We were on the trail this morning by 7:00.  We descended Slag a Melt valley then climbed up another valley to Lena lake.  The trail traverses the side of a steep hill far above Big Swamp Creek.  Suddenly I heard a ruckus below the trail and looked in time to see a huge brown thing run across the slope below me in an arc.  At first I thought it was a cow, but cows don’t move that fast.  Then I realized it was a huge brown bear.  The bear finished his arc by coming back up the hill slightly and stopping in some trees just below me.  I took out my camera and took a video.  While I was doing all this the bear started huffing and lunging forward a step before going back.  I got a very short shot of this when I realized that this was a very annoyed bear, and he could run up the slope to me with no problem. I quickly continued on my way.  In the video you can see the bear in the trees at time marker 30 seconds.  It looks black but that’s just because it is in the shadows.  When I saw it run across the hill it was definitely a cinnamon brown.

That is the 5th bear I’ve seen now.  I saw a mom and her cub near Slide Lake in Glacier and a small brown bear on the road while road walking into Many Glacier. I saw another small brown bear from the St Mary shuttle bus.  And now this one.

The rest of the day consisted of a series of passes and ridges.  It was exhausting but beautiful. Towards 5:00 or so the lightening started and got quite intense.  It struck the ridge in front of us several times and then the torrents of rain came.  We just kept on going. We are now camped at Berry Meadows next to an old log cabin with no roof or floors.  Gaucho is camping inside the walls while Mav and I are just outside.  I can hear the Berry river from my tent and I’m ready for sleep.  It is nice to camp with friends. Good night!