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.
While it might seem like part of the fun of hiking Huckleberry Lookout Trail would be picking
a handful of right-off-the-bush huckleberries to enjoy along the walk, trail closures often
coincide with peak huckleberry season. That's from the middle of July to the middle of September,
and although it seems like that's kind of a bummer, there's a very, very good reason for those
closures. As Glacier National Park supervisory ranger Gary Moss explained to Backpacker,
"Large numbers of bears congregate there when there's a bumper crop."
Humans aren't the only ones who love those oh-so-delicious huckleberries,
and according to research done by the National Park Service, it's estimated that
the park's bears rely on Montana's beloved berry for as much as 15% of their diet.
It's worth mentioning, too, that Glacier National
Park isn't just home to a few bears. Although exact numbers are unknown,
the NPS estimates there are somewhere around 1,000 bears living in the park.
Sure, bears can be adorable, but they also come with massive claws and even bigger
appetites — and yes, there have been incidents where hikers have run into bears along the trail.
In July 2020, the National Park Service issued a warning bulletin that a woman who had been jogging
along Huckleberry Lookout Trail had surprised a grizzly bear. She physically ran into the bear,
and they fell off the trail in a heap that had to have been pretty terrifying. Thankfully,
the bear ran off, but that hasn't always happened.
In 2016, a park employee was on the trail picking huckleberries when she had a run-in with a
grizzly and walked away with severe but non-fatal injuries. The most devastating tragedy played out
in 1998 when an ill-advised seasonal employee set out with the goal of getting up close and personal
with the park's bears. Craig Dahl disappeared in May amid warnings that very hungry bears were in
the process of emerging from hibernation, and his remains were discovered a few days later.
Non-fatal bear attacks do happen annually, so bottom line? Rangers know what's what,
the threat is real, and visitors should always follow posted signs and listen to warnings.
After Craig Dahl's remains were discovered in Glacier National Park, park rangers and law
enforcement wanted to know what happened. So, they turned to a surprising resource that was available
thanks to Blackfeet Tribe wildlife biologist Daniel Carney. Carney had spent the prior three
years tagging Glacier Park grizzlies, taking hair samples, and cataloging the bears' DNA.
Thanks to Carney's database, the bears who had at least partially eaten Dahl's remains
were identified when DNA extracted from nearby droppings was matched to a female
grizzly nicknamed Chocolate Legs. She was well-known to park employees,
as she had first become troublesome at just 18 months old. That's when she was found to
be regularly approaching park visitors, which was already a bad sign. Still, rangers tried
to save her and minimize the danger, so she was captured and relocated 20 miles away. For a while,
it seemed like everything was fine. But she was seen approaching people again in 1997,
and after Dahl's death, Chocolate Legs and her cubs were killed.
"And you know what we have now is a revolving door where bears come
and they get into trouble and they're either moved or they're destroyed."
Chris Servheen, bear expert for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
explained to The New York Times that since the cubs had presumably
seen their mother kill a human, they were a risk as well, saying,
"Offspring learn from their mother, and since they were involved in pursuing and
eating a human, those offspring were likely to do it again."
The occasional closures of Huckleberry Lookout Trail aren't just as simple as trying to prevent
tourists from being attacked and eaten by bears. It's also a fascinating opportunity to take a
closer look at just how interconnected wildlife is. Two kinds of bears live in
Glacier National Park: black bears and grizzly bears. It's impossible to tell the difference
between the two by color alone, as both can range in color from pale blonde to red and
brown to black. The bear's shape is a better indicator, as a grizzly has a telltale hump.
Both types are omnivores, which means that not only do they love huckleberries,
but they'll scarf down a person, too. And yes, if you're thinking it, the NPS confirms that
black bears do, in fact, love honey. And no, this does not make them more approachable.
Park researchers have found that the bear-huckleberry relationship is a
mutually beneficial one. The bears get a meal, but huckleberry seeds remain viable through
the bear's digestive system, which means the huckleberries get spread as far as the bears
wander. Huckleberries, meanwhile, are considered an invaluable part of the ecosystem. They're
incredibly hardy and often among the first plants to reestablish the ecosystem after a forest fire,
and they're an invaluable food source for other species as well. It's a win-win.
So, here's a terrifying tidbit: Those fluffy,
sometimes adorable bears that live in Glacier National Park can reach speeds of up to 35
mph. In other words? Puny humans aren't going to be outrunning them anytime soon.
