Running into groggy grizzlies, a hunger for huckleberries, and standing your ground no matter how scared you are. Glacier National Park is a hiker's paradise, but when they close a particular trail, it's for a good reason.
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00:00Running into groggy grizzlies, a hunger for huckleberries, and standing your ground no
00:05matter how scared you are, Glacier National Park is a hiker's paradise. But when they
00:08close a particular trail, it's for a good reason.
00:11While it might seem like part of the fun of hiking Huckleberry Lookout Trail would be
00:15picking a handful of right-off-the-bush huckleberries to enjoy along the walk, trail closures often
00:19coincide with peak huckleberry season. That's from the middle of July to the middle of September,
00:24and although it seems like that's kind of a bummer, there's a very, very good reason
00:27for those closures.
00:28As Glacier National Park Supervisory Ranger Gary Moss explained to Backpacker,
00:32"...large numbers of bears congregate there when there's a bumper crop."
00:36Humans aren't the only ones who love those oh-so-delicious huckleberries, and according
00:39to research done by the National Park Service, it's estimated that the park's bears rely
00:43on Montana's beloved berry for as much as 15 percent of their diet. It's worth mentioning,
00:48too, that Glacier National Park isn't just home to a few bears. Although exact numbers
00:52are unknown, the NPS estimates there are somewhere around 1,000 bears living in the park.
00:57Sure, bears can be adorable, but they also come with massive claws and even bigger appetites.
01:02And yes, there have been incidents where hikers have run into bears along the trail.
01:06In July 2020, the National Park Service issued a warning bulletin that a woman who had been
01:10jogging along Huckleberry Lookout Trail had surprised a grizzly bear. She physically ran
01:14into the bear, and they fell off the trail in a heap that had to have been pretty terrifying.
01:18Thankfully, the bear ran off, but that hasn't always happened.
01:21In 2016, a park employee was on the trail picking huckleberries when she had a run-in
01:25with a grizzly and walked away with severe but non-fatal injuries. The most devastating
01:30tragedy played out in 1998 when an ill-advised seasonal employee set out with the goal of
01:34getting up close and personal with the park's bears. Craig Dahl disappeared in May amid
01:39warnings that very hungry bears were in the process of emerging from hibernation, and
01:43his remains were discovered a few days later. Non-fatal bear attacks do happen annually,
01:47so bottom line? Rangers know what's what. The threat is real, and visitors should always
01:52follow posted signs and listen to warnings.
01:55After Craig Dahl's remains were discovered in Glacier National Park, park rangers and
01:58law enforcement wanted to know what happened. So they turned to a surprising resource that
02:02was available thanks to Blackfeet Tribe wildlife biologist Daniel Kearney. Kearney had spent
02:07the prior three years tagging Glacier Park grizzlies, taking hair samples, and cataloging
02:11the bear's DNA.
02:12Thanks to Kearney's database, the bears who had at least partially eaten Dahl's remains
02:16were identified when DNA extracted from nearby droppings was matched to a female grizzly
02:20nicknamed Chocolate Legs. She was well-known to park employees, as she had first become
02:25troublesome at just 18 months old. That's when she was found to be regularly approaching
02:29park visitors, which was already a bad sign.
02:31Still, rangers tried to save her and minimize the danger, so she was captured and relocated
02:3620 miles away. For a while, it seemed like everything was fine. But she was seen approaching
02:40people again in 1997, and after Dahl's death, Chocolate Legs and her cubs were killed.
02:45And, you know, what we have now is a revolving door. Bears come and they get into trouble,
02:49and they're either moved or they're destroyed.
02:52Chris Servine, bear expert for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, explained
02:55to The New York Times that since the cubs had presumably seen their mother kill a human,
02:59they were at risk as well, saying,
03:01"[Offspring learn from their mother, and since they were involved in pursuing and eating
03:04a human, those offspring were likely to do it again.]
03:07The occasional closures of Huckleberry Lookout Trail aren't just as simple as trying to prevent
03:11tourists from being attacked and eaten by bears. It's also a fascinating opportunity
03:16to take a closer look at just how interconnected wildlife is. Two kinds of bears live in Glacier
03:21National Park — black bears and grizzly bears. It's impossible to tell the difference
03:25between the two by color alone, as both can range in color from pale blonde to red and
03:29brown to black. The bear's shape is a better indicator, as a grizzly has a tell-tale hump.
03:34Both types are omnivores, which means that not only do they love huckleberries, but they'll
03:38scarf down a person, too. And yes, if you're thinking it, the NPS confirms that black bears
03:43do in fact love honey. And no, this does not make them more approachable.
03:47Park researchers have found that the bear-huckleberry relationship is a mutually beneficial one.
03:52The bears get a meal, but huckleberry seeds remain viable through the bears' digestive
03:55system, which means the huckleberries get spread as far as the bears wander. Huckleberries,
03:59meanwhile, are considered an invaluable part of the ecosystem. They are incredibly hardy
04:03and often among the first plants to re-establish the ecosystem after a forest fire, and they're
04:08an invaluable food source for other species as well. It's a win-win.
