It’s story time!
You may be wondering why there are quotation marks around the word encounter. That’s just something you’ll have to continue reading to find out. This story has been my favorite to tell so far in my 24 years around the sun, and today I’m sharing it with all of you!
Let me take you back to how it all started.
Back in June, I visited one of my favorite gal pals who is currently finishing up her graduate degree at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.
Visiting her is always the best because I get to go places I’ve never been and do things I’ve never done before. One thing I was looking forward to doing was tent camping outside of Jackson Hole in Wyoming.
It was a beautiful campsite, but the best part was that it was FREE. Gotta love that, huh?
Another thing I was looking forward to was visiting Grand Teton National Park since it’s rated one of the best national parks in the U.S.
We could see the Tetons from our campsite, and the view was incredible, but they were even better up close.
After a quick stop at the Visitor Center (10/10 recommend stopping to see the excellent exhibit they have in there about how the Tetons were formed) and a more extended stop to take some pictures, we were off to find a short trail to hike.
We didn’t have a specific trail picked out, but we ended up following signs to the Lupine Meadows Trailhead. Initially, we were going to go for a short hike and return to the car, but about 5 minutes in, we passed a couple who gave us information that changed this decision.
They showed us where they came from on their map and told us that if we took the trail all the way around, we would see a
There was zero chance we were going to miss that opportunity. Little did we know that the moose wouldn’t be the only animal within 20 ft of us.
Despite being a longer hike than expected, the trail was easy with little to no elevation, and the views were incredible. Not only did we get an up-close view of the Tetons, but we got to see this beautiful stream running down the side of one of the mountains.
We were well over 45 minutes into the hike when we passed a family of four from opposite directions. We asked if they had seen the moose, and by the grace of God they said it was right around the corner.
Before we parted, they told us something a little nerve-wracking: someone spotted a bear in the direction we just came from. After the initial surprise of hearing this, we thought it was pretty cool that we were close to a bear without knowing it. Little did we know…
The family continued in the direction of the bear and we were happy to be going the opposite way toward the moose.
*10/10 don’t recommend going in the direction of a bear if there’s been a sighting.*
As we turned the corner, we finally spotted our new furry friend on the other side of a small pond. We wanted to get a better look so we walked off the trail to get closer.
*Now that I think of it, it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to get off the trail, but I can’t go back and change it now 🤷🏻♀️*
We ended up staying in that spot for about 10 minutes taking pictures and soaking up the scenery. We weren’t talking, just admiring the views.
After getting our fill of pictures, we decided to find our way back to the trail and head to the other side of the pond to get a closer look at the moose.
We were about halfway around the pond when we came in contact with two women hiking the trail from the opposite direction.
Here’s where it gets good y’all.
My friend, Erin, warned the girls about the bear spotted in the direction we came from and their response was “Wait, you didn’t see it? It was right next to you. We thought you saw it because you were standing so still.”
As you can imagine, this was NOT the response we were expecting to hear 😅.
After letting it sink in for a few moments we told them we had no idea it was next to us.
Wanna know the best/worst part? It was a grizzly bear.
YUP, you read that right. A freaking GRIZZLY BEAR.
I have a blog called Close to Creation, and grizzly bears are a part of God’s beautiful creation, but I have little to no desire to be super close to one out in the wild 🤪.
Thankfully, we had our bear spray (on the outside of our backpack – highly recommend keeping it in an easy-to-reach place) so if anything did happen we would’ve been somewhat prepared.
After we finished talking to the women they took off in the direction of the bear, just like the family before (don’t worry they ended up turning around though because they didn’t think it was a good idea, bear spray or not – smart girls).
The story doesn’t end here though. As we continued around the pond we met another group of people on the trail admiring the moose below. We started to tell them about being close to a bear and all of them said they had seen the same “encounter” that the women did. One woman even showed me the blurry picture she took of it.
It wasn’t the biggest grizzly bear I’ve ever seen, but it also wasn’t the smallest!
*If the person who took the photo ever ends up reading this blog, please comment on this post or message me because I would love to have it!*
We talked with them a little while about the “encounter” and also admired the big guy below.
He’s pretty darn cute if you ask me!
While Erin and her boyfriend were taking pictures of him, I was on the hunt to see if I could spot the bear. Sadly, I didn’t get a good look at him, BUT I did get a quick look at his furry little butt walking in the direction the family of four went. I didn’t see any grizzly bear attacks in the news that day, so I think they made it out okay.
All in all, our grizzly bear “encounter” could have ended up a lot worse, but thankfully it didn’t.
If there’s anything you can take from this story, it’s to (1) not act like an oblivious tourist when you’re out in the wild, (2) pay attention to your surroundings, (3) try and stay on the trail, and (4) if you hear there’s a bear on the trail ahead DON’T GO IN THAT DIRECTION.
I hope you enjoyed this story just as much as I did writing about it!
Till next time (@ everyone but the grizzly bear),
Kaitlin
