Sunday, August 01, 2004
Grizzly-Free Trail Secrets
Hello Everyone,
Tammy asked me to reveal our family secrets to finding grizzly-free trails in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. We really don't have any special secrets, though I can offer three suggestions that served us well.
The first is rather obvious. We have three kids! Our hikes are never really quiet.
Our second secret is "Jeopardy". Martin loves the show and always wants to be Alex Tribeck, so we've created our own family version of Jeopardy. It's kind of like the game we played at Heidi's wedding shower with all sorts of trivia about she and Ted. In our family, whoever is "Alex" chooses five categories and comes up with the answers. The rest of us "buzz in" (loudly to scare the bears away) and try to answer correctly. It's fun because we're always learning something new. For example, the boys love animals, especially reptiles and amphibians, so there's usually categories relating to that. Jeff and I pick categories to teach the kids about what we do at work or around the house, when we dated, where we lived, family hobbies, etc. And Anne, well she usually provides a four sentence answer that tells us everything we'd ever want to know about the questions, and then some!
Finally, the secret I believe was truly key to finding grizzly-free trails: I got a "Bear Bell"! Jeff and the kids laughed and gave me a bad time but it made me feel better since I'm not really a bear fan! I've managed to get over my California rattle snake fear and my Oregon poison ivy fear, but the bear fear thing really did a number on me. I received a lot of knowing smiles, a few joking comments and some inquiries as I jingled down the trails, but I felt secure. It wasn't until we returned from our last hike, on the last day that we came across a trail sign indicating bear bells were not effective in keeping bears away!! Oh well, ignorance was bliss and maybe, just maybe, a grizzly steered clear of us when he heard me coming!!
Have a great vacation Bryan and Tammy! You've got it all in your own backyard.
Lori
