Hiking Thread

[NorCalVol67]

I cannot wait to see Zion. I'm probably not going to be able to do Angels landing in the shape I'm in now, but I wish I could.

Angels Landing is a great hike, more exciting if you do it without using the chains.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Angels Landing is a great hike, more exciting if you do it without using the chains.

Exciting...or insane? I've watched HD vids on youtube of that hike...whew..

 

[chatsworth_vol]

This thread is cool, but depressing. I've had my one trip to Yosemite 12 years ago, but I've always dreamed of going back there and to the other western parks. Sadly financially and career/schedule wise I'm at least 10-15 years from that being even remotely possible.

 

[UT_Dutchman]

Meaning: more areas may be fall hazards? I could certainly see that as an issue.

That is exactly what they are worried about. They are currently working on a plan. They know it's a big draw for park guests.

 

[UT_Dutchman]

I once saw a couple pushing a child in a stroller on the Abrams falls trail about a half mile in...wearing flip flops, as we were coming out, I told them they were almost there...

I have also witnessed this multiple times in the GSMNP and in a few others. It's crazy.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

This thread is cool, but depressing. I've had my one trip to Yosemite 12 years ago, but I've always dreamed of going back there and to the other western parks. Sadly financially and career/schedule wise I'm at least 10-15 years from that being even remotely possible.

C'mon man..you can't be much worse off financially than me. These places are worth sacrificing a lot of more mundane things to do. We have been scrimping and saving for two years to do this trip we are taking in September. Trust me it is worth it to go on the cheap.

 

[Smallvol#1]

C'mon man..you can't be much worse off financially than me. These places are worth sacrificing a lot of more mundane things to do. We have been scrimping and saving for two years to do this trip we are taking in September. Trust me it is worth it to go on the cheap.

Well, no one asked me but:

Drive...plan your stops ahead of time, can check before leaving to see if can save $$ at that time; stay at places that offer a hot breakfast..saves time and money.

Pack coolers, yes, coolerS. Have your drinks, PACK WATER, and a lot of food, especially the first days out on the road. This saves time, money, and is a lot healthier. The first few days out I always have fried chicken, potato salad, egg salad, chicken salad, pimento cheese (will keep weeks if in a cooler), grapes/carrot sticks/celery sticks washed and bagged, pickles and olives in jars-when open put uneaten in a zip lock bag and drop in cooler. For later take the precooked bacon and buy tomatoes & lettuce (get the mayo in a squeeze tube and then drop in cooler). We also eat pineapple cheese sandwiches (think that's a Southern thing like pimento cheese.) Sliced cheese, peanut butter and jelly packs go in too for end of trip. Obviously chips. This is not just a money saver, but a big time saver. You will get in places where there are no restaurants or, if there are, the wait is long and service slow (the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks for example.) You can always find a picnic spot...just sit and look down on Crater Lake, eat beside a waterfall or lake in Yosemite, go down a trail and sit under a tree in Black Canyon; it's so worth it! Then if you want to eat out, go to that nice restaurant or get that beer and pizza. I also take a few boiled eggs, English muffins or bread, and home canned sausage...for when you are staying at a place that has no breakfast or it is big $$ and a lot of time. Yes, if you have never had it, canned sausage is good, easy enough to do...just there is a lot of hot grease involved. All this was homemade and I did it when I was working 45-55+ hours a week. It doesn't take super woman, just some planning.

I actually write menus for each day. That way I'm sure we don't get too much of something and TO is an asker (What do we have for lunch tomorrow?) This is also good when you get to that motel late and think I'm too tired to go hunt up a place to eat or when tornados are coming through and you think you would rather stay in a hotel than out in a car:good!:.

Research before you go. There are a ton of things to do that are free or you can do for very little. Know the waterfalls, scenic views, trails, etc. Ever seen the Corn Palace in SD? Free. Jesse James house in Mo? Just a couple or three dollars. This was TO's responsibility...heck I did the cooking and determined what needed to go in the suitcases and coolers and food bags.

Make a budget and stick to it. If you overspend on one item, it comes out of another...and if you save somewhere you get something special. I usually do gas, food, lodging, entry fees (very small amount), and a miscellaneous...you are going to want that ice cream cone.

