I can now say that I have seen a grizzly in the wild. I was up at Placid Lake State Park last weekend near the end of a loop tour from/to Missoula. I wanted some supplies from Seeley Lake. Those familiar with the area know that there is no shoulder in the that area of MT 83. The traffic was pretty heavy on a Friday afternoon. So I took the back "road" to Seeley kale. At one point I came to a fork in the road that does not show on Google Maps. After determining that taking the right fork was the correct way, I put my phone back in the chest pocket the my rain jacket. As I looked up, an adult grizzly walked out of the trees and crossed the road into the trees between the road forks. It was only about 60' in front of me.
At first I was in disbelief. Then I became excited and started to retrieve my phone to take a photo. My left brain then said "Are you nuts? Come up with a strategy ASAP!" My next thought was "So...This is how it ends for me."
Then, as if out of a move, a man on an ATV-gold cart thing with three dogs in approaching. I wave him down and gave him the skinny. He handed up riding in front of me for about a half mile, honking his horn to frighten off anything that might be lurking nearby.
The rest of the 6.5 mile into town was uneventful except for the fact that the "road" is absolutely horrible for touring bike in many places. Even one with one nearly empty pannier. (I had to walk in several spots due to rocky conditions. Conditions improved as I got close to town.) After shopping, I paid a very nice local man to drive me and the bike back to the park.
I have seen plenty of black bears in the wild, including a huge one staring at me from about 30' away while I was leaving camp during a tour across PA. They are almost like the squirrels of the bear kingdom. Mostly trying to avoid you. There is something different about the way a grizzly moves; how it carries itself. The best way I have come up with to describe it is that it moves with total authority.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