04:12So here's a terrifying tidbit. Those fluffy, sometimes adorable bears that live in Glacier
04:17National Park can reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. In other words, puny humans
04:21aren't going to be outrunning them anytime soon. It makes sense, then, that the National
04:25Park Service has several guidelines put in place for avoiding bears, and obeying trail
04:29closures almost goes without saying. There are some that border on common sense, like
04:34not stopping near bears and remaining a safe distance away. Traveling in groups is another
04:38one, but there's an interesting tidbit that goes along with that. Glacier National Park
04:42has never had any bear attacks that involve a group of four or more people. Others are
04:46a little less intuitive and include directions that say whatever you do, you shouldn't run,
04:51before or after meeting a bear. Running on trails increases the chance that you'll stumble
04:55on one in a very bad way, and running away from a bear that's already locked on isn't
04:59going to work out well for the human half of the conflict. Also, keep food secure and
05:03be aware of your surroundings, particularly bear-friendly streams and berry patches, exactly
05:08like those that line the Huckleberry Lookout Trail.
05:11Bears obviously go wherever they please, and even closing trails is not always enough to
05:15make sure they don't cross paths with people. That's one reason why the National Park Service
05:19advises carrying bear spray while you're in their territory, and there are a few things
05:23to know here. For starters, even though it works on the same principles and ingredients
05:27as pepper spray, it generally contains about 2% capsaicin, and it's about three times hotter.
05:33That makes it stronger, more potent, and more effective over a wider area. Spraying a bear
05:37has about the same impact as spraying someone in the face with pepper spray, and that's
05:41what gives a soft, squishy, and relatively slow human the chance to get away. But there's
05:45another benefit here, too. As Chris Servine of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
05:49explained to The Washington Post, the spray teaches avoidance of humans without killing
05:54the bear so the behavior can then be passed along. Mama bears teach their cubs it's better
05:58to just stay away from people, and that's the ideal situation.
06:01The most important thing about bear spray is knowing how to use it.
06:05If you ever have to use bear spray, have the can at the ready when the bear gets within
06:0950 feet. But don't use it just yet. It's most effective when they're between 20 and 30 feet
06:13away. Just the sight of the can is oftentimes enough to discourage the curious, the hungry,
06:18and sometimes even the angriest bears.
06:21Ideally, the National Park Service doesn't intervene with the wildlife they oversee and
06:24protect at all. They're there, in part, to make sure that nature is still allowed to
06:28take an oftentimes cruel course while still letting visitors get a glimpse of that process.
06:33But there are some times when they're required to step in. One of those times is when human
06:36lives are in danger. When bears come into close contact with people too often, that's
06:40precisely what happens.
06:42While the first choice is to chase animals away and reinforce the idea that humans are
06:46bad, that doesn't always work. In 2017, for example, Yellowstone authorities euthanized
06:51a grizzly that had started wandering into campsites, harassing people, destroying property,
06:55and stealing food.
06:56A similar situation played out in Grand Teton National Park in 2021, when a grizzly the
07:01NPS described as, quote, "'highly food-conditioned' was euthanized."
07:05And an even more heartbreaking situation was reported in 2019 when wildlife authorities
07:09in Oregon euthanized a black bear that was so regularly being fed that people could take
07:13selfies with it. Had people left the bear alone, they would have relocated it.
07:17So bottom line? Closing trails like Huckleberry Lookout during times when there's a high likelihood
07:22of bear activity isn't just to protect people who might startle a hungry bear. It's also
07:26to protect bears and keep them from learning that humans aren't as scary as they seem.
07:30It never ends well, especially for the bear.
07:33Being hopelessly lost in a national park with no phone and no shoes is definitely up there
07:37on the list of bad days. That's what happened to 19-year-old Matthew Reed in May of 2023.
07:43He was hiking Glacier National Park's Huckleberry Lookout trail alone when he slipped, fell,
07:47and was unable to climb back onto the trail. So he started heading down and was only found
07:51the following day after search-and-rescue parties picked up his heat signature.
07:55After Reed was reported missing, authorities closed the trail while they searched for him.
07:59And it makes sense. Search-and-rescue operations are extensive, and the last thing rescuers
08:03need is more hikers stumbling into a search area.
08:06KRTV reported that after park rangers failed to find him in an initial search, it expanded
08:10to 30 volunteers, the U.S. Border Patrol, the sheriff's office, a helicopter, and search-and-rescue
08:15dogs. And that was for one person.
08:18I just cannot say enough from the bottom of my heart how grateful and thankful I am for
08:24all of you.
08:25The moral of the story? The news could be a lot worse than finding out the trail you've
08:29been planning on hiking is closed for the day.
08:32It's a little unclear just how many people are reported missing from the country's national
08:35parks each and every year. But when the New York Post filed a request for numbers, they
08:39found that between 2018 and 2023, at least 1,180 people were reported as going missing.
08:46In other words, respect closed trails.