Buy a National Park annual pass if going to more than one park. It admits you and your passengers to every NP. So if you are driving by one park (like Badlands) you get a side trip at no cost. I always checked entry fees and made sure this would actually save money on a specific vacation, almost always it did.

We've actually fed families in parking lots (that was when I discovered pimento cheese was not known in some areashmy:.) In the long run it's more enjoyable than spending a bunch of money in fast food restaurants and tourist traps, IF you like scenery, trails, etc., if you don't, Dollywood and Epcot are fun too, just not our first preference.

Then like UMcG said. Save your money. You might be surprised at how little extra it will cost than a "regular" vacation.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Two of the strange but, perhaps, true stories that I have heard about visitor behavior in GSMNP are as follows: A man attempted to push a black bear into the front seat of his car to get a photograph of the two seated together. I have no idea whether he succeeded in getting that photograph or whether he and his wife emerged from the incident unscathed. In the second incident, a woman was camping in the backcountry, only to be awakened by the sound and smell of a black bear licking cold cream off of her face.

Stupid visitor behavior may be more frequent in our backyard national park, simply because of its proximity to so many major population centers, but it isn’t absent in western parks. On one of the occasions that I visited the Tetons, I viewed a grainy film clip at the visitor center in Moose, which they played regularly to convey the simple message, “Buffalo are wild animals and they are very powerful, so leave them alone.” In this film clip, a man and woman were in a campground when a lone bull came sauntering in. The woman kept motioning to the man, apparently to get him to move closer to the buffalo in order to get a better photograph. Eventually, he was only 20-30 feet away from the bull and the only thing separating them was a small lodgepole pine. The buffalo finally got tired of human intrusion, charged and lowered his head. With one horn, he hooked the man and tossed him, like a rag doll, up in the air at least six feet. Fortunately, the buffalo was not inclined to further press the issue or much more than the man’s pride would have been badly injured.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Well, no one asked me but:

Drive...plan your stops ahead of time, can check before leaving to see if can save $$ at that time; stay at places that offer a hot breakfast..saves time and money.

Pack coolers, yes, coolerS. Have your drinks, PACK WATER, and a lot of food, especially the first days out on the road. This saves time, money, and is a lot healthier. The first few days out I always have fried chicken, potato salad, egg salad, chicken salad, pimento cheese (will keep weeks if in a cooler), grapes/carrot sticks/celery sticks washed and bagged, pickles and olives in jars-when open put uneaten in a zip lock bag and drop in cooler. For later take the precooked bacon and buy tomatoes & lettuce (get the mayo in a squeeze tube and then drop in cooler). We also eat pineapple cheese sandwiches (think that's a Southern thing like pimento cheese.) Sliced cheese, peanut butter and jelly packs go in too for end of trip. Obviously chips. This is not just a money saver, but a big time saver. You will get in places where there are no restaurants or, if there are, the wait is long and service slow (the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks for example.) You can always find a picnic spot...just sit and look down on Crater Lake, eat beside a waterfall or lake in Yosemite, go down a trail and sit under a tree in Black Canyon; it's so worth it! Then if you want to eat out, go to that nice restaurant or get that beer and pizza. I also take a few boiled eggs, English muffins or bread, and home canned sausage...for when you are staying at a place that has no breakfast or it is big $$ and a lot of time. Yes, if you have never had it, canned sausage is good, easy enough to do...just there is a lot of hot grease involved. All this was homemade and I did it when I was working 45-55+ hours a week. It doesn't take super woman, just some planning.

I actually write menus for each day. That way I'm sure we don't get too much of something and TO is an asker (What do we have for lunch tomorrow?) This is also good when you get to that motel late and think I'm too tired to go hunt up a place to eat or when tornados are coming through and you think you would rather stay in a hotel than out in a car:good!:.

Research before you go. There are a ton of things to do that are free or you can do for very little. Know the waterfalls, scenic views, trails, etc. Ever seen the Corn Palace in SD? Free. Jesse James house in Mo? Just a couple or three dollars. This was TO's responsibility...heck I did the cooking and determined what needed to go in the suitcases and coolers and food bags.

