Glacier National Park – Lake McDonald Lodge and the Swimming Bear

Being unable to return to Rising Sun in Glacier National Park, where I was originally stationed as a security officer, due to the Reynold’s Creek fire some of us residing in the newly formed “Tent City” were relocated elsewhere while the fate of Rising Sun (Rising Smoke?) was being determined.

For myself, that was Lake McDonald Lodge. That’s sort of the flagship lodge on Glacier National Park’s west side. Unlike little rustic Rising Sun to the east, which is allowed to grow wild, Lake McDonald Lodge is neatly manicured – and busy. An abundance of flowers fills the windows of some of the buildings and bustling tourists stroll around filling the paths, searching for the shuttle pickup locations, boat docks or the Camp Store. When I was on duty, a number of them would pause and ask me questions about where to find things, about the boat tours, or if I knew the state of the Going-To-The-Sun Road. To my amusement, the operational pay phone near the security office door, enclosed in a little log canopy, drew a lot of comments and photographs. Some kids didn’t know what it was. The pay phones are needed because there is little to no cell service in the park.

Red Bus tours would frequently pull in, en masse – their drivers rattling off, even sometimes singing their spiels over the buses’ loudspeaker system. Busloads of passengers would pile out after the drivers jumped out and opened the doors for them. Passengers mingled with people with kids, people with dogs, all milling everywhere.

Many of us RS employees that shifted to Lake McDonald thought the property was nice, but we felt a little displaced in the hustle and bustle. We were glad to see one another in passing, fellow Sun refugees. Lake McDonald had more….’first world problems’ than Rising Sun, maybe employees that needed their dorms unlocked, whereas with Rising Sun, it was bear and critter calls which were my personal favorites.

So when I heard, “Hey! There’s a bear over there!” Not only was it like a welcomed nostalgic blast of Rising Sun, but with all the different curious people and/or pets, it makes things mighty interesting.

I craned my head around. “Where?”

Aw geez.

My security coworker headed for the lakeside. I took off immediately towards the creek and woods where the bear was spotted. I had to run and catch guest to keep them from going into the woods after the bear. Yes, they’ll do that. People with infant carriers, people with leashed pets. They don’t think about how the bear could get aggressive if it feels frightened or cornered, or then how the bear could be destroyed if it attacked because people wouldn’t keep away and it felt threatened.

“Sir, you need to get your dogs out of here…”

A too-close guest’s barking dogs frightened the exploring bear. He went for the lake. Other tourists commented that I was not apparently afraid of going towards the bear’s location. Nope. It was my job to keep the others back and put a safe buffer between the bear and them, to protect both the four and two-legged critters. I got those comments on occasion, I think because I am not a stereotypically “security” looking big burly guy, in fact I guess I look quite opposite.

Mr. Bear, deciding he had few options and puzzled enough with these crazy humans, eventually hopped into the lake and began swimming.

…And he kept on swimming! Much further than I thought a bear was capable of. My coworker was down on shore, following the bear’s progress while I was up above by the main lodge as a human traffic block, preventing guests from heading towards the lake shore or down the walk where the cabins were.

To give you an idea of how far out this guy swam: There's a little black blip between the trees and the roofline in the mid-left of this picture. That's Mr. Bear, paddling madly away!

To give you an idea of how far out this guy swam: There’s a little black blip between the trees and the roof line in the mid-left of this picture. That’s our Mr. Bear, paddling madly away!

And the bear kept going. He was like the Energizer Bear, doggy-paddling his way down the lake shore! He could have given Michael Phelps a run for the gold. I watched in disbelief. He finally made it to a jutting point far down the lake shore, far away from the lodge and made a drippy exit. Poor guy, a bear doesn’t understand things in the same way a human does; they move in and boot him right out of where he’d like to explore in his own habitat. But at least he and everybody was safe.