4 September 2015, Friday

Today is another “administrative” day, and a good one for it. It is cold
and wet. We sleep in and then have strawberry scones and strawberry
jam for breakfast. Then it is time for showers. They are clean and
the water is delightfully hot. After showers – laundry. I type my
blog onto the computer while we are waiting. In the background people
are coming and going. A woman who somehow manages to live here all
summer (the maximum stay is 2 weeks, but she sets up her tent and has
friends who book the site at 2 week intervals thru the summer and come
to visit. The rangers are aware of what she is doing and all agree
that she will leave if the park is getting overly crowded.) tells O
that snow is forecast for tonight. Other people coming in are
discussing hanging tarps to protect their tents from snow and
breaking branches. I have to admit, when we left the warm laundry
room there was that cold, damp feeling we get at home before a
snowstorm. O and I check in at the ranger station. The forecast is
for 1-7 inches of snow at the higher elevations. Going to the Sun
Road may be slushy, or closed. Here, we are expecting temperatures in
the 30’s and cold rain.

Next task: head to St. Mary for fresh fruit and fresh wine. I intended to
upload some of my blog entries as well, but I forgot my computer. The
charger, however, is in my pocket. We also confirm that, although we
are ‘beyond the Verizon’ at Many Glacier, there is excellent Verizon
reception at the bottom of the access road.

We decide to return to Many Glacier Hotel for dinner. I think it’s too
cold to wash dishes. The good news, though, is that all the rain has
finally resulted in the lifting of the fire ban. Now we can cook up
hot water in the Kelly Kettle!

We will attend the ranger talk on bears tonight. Tentative plan for tomorrow
is blog uploading at St. Mary Visitor Center and then a hike, time
and weather permitting.

OK, so I was going to end there for the day, but the ranger talk was fun and
interesting. Ranger Bob reviewed the differences between black bears
and grizzlies. The most prominent difference is the grizzlies’ hump
on its shoulders. Black bears have a rump hump. Grizzly ears are
much less prominent, grizzly noses are more concave and grizzly claws
are much longer!

We also learned that “bears bear bare bears.” Actually, the babies do
have a little fur. Unlike most other animals, who mate in the fall,
bears mate in June. The embryo develops to the blastocyst stage but
does not implant until November and then, only only if the mom is
healthy, otherwise they are reabsorbed. Mom gives birth while
hibernating. The babies grow from 1 pound to 20 pounds by spring when
all emerge from the den. Another interesting fact: although mom’s
metabolism slows and her kidneys and GI tract shut down in
hibernation, the cubs function normally. Mom wakes just enough to eat
their feces which she recycles into more milk and muscle tissue.

Ranger Bob has lots of entertaining stories about human-bear encounters as
well. O and I start chuckling as soon as he began his last tale –
we know how it will end. Suffice it to say O was almost rolling on
the floor laughing when he got to the “you skin this one” part.
I’ll tell the full story to anyone who wants to hear it when we get
home!