Make a budget and stick to it. If you overspend on one item, it comes out of another...and if you save somewhere you get something special. I usually do gas, food, lodging, entry fees (very small amount), and a miscellaneous...you are going to want that ice cream cone.

Buy a National Park annual pass if going to more than one park. It admits you and your passengers to every NP. So if you are driving by one park (like Badlands) you get a side trip at no cost. I always checked entry fees and made sure this would actually save money on a specific vacation, almost always it did.

We've actually fed families in parking lots (that was when I discovered pimento cheese was not known in some areashmy:.) In the long run it's more enjoyable than spending a bunch of money in fast food restaurants and tourist traps, IF you like scenery, trails, etc., if you don't, Dollywood and Epcot are fun too, just not our first preference.

Then like UMcG said. Save your money. You might be surprised at how little extra it will cost than a "regular" vacation.

Excellent ideas. It is also advantageous to go in the offseason. This will make everyone weep for the good ole days, but my first major trip out west was in the fall of 1976. I was on the road for six weeks and covered 10,000 miles, but only spent $500. Of course, gas then cost only 56-64 cents on the average. Many campgrounds, both in national parks and national forests, were closed, as far as fee collections and other services were concerned, but they were still accessible for car camping and tent use. Even KOA campgrounds back then only cost about $3-4 per night for tent sites.

In 1978, I was on the road for almost four months, again covering roughly 10,000 miles, and spent only $1,000. Much of that trip, however, was spent backpacking in the high country, so there were no charges for backcountry camp sites.

Finally, there simply is no substitute for research. Every trip should be better than the last, particularly in the Internet era, as you compile more and more data for planning purposes. Planning these trips, quite frankly, is almost as much fun as executing them.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Well, no one asked me but:

Drive...plan your stops ahead of time, can check before leaving to see if can save $$ at that time; stay at places that offer a hot breakfast..saves time and money.

Pack coolers, yes, coolerS. Have your drinks, PACK WATER, and a lot of food, especially the first days out on the road. This saves time, money, and is a lot healthier. The first few days out I always have fried chicken, potato salad, egg salad, chicken salad, pimento cheese (will keep weeks if in a cooler), grapes/carrot sticks/celery sticks washed and bagged, pickles and olives in jars-when open put uneaten in a zip lock bag and drop in cooler. For later take the precooked bacon and buy tomatoes & lettuce (get the mayo in a squeeze tube and then drop in cooler). We also eat pineapple cheese sandwiches (think that's a Southern thing like pimento cheese.) Sliced cheese, peanut butter and jelly packs go in too for end of trip. Obviously chips. This is not just a money saver, but a big time saver. You will get in places where there are no restaurants or, if there are, the wait is long and service slow (the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks for example.) You can always find a picnic spot...just sit and look down on Crater Lake, eat beside a waterfall or lake in Yosemite, go down a trail and sit under a tree in Black Canyon; it's so worth it! Then if you want to eat out, go to that nice restaurant or get that beer and pizza. I also take a few boiled eggs, English muffins or bread, and home canned sausage...for when you are staying at a place that has no breakfast or it is big $$ and a lot of time. Yes, if you have never had it, canned sausage is good, easy enough to do...just there is a lot of hot grease involved. All this was homemade and I did it when I was working 45-55+ hours a week. It doesn't take super woman, just some planning.

I actually write menus for each day. That way I'm sure we don't get too much of something and TO is an asker (What do we have for lunch tomorrow?) This is also good when you get to that motel late and think I'm too tired to go hunt up a place to eat or when tornados are coming through and you think you would rather stay in a hotel than out in a car:good!:.

Research before you go. There are a ton of things to do that are free or you can do for very little. Know the waterfalls, scenic views, trails, etc. Ever seen the Corn Palace in SD? Free. Jesse James house in Mo? Just a couple or three dollars. This was TO's responsibility...heck I did the cooking and determined what needed to go in the suitcases and coolers and food bags.

