I know it seems scary, but their existence has little to no impact on outdoor recreation. They don't want to be around us anymore than we want to be around them.
All the times I've run into a grizzly hiking or backpacking, they either ignore me or leave. Conflicts are rare, and almost exclusively happen because of a surprise close encounter, or someone comes too close to a carcass a bear is camping out on.
The ones to worry about are the damn cow elk during calving season. Pure chaotic evils.
Source: I'm from the grizzly range of western Montana and lived in Yellowstone National Park for many years.
We all knew about the stay home advisory. A lot of folk were only more determined to gather, and there was a general understanding that if there was an attack, it would throw gasoline on the movement as a whole. Crowd energy is weird.
I know it seems scary, but their existence has little to no impact on outdoor recreation. They don't want to be around us anymore than we want to be around them.
All the times I've run into a grizzly hiking or backpacking, they either ignore me or leave. Conflicts are rare, and almost exclusively happen because of a surprise close encounter, or someone comes too close to a carcass a bear is camping out on.
The ones to worry about are the damn cow elk during calving season. Pure chaotic evils.
Source: I'm from the grizzly range of western Montana and lived in Yellowstone National Park for many years.