Glacier National Park is one of the few places in North America where all the native carnivores thrive, including bears, moose, wolves, coyotes and cougars. Large predators indicate a healthy landscape and ecosystem with abundant prey, intact habitats and tolerant people. (National Park Service)

Three Bears

We saw ten bears in Glacier NP: five grizzlies and five black bears. We saw more bears in this one trip than we’ve seen in all other parks combined. This mom and two cub black bears were foraging for food along the Flathead River. They were very playful, especially the cubs, and often got up on two feet to fetch food from the bushes.

 

 

 

Grizzly Mom and Cub

We had the pleasure and excitement of seeing a massive grizzly sow and her yearling cub on our very first hike. After we enjoyed a peaceful lunch at Iceberg Lake, Theresa spotted the cub about 50 feet off the trail, then we saw the mom. Though we weren’t in immediate danger, a group of four tourists behind us on the trail were in the direct path of the grizzlies, so we called out to warn them.

Glacier National Park boasts one of the highest densities of grizzly bears in the world. Grizzlies roam freely through open meadows, river valleys and mountain forests. They can be active at any time, but mostly mornings and evenings. A female will give birth to a litter of 1-4 cubs between January and March. The cubs stay with their mother for 2-4 years, and siblings stay together for 1-2 years after that. The average grizzly will live about 20 years.

 

 

 

Grizzly Hump

Adult grizzlies weigh 300-600 pounds but can tip the scale at up to 1,400 pounds. Their fur can range from blond to brown to nearly black. The way to distinguish a grizzly bear from a black bear is the grizzly’s trademark hump of muscle over its shoulders, as seen in the photo above. This large muscle hump, along with its four-inch claws, help the grizzly dig for food.

Grizzly bears are omnivores, with about 10-20% of their diet coming from raw meat (carrion, rodents and the occasional tourist) with the balance in berries, grubs, plants and grasses. In early fall a grizzly may consume as many as 20-30 thousand calories a day.

Grizzlies typically try to avoid humans, but inevitably they attack one or two people per year in Glacier NP. Even so, there have been only 10 fatal bear attacks in Glacer NP since 1910. Most of these attacks occur when a hiker startles a bear or finds himself between mother and cub. But you are much more likely to drown in Glacier NP than be killed by a grizzly.

 

 

 

Hike at Your Own Risk

The day after we saw the grizzly pair, park rangers put up this sign on the trail. It’s an odd feeling not being on top of the food chain!

 

 

 

What is Plural for Moose?

These magnificent moose with full rack were enjoying a dip in Bullhead Lake along Swiftcurrent Trail. Moose can be very dangerous and charge humans at will, especially during mating season. It’s best to give moose a wide berth.

 

 

 

Goin’ Fishin’

I got lucky with this shot. We spotted this duck in the middle of Lake Josephine diving for fish. I decided to test the full zoom on my new Canon S5 digital camera: 12X stabilized optical zoom plus 4X digital zoom for a total of 48X. I power on the camera, zoom on the duck, and the very first dive he snags a fish! But we watched him dive dozens of times more, and he came up empty every time. It’s certainly not easy to catch your own dinner.

 

 

 

Go Rams!

Big horn sheep foraging along the Ptarmigan Tunnel trail.

 

 

 

Who’s There?

The sheep often travelled in large groups of 10 or more. These two spotted us walking on the trail below them.

 

 

 

Billy Goat Gruff

A herd of goats reside near Logan Pass on the Continental Divide. With thousands of people passing through every day, the goats have become quite used to people. This goat is enjoying a nice hike along a raised walkway frequented by tourists.

 

 

 

On Edge

You can’t tell from this picture, but this mom and kid goat pair are perched on a small shelf on a canyon wall hundreds of feet off the ground. They possess an incredible ability to navigate tight spaces at dizzying heights.

 

 

 

Ptarmigan

The ptarmigan is a medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family that seasonally camouflages its feathers, moulting from white in winter to brown in summer. Ptarmigans were common along the hiking trails. They were wary of people but not overly frightened. The ptarmigans had an odd habit of cooing repeatedly while walking a few steps in front of us along the trail for quite a while before finally veering off into the woods.

 

 

 

Soaring with the Hawks

I saw a bald eagle on our first day near Lake McDonald but couldn’t get a picture in time. Unfortunately I didn’t see any more eagles, but we saw plenty of hawks. This hawk was launching off Apgar Peak and soaring on thermals two thousand feet above Lake McDonald.

 

 

 

Groundhog Day

Marmots are large ground squirrels (closely related to the groundhog) that live in burrows and hibernate through winter. They are highly social and use loud whistles to communicate with each other. These two marmots were sunning themselves on boulders below Grinnell Glacier.

 

 

 

Too Cute to be a Rodent

Marmots are quite cute up close.

 

 

 

No Fear

Here is the cutest snowshoe hare. This little guy had no fear of us at all.

 

 

 

You Don’t Need that Granola Bar, Do You?

Common rest stops along the trails were often “manned” by ground squirrels who have mastered the art of looking cute while begging for handouts. We resisted the urge to feed them, but no matter how careful we were, the squirrels always managed to find some small nugget of food that slipped through our fingers.

Thank you for viewing our pictures of Glacier National Park in Montana. We hope you enjoyed the tour. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us.

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