It makes sense, then, that the National Park Service has several guidelines put in place for
avoiding bears — and obeying trail closures almost goes without saying. There are some that border on
common sense, like not stopping near bears and remaining a safe distance away. Traveling in
groups is another one, but there's an interesting tidbit that goes along with that: Glacier National
Park has never had any bear attacks that involve a group of four or more people.
Others are a little less intuitive and include directions that say whatever you do,
you shouldn't run — before or after meeting a bear. Running on trails increases the chance
that you'll stumble on one in a very bad way, and running away from a bear that's already
locked on isn't going to work out well for the human half of the conflict. Also,
keep food secured, and be aware of your surroundings, particularly bear-friendly
streams and berry patches ... exactly like those that line the Huckleberry Lookout Trail.
Bears obviously go wherever they please, and even closing trails is not always enough to
make sure they don't cross paths with people. That's one reason why
the National Park Service advises carrying bear spray while you're in their territory,
and there are a few things to know here. For starters, even though it works on the same
principles and ingredients as pepper spray, it generally contains about 2% capsaicin, and it's
about three times hotter. That makes it stronger, more potent, and more effective over a wider area.
Spraying a bear has about the same impact as spraying someone in the face with pepper spray,
and that's what gives a soft, squishy, and relatively slow human the chance
to get away. But there's another benefit here, too. As Chris Servheen of the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service explained to The Washington Post,
"The spray teaches avoidance of humans without killing the bear,
so the behavior can then be passed along."
Mama bears teach their cubs it's better to just stay away from people,
and that's the ideal situation.
"The most important thing about bear spray, is knowing how to use it."
If you ever have to use bear spray, have the can at the ready when the bear gets within 50 feet,
but don't use it just yet. It's most effective when they're between 20 and
30 feet away. Just the sight of the can is oftentimes enough to discourage the curious,
the hungry, and sometimes, even the angriest bears.
Ideally, the National Park Service doesn't intervene with the wildlife they oversee
and protect at all. They're there, in part, to make sure that nature is still allowed to take
an oftentimes cruel course while still letting visitors get a glimpse of that
process. But there are some times when they're required to step in. One of those times is when
human lives are in danger. When bears come into close contact with people too often,
that's precisely what happens. While the first choice is to chase animals away
and reinforce the idea that humans are bad, that doesn't always work.
In 2017, for example, Yellowstone authorities euthanized a grizzly that
had started wandering into campsites, harassing people, destroying property,
and stealing food. A similar situation played out in Grand Teton National Park in 2021,
when a grizzly the NPS described as, quote, "highly food-conditioned" was euthanized.
And an even more heartbreaking situation was reported in 2019 when wildlife authorities in
Oregon euthanized a black bear that was so regularly being fed that people could
take selfies with it. Had people left the bear alone, they would have relocated it.
So, bottom line? Closing trails like Huckleberry Lookout during times
when there's a high likelihood of bear activity isn't just to protect people
who might startle a hungry bear, it's also to protect bears and keep them from learning that
humans aren't as scary as they seem. It never ends well, especially for the bear.
Being hopelessly lost in a national park with no phone and no shoes is definitely
up there on the list of bad days. That's what happened to 19-year-old Matthew Read in May
of 2023. He was hiking Glacier National Park's Huckleberry Lookout Trail alone when he slipped,
fell, and was unable to climb back onto the trail. So, he started heading down and was
only found the following day after search and rescue parties picked up his heat signature.
After Read was reported missing, authorities closed the trail while they searched for him. And,
it makes sense. Search and rescue operations are extensive, and the last thing rescuers need is
more hikers stumbling into a search area. KRTV reported that after the park rangers failed to
find him in an initial search, it expanded to 30 volunteers, the U.S. Border Patrol,
the Sheriff's Office, a helicopter, and search and rescue dogs, and that was for one person!
"I just,
cannot say enough from the bottom of my heart how grateful and thankful I am for all of you."
The moral of the story? The news could be a lot worse than finding
out the trail you'd been planning on hiking is closed for the day.
It's a little unclear just how many people are
reported missing from the country's national parks each and every year,
but when the New York Post filed a request for numbers, they found that between 2018 and 2023,
at least 1,180 people were reported as going missing. In other words? Respect closed trails.