don't break into vehicles nearly as often. However that being said that does not mean they can't. Keeping a clean camp is good advise. Forget bears ever seen what a pack of motivated raccoons can do? It is epic!
Most encounters with grizz are due to the bear being taken by surprise or you being between it and its cub or escape route. In grizz country put a small bell on your pack so the bear knows you are coming when hiking/biking.
(Bear spray and a .454 are always good insurance when in bear country!)
I would be more concerned with smaller vermen than any bears. Black bear might come around if you leave a bunch of trash laying out, but they are interested in the trash, not you.
I've been trying to photograph wild Grizzlies for years, they are rare to spot and pretty elusive.
IMO most all Grizzly attacks on people are a result of the people working really hard to piss off that bear or doing something stupid like messing with a carcass or cubs. In either case they got what they were asking for and deserved.
As others have said, we've seen far more bear interactions our many visits to Yosemite, than places like Yellowstone/Glacier.
campersuzid wrote:
For an outstanding boondocking camping take a look at the Targhee NF's Cave Falls campground. It is sandwiched between Yellowstone and Teton and I can't say enough about it - IMHO, as a former tent camper now RVer, it is fabulous.
Yeah, found that site while planning our trip in two weeks, just outside the southwest corner of Yellowstone. We're spending our first night there a week from Tuesday (06/16/09)before heading up to Madison.
Since you've been there, is it hard to find? How about the roads?
Very much looking forward to that first night.
Also looking into some NF camping along Beartooth about a week later, but I'm concerned that Island Lake and Beartooth lake campgrounds won't be open yet (the ones plus/minus a mile from Top of the World)
Less than two weeks before I'm offline and on the road. :-)
The road to Cave Falls Campground is marked pretty well. Head east of Ashton, ID on State Highway 47. About 4 miles from town you'll see a sign for Cave Falls, turn right onto FS Road 582. It starts out as pavement and turns into gravel, but it's in pretty good shape. It's about 18-20 miles but well worth it. Take your bug dope...the campground is right on the Fall River.
Don't miss Upper and Lower Mesa Falls on Highway 47 - great waterfalls.
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For those of you saying Bear Sightings are a rare occurance, the wife and I are working in Yellowstone right now and there hasnt been a single day in the past week that a guest hasnt come into the Fountain Diner and told us about the grizzly they just saw.
Then the link someone just posted about the man getting mauled in West Yesllowstone.
Dont want to scare you, but practice everything the rules tell you to do when setting up camp. No food left around, no food in the truck and if you cook outside, wipe everything down and put it away.
If not, you're just inviting the bears and other animals into your camp.
Carry bear spray when ever in the woods and make lots of noise.
Saw this black bear on Wednesday in the Northern section of the park and he wasnt too afraid of the cars gawking at him
Luckily for us, we were one of the first cars on site, so we snapped a few shots and got out of there.
We've had these guys coming into the campground every single night, so if you travel with dogs, keep them on a short leash and dont leave them chained up outside!!!
Have fun, the park is beautiful right now with the mountain tops still covered in snow!!
Buffalo grazing below the Tetons!!
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"there hasnt been a single day in the past week that a guest hasnt come into the Fountain Diner and told us about the grizzly they just saw."
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There's no way to know whether these reports are accurate; I doubt many, if not most, visitors can actually distinguish a grizzly from a black bear.
JT wrote: "there hasnt been a single day in the past week that a guest hasnt come into the Fountain Diner and told us about the grizzly they just saw."
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There's no way to know whether these reports are accurate; I doubt many, if not most, visitors can actually distinguish a grizzly from a black bear.
I'm thinking it's as acurate as can be when the guests are showing me photos on their cameras!
Now we have do have guests show us photos all the time of coyotes and say "Look at this wolf I saw", but you'd have to be an idiot to think a black bear is a grizzly! Especially when you see the size difference we've been seeing.
I've yet to get any pictures myself of the grizzlys people have been showing me, but belive me, we have Park Rangers and fellow employee's who are all outstanding photographers showing us images of these suckers.
To say Sightings are few and far between is talking from rumors or hearsay, anyone who has spent some time in the park can vouch for this
JT wrote: "there hasnt been a single day in the past week that a guest hasnt come into the Fountain Diner and told us about the grizzly they just saw."
---
There's no way to know whether these reports are accurate; I doubt many, if not most, visitors can actually distinguish a grizzly from a black bear.
I'm thinking it's as acurate as can be when the guests are showing me photos on their cameras!
Now we have do have guests show us photos all the time of coyotes and say "Look at this wolf I saw", but you'd have to be an idiot to think a black bear is a grizzly! Especially when you see the size difference we've been seeing.
I've yet to get any pictures myself of the grizzlys people have been showing me, but belive me, we have Park Rangers and fellow employee's who are all outstanding photographers showing us images of these suckers.
To say Sightings are few and far between is talking from rumors or hearsay, anyone who has spent some time in the park can vouch for this
Well, you work in the park and have contact with hundreds or thousands of guests. I'm sure the chances are high that on any given day someone somewhere in the park saw a grizzly, and that information got back to you. Don't confuse that with the chance a visitor spending a few days in the park has of seeing a grizzly. That's still pretty rare.
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