Make a budget and stick to it. If you overspend on one item, it comes out of another...and if you save somewhere you get something special. I usually do gas, food, lodging, entry fees (very small amount), and a miscellaneous...you are going to want that ice cream cone.

Buy a National Park annual pass if going to more than one park. It admits you and your passengers to every NP. So if you are driving by one park (like Badlands) you get a side trip at no cost. I always checked entry fees and made sure this would actually save money on a specific vacation, almost always it did.

We've actually fed families in parking lots (that was when I discovered pimento cheese was not known in some areashmy:.) In the long run it's more enjoyable than spending a bunch of money in fast food restaurants and tourist traps, IF you like scenery, trails, etc., if you don't, Dollywood and Epcot are fun too, just not our first preference.

Then like UMcG said. Save your money. You might be surprised at how little extra it will cost than a "regular" vacation.

This is exactly how we do it.

 

[NorCalVol67]

Two of the strange but, perhaps, true stories that I have heard about visitor behavior in GSMNP are as follows: A man attempted to push a black bear into the front seat of his car to get a photograph of the two seated together. I have no idea whether he succeeded in getting that photograph or whether he and his wife emerged from the incident unscathed. In the second incident, a woman was camping in the backcountry, only to be awakened by the sound and smell of a black bear licking cold cream off of her face.

Stupid visitor behavior may be more frequent in our backyard national park, simply because of its proximity to so many major population centers, but it isn’t absent in western parks. On one of the occasions that I visited the Tetons, I viewed a grainy film clip at the visitor center in Moose, which they played regularly to convey the simple message, “Buffalo are wild animals and they are very powerful, so leave them alone.” In this film clip, a man and woman were in a campground when a lone bull came sauntering in. The woman kept motioning to the man, apparently to get him to move closer to the buffalo in order to get a better photograph. Eventually, he was only 20-30 feet away from the bull and the only thing separating them was a small lodgepole pine. The buffalo finally got tired of human intrusion, charged and lowered his head. With one horn, he hooked the man and tossed him, like a rag doll, up in the air at least six feet. Fortunately, the buffalo was not inclined to further press the issue or much more than the man’s pride would have been badly injured.

While living in Jackson, WY I was astounded by the stories I would hear, questions that were asked and oddities that I would witness. I know this happens in all tourist areas, but when it involves large wild animals or predictably unpredictable weather it is more alarming.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Last time we were at GTNP while hiking to Hidden falls on a rainy day, we walk up on this real gem of a woman griping her loser husband out because her brand new white Nikes were getting ruined. She couldn't believe that the park let the trails get muddy like this, she was yelling, why weren't they paved or graveled over? ...I **** you not

 

[Smallvol#1]

Finally, there simply is no substitute for research. Every trip should be better than the last, particularly in the Internet era, as you compile more and more data for planning purposes. Planning these trips, quite frankly, is almost as much fun as executing them.

Yes!!!!

 

[Smallvol#1]

While living in Jackson, WY I was astounded by the stories I would hear, questions that were asked and oddities that I would witness. I know this happens in all tourist areas, but when it involves large wild animals or predictably unpredictable weather it is more alarming.

One evening we were picnicking in Teddy Roosevelt, right beside the ranger station, at a covered table, not very far off the parking lot...get the idea? I packed up the food and TO was carrying it to the car; I was following him with the Monster Dog; all at once, from the away side, a buffalo charged him. He was not near it, going away from it, doing nothing stupid to it. Food went flying everywhere; he was moving to get a car between them; MD and I were speedily moving in the opposing direction. All ended good, the darn buffalo just started grazing in the grass right beside the station. We upped our caution rating to a new level afterwards .

And the very next trip, while at the geyser basin in Yellowstone, we looked up and there was some guy, off the boardwalk, just strolling around...quite a ways out too.:blink: People had to yell to get him to come back. I seriously thought some of them were going to hit him when he got back. I think they were so scared they just got angry. Who wants their kids to see some guy scalded to death right in front of them?

And the first hand stories I could tell about tourists and the Smokies:no::sad:.

