Bears in the skin track.
For those that haven’t been paying attention, there has been a major influx of grizzly bears into the southern end of Grand Teton National Park in the past few months. Why they are down here is anyone’s guess, but I would think the gut piles from dead elk (yeah, hunters can slaughter majestic elk right from the side of the road in GTNP, yet the elk are fed all winter long just a few miles south at the National Elk Refuge…don’t get me started on that one) have something to do with it.
Most recently, reports of grizzly sightings near the Death Canyon, Granite Canyon and Bradley Lake Trailheads, as-well-as up and down the Moose-Wilson Road and Jenny Lake, have kept backcountry and XC skiers on their toes, and have prompted park officials to randomly close access to the Death Canyon Trailhead. This has perturbed me enough that I inquired with GTNP about when, and where, we can expect these critters to finally go to sleep for the winter, so we can have our playground back.
Any idea where the Moose/Wilson road closure is located coming in from the north?
Can we access the normal winter parking at Death Canyon?
Steve
Not yet, Steve. We’ve had intermittent closures on the Moose-Wilson Road (at the Murie Ranch Road junction) due to bear activity and the concern for the protection of bears, as well as public safety. We keep the road closed to vehicle traffic until we don’t see any bear activity for two days. We just had a sow grizzly with two cubs walk right down the length of the M-W Road on Monday. She eventually came into the CTDVC parking lot and walked right across the west terrace of the VC on her way to the Snake River bottoms.
Because these closures are intermittent and sporadic, we aren’t putting out news releases every time we open or close the road. Right now, the road is closed to vehicles again.
When bear activity subsides, we will open the M-W Road for winter access to Death Canyon Road. Sorry that I can’t be more definitive. It’s a fluid situation right now and we’re maintaining the closure to vehicle use.
BTW, you can walk/hike the road; it’s only closed to vehicle traffic. I would definitely carry bear spray and be very alert for bears! We’ve had numerous sightings and not just the #399 and #610 moms with their cubs.
It’s a brave new world with grizzlies and other bears in and around areas not previously used by so many bruins. It has definitely changed how we must manage road areas and other locations.
Jackie Skaggs
Public Affairs Officer
Grand Teton National Park
Is there anyway to know where (general vicinity) those M-W Road bears end up going/hibernating?
There is some talk amongst us skiers wondering what would happen if they decided to den right next to the traditional access routes into the mountains this winter.
Thanks,
Steve
I understand that a bear was recently discovered in a backcountry cave that skiers sometimes use near the JHMR. Don’t know if this is true, but there is definitely a risk that backcountry skiers may have to yield to hibernating bears this year.
The grizzlies that have been roaming Grand Teton NP seem to be slowing down a bit, and may soon den up. Steve Cain tells me that they rarely use the same dens as years before, so your guess is as good as ours about where these bears and their young may end up for winter’s sleep.
#399 has often pushed the limit with hibernating and she generally doesn’t hunker in until about mid December. Don’t know about the other grizzlies (#610 and her 3 cubs, plus we have yet another mother with two cubs that showed up just last week). There are apparently more grizzlies using the park as part of their home range than even this summer!
I’ll try to keep you posted when I learn about whether bears are definitely in their dens. In the meantime, maybe you can find out more about the JHMR cave with denning bear in it? It’s just new rumor that we heard and not sure whether it’s true or not.
Jackie Skaggs
Public Affairs Officer
Grand Teton National Park
So, from the response, it sounds as though we still have 3 big grizzlies with cubs in the area now, and 2-3 more weeks of random trailhead access closures. (I know…it’s for my own protection, right?) To add to the grizzly story, the comment Jackie Skaggs makes