Wrangling Glacier Grizzlies

We made it! Well, actually we (as in Maggie and I) made it to Columbia Falls, MT last Thursday after making a pit-stop in Kalispell for groceries. And if you’re bringing in groceries, you will want to get them there – or even in Columbia Falls, which also has a little grocery store. The local grocery store out here by this park entrance charges… about $7 for a pack of Oreos! Yes, really. Save yourself a lot of trouble and just bring your Vaseline to the register with you.

After finally arriving in Columbia Falls, we parked off to the side of the building where we were to be oriented and spent the night there. Orientation and all it entailed was attended Friday, with a lunch of pizza and cookies provided. Then we all headed for Glacier National Park to our lodging. For myself, that would be a campground! This campground is on a hill and does provide full hookups. Miss Maggie had adapted well – she seems to enjoy the Scamp more than the van.

I tried to attach some pictures but the post wouldn’t go through, hence the huge update delay. I’ll try to include some pictures of my new ‘office’ view when I can. Do I miss my old office for a second? (maniacal laughter) NO!!!

For a view, I have snowy peaks looming out my front window. Yesterday’s ‘commute’ provided a view of an adolescent moose on the side of the road.

Absolutely ALL cell service went bye-bye when we headed out of Columbia Falls. I still don’t have any service now and so I am borrowing a neighbor’s signal (with permission – they have a different carrier plus a booster) to post this! I even chased up and down the highway miles in both directions futilely searching for a cell signal, pitifully holding the phone up and in every which direction in hopes it would even give me a glimmer of a bar. Nada, zip, nothing! I had to return to the campground in defeat.

So, my location is pretty remote. As security here, I was issued potent grizzly spray if that tells you anything! (We do patrol at night.) But frankly, after some of my previous folks at my former job, even a potentially cranky grizzly is a refreshing change. Unfortunately though, I didn’t have any sort of spray for those folks. Wouldn’t that be great? Crank Spray! Screech Spray! Entitled Douche Spray! I could craft an entire product line.

I guess one of our fine furry friends (of the large bear kind) broke into a cabin here at the campground last week. People in the park have to be told to NOT try to get close to the grizzlies for photo ops. “Wrangling grizzlies” (my term) I think encompasses just as much security-protecting of them as it does people. There is a 100 yard rule – you must keep at least 100 yards between yourself and them. Now I don’t know about you, but why would you want to be closer?

At the lodge and the cabins, if trash is spotted we can’t leave so much as a candy wrapper laying around because the bears are pretty thick there as well. They have a “bear room” for the kitchen and food service waste because the trash can’t be left outside.

So far, I’ve completed a First Aid course and became CPR certified; complete with creepy gray-toned practice mannequins. In a practice scenario, before starting compressions, we slapped the mannequins and shouted at them if they were alright (as part of the process). Wouldn’t it be fun to rig one of them to twitch or jerk in some way as a practical joke? If I stumbled across someone who’s coloring remotely resembled those things, I know it’d be too late for any help I could possibly render.

Tonight was National Park Service orientation.

Well, until next time…sorry if the update is choppy, trying to do this from my phone’s tiny keyboard!

I’ll click “Send” and give this a whirl again…