 

[NorCalVol67]

Last time we were at GTNP while hiking to Hidden falls on a rainy day, we walk up on this real gem of a woman griping her loser husband out because her brand new white Nikes were getting ruined. She couldn't believe that the park let the trails get muddy like this, she was yelling, why weren't they paved or graveled over? ...I **** you not

Wow, that is sad.

A ranger from another park was visiting Yellowstone when he noticed a family approaching a Bison. He told them the animals were dangerous and they needed to stay a safe distance, to which the father replied the Government would not allow dangerous animals near people.

Someone asked a park employee what the white stuff was on the mountains. He replied it was styrofoam to help the climbers get up the mountain.

I was asked if we had a zoo. I was proud of myself for holding in the sarcasm.

 

[NorCalVol67]

One evening we were picnicking in Teddy Roosevelt, right beside the ranger station, at a covered table, not very far off the parking lot...get the idea? I packed up the food and TO was carrying it to the car; I was following him with the Monster Dog; all at once, from the away side, a buffalo charged him. He was not near it, going away from it, doing nothing stupid to it. Food went flying everywhere; he was moving to get a car between them; MD and I were speedily moving in the opposing direction. All ended good, the darn buffalo just started grazing in the grass right beside the station. We upped our caution rating to a new level afterwards .

And the very next trip, while at the geyser basin in Yellowstone, we looked up and there was some guy, off the boardwalk, just strolling around...quite a ways out too.:blink: People had to yell to get him to come back. I seriously thought some of them were going to hit him when he got back. I think they were so scared they just got angry. Who wants their kids to see some guy scalded to death right in front of them?

And the first hand stories I could tell about tourists and the Smokies:no::sad:.

That is scary, but at least you are intelligent and knew it was scary. I always give wildlife plenty of room and go far off the trail if I need to get around them, and yell and clap when going around blind curves.

Maybe it is due to Rocky & Bullwinkle or Captain Kangaroo, but many people do not appreciate how ornery Moose can be.

It is amazing that people actually die in the thermal pools in Yellowstone thinking it will be a nice hot tub experience.

 

[chatsworth_vol]

Well, no one asked me but:

Drive...plan your stops ahead of time, can check before leaving to see if can save $$ at that time; stay at places that offer a hot breakfast..saves time and money.

Pack coolers, yes, coolerS. Have your drinks, PACK WATER, and a lot of food, especially the first days out on the road. This saves time, money, and is a lot healthier. The first few days out I always have fried chicken, potato salad, egg salad, chicken salad, pimento cheese (will keep weeks if in a cooler), grapes/carrot sticks/celery sticks washed and bagged, pickles and olives in jars-when open put uneaten in a zip lock bag and drop in cooler. For later take the precooked bacon and buy tomatoes & lettuce (get the mayo in a squeeze tube and then drop in cooler). We also eat pineapple cheese sandwiches (think that's a Southern thing like pimento cheese.) Sliced cheese, peanut butter and jelly packs go in too for end of trip. Obviously chips. This is not just a money saver, but a big time saver. You will get in places where there are no restaurants or, if there are, the wait is long and service slow (the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks for example.) You can always find a picnic spot...just sit and look down on Crater Lake, eat beside a waterfall or lake in Yosemite, go down a trail and sit under a tree in Black Canyon; it's so worth it! Then if you want to eat out, go to that nice restaurant or get that beer and pizza. I also take a few boiled eggs, English muffins or bread, and home canned sausage...for when you are staying at a place that has no breakfast or it is big $$ and a lot of time. Yes, if you have never had it, canned sausage is good, easy enough to do...just there is a lot of hot grease involved. All this was homemade and I did it when I was working 45-55+ hours a week. It doesn't take super woman, just some planning.

I actually write menus for each day. That way I'm sure we don't get too much of something and TO is an asker (What do we have for lunch tomorrow?) This is also good when you get to that motel late and think I'm too tired to go hunt up a place to eat or when tornados are coming through and you think you would rather stay in a hotel than out in a car:good!:.

Research before you go. There are a ton of things to do that are free or you can do for very little. Know the waterfalls, scenic views, trails, etc. Ever seen the Corn Palace in SD? Free. Jesse James house in Mo? Just a couple or three dollars. This was TO's responsibility...heck I did the cooking and determined what needed to go in the suitcases and coolers and food bags.

Make a budget and stick to it. If you overspend on one item, it comes out of another...and if you save somewhere you get something special. I usually do gas, food, lodging, entry fees (very small amount), and a miscellaneous...you are going to want that ice cream cone.

Buy a National Park annual pass if going to more than one park. It admits you and your passengers to every NP. So if you are driving by one park (like Badlands) you get a side trip at no cost. I always checked entry fees and made sure this would actually save money on a specific vacation, almost always it did.

We've actually fed families in parking lots (that was when I discovered pimento cheese was not known in some areashmy:.) In the long run it's more enjoyable than spending a bunch of money in fast food restaurants and tourist traps, IF you like scenery, trails, etc., if you don't, Dollywood and Epcot are fun too, just not our first preference.

Then like UMcG said. Save your money. You might be surprised at how little extra it will cost than a "regular" vacation.

I get what you are saying. Finances are a minor issue but I plan to work around that using what you're talking about. The biggest problem is scheduling. The wife especially has a hard time getting out of work. She's one of those mid 2000s college grads that hit the job market just as the economy crashed. She's had to spend first 10 or so years working temp (=no vacation) she is just in the last 2 years gotten a permanent job, but is still at the point where she only gets a day here a day there of vacation. It'll be a few years before she can accrue enough days off to make a trip like that doable or the seniority to get to take those days in big blocks.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

That is scary, but at least you are intelligent and knew it was scary. I always give wildlife plenty of room and go far off the trail if I need to get around them, and yell and clap when going around blind curves.

Maybe it is due to Rocky & Bullwinkle or Captain Kangaroo, but many people do not appreciate how ornery Moose can be.

It is amazing that people actually die in the thermal pools in Yellowstone thinking it will be a nice hot tub experience.

Speaking of moose, that reminds me of another story. This incident occurred in Yellowstone, I believe, during the rutting season. As you know, moose do not possess particularly good vision. Well, this big bull, who had too much testosterone coursing through his veins at the moment, noticed this big, funny-looking “animal,” which refused to yield to his courtship display of dominance. He charged it three times and, each time, a terrific collision ensued. After the last encounter, he brushed himself off, so to speak, and decided, in essence, “Well, I can’t beat him, but that [bulldozer] didn’t beat me either, so we’ll call it a draw.”

For the record, I read that account far too long ago to be able to give a reference.

 

[NorCalVol67]

Speaking of moose, that reminds me of another story. This incident occurred in Yellowstone, I believe, during the rutting season. As you know, moose do not possess particularly good vision. Well, this big bull, who had too much testosterone coursing through his veins at the moment, noticed this big, funny-looking “animal,” which refused to yield to his courtship display of dominance. He charged it three times and, each time, a terrific collision ensued. After the last encounter, he brushed himself off, so to speak, and decided, in essence, “Well, I can’t beat him, but that [bulldozer] didn’t beat me either, so we’ll call it a draw.”

For the record, I read that account far too long ago to be able to give a reference.

That is a funny story. I had friends who were mountain biking when they noticed a moose on the trail ahead of them. They dismounted the bikes and remained calm before the moose suddenly charged. They simply 'hid' behind trees until he gave up and went about his day.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

The grand prize for stupid behavior in dealing with wildlife, however, may go to a man who lived in Alberta. He was driving along at dusk and spotted a grizzly crossing the road in the distance. He must have had a wild hair that he suddenly felt compelled to scratch, for he decided to play a practical joke on this griz. He turned off his lights and engine, so he could coast as quietly as possible up to the bear. He then proceeded to emit a prolonged honk of his horn. As you can imagine, the grizzly responded simultaneously with fear, momentary shock, followed by rage and, finally, an immense demonstration of adrenalin-fueled power. After virtually jumping out of its skin, it turned, reared and slammed both forepaws down on the hood of the vehicle, practically shattering the engine block. He then proceeded to skedaddle up the side of the nearest mountain as fast as the proverbial scalded cat.

If only we had a transcript of the conversation that he later had with his insurance agent. “No, sir, crushed engine blocks due to incurring the deserved wrath of a grizzly bear is not covered by your policy.” This incident occurred a loooong time ago; my best guess as to its source would be Grizzly Country by Andy Russell, which was originally published in 1967.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Last time we were at GTNP while hiking to Hidden falls on a rainy day, we walk up on this real gem of a woman griping her loser husband out because her brand new white Nikes were getting ruined. She couldn't believe that the park let the trails get muddy like this, she was yelling, why weren't they paved or graveled over? ...I **** you not

Alas, some people unfortunately are incapable of decompressing on vacation, even in the presence of “God’s finest sculpturins,” to borrow a quote from Del Gue in Jeremiah Johnson. Your story reminds me of the only time I ever felt even a twinge of irritation on a vacation. We were standing on the top of Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park, which was/is, unfortunately, one of the few areas in the park that had cell phone coverage. This knucklehead from Los Angeles was just blathering on and on, complaining about the baggage difficulties he had experienced on his flight out there, utterly oblivious to the grandeur before him or the hoary marmot that was practically at his feet.

 

[Smallvol#1]

The grand prize for stupid behavior in dealing with wildlife, however, may go to a man who lived in Alberta. He was driving along at dusk and spotted a grizzly crossing the road in the distance. He must have had a wild hair that he suddenly felt compelled to scratch, for he decided to play a practical joke on this griz. He turned off his lights and engine, so he could coast as quietly as possible up to the bear. He then proceeded to emit a prolonged honk of his horn. As you can imagine, the grizzly responded simultaneously with fear, momentary shock, followed by rage and, finally, an immense demonstration of adrenalin-fueled power. After virtually jumping out of its skin, it turned, reared and slammed both forepaws down on the hood of the vehicle, practically shattering the engine block. He then proceeded to skedaddle up the side of the nearest mountain as fast as the proverbial scalded cat.

If only we had a transcript of the conversation that he later had with his insurance agent. “No, sir, crushed engine blocks due to incurring the deserved wrath of a grizzly bear is not covered by your policy.” This incident occurred a loooong time ago; my best guess as to its source would be Grizzly Country by Andy Russell, which was originally published in 1967.

Those things can rip a car open. I know you've seen the pics of cars people left food in. Only thing I'm really scared of in the Smokies is boar, but grizzlies! I'm scared to death of them. I've got a good story about Glacier, TO, and a mountain goat though 😂😂, thankful those things aren't mean!

 

[NorCalVol67]

Signal Mountain is magical during a full moon.

 

[NorCalVol67]

The grand prize for stupid behavior in dealing with wildlife, however, may go to a man who lived in Alberta. He was driving along at dusk and spotted a grizzly crossing the road in the distance. He must have had a wild hair that he suddenly felt compelled to scratch, for he decided to play a practical joke on this griz. He turned off his lights and engine, so he could coast as quietly as possible up to the bear. He then proceeded to emit a prolonged honk of his horn. As you can imagine, the grizzly responded simultaneously with fear, momentary shock, followed by rage and, finally, an immense demonstration of adrenalin-fueled power. After virtually jumping out of its skin, it turned, reared and slammed both forepaws down on the hood of the vehicle, practically shattering the engine block. He then proceeded to skedaddle up the side of the nearest mountain as fast as the proverbial scalded cat.

If only we had a transcript of the conversation that he later had with his insurance agent. “No, sir, crushed engine blocks due to incurring the deserved wrath of a grizzly bear is not covered by your policy.” This incident occurred a loooong time ago; my best guess as to its source would be Grizzly Country by Andy Russell, which was originally published in 1967.

But that grizzly on Grizzly Adams was so friendly.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

Those things can rip a car open. I know you've seen the pics of cars people left food in. Only thing I'm really scared of in the Smokies is boar, but grizzlies! I'm scared to death of them. I've got a good story about Glacier, TO, and a mountain goat though ����, thankful those things aren't mean!

My first visit to Glacier was in late September, 1976, only a day or two after a fatal mauling in the Many Glacier campground. After the attack, the campground was closed, except to "hard-sided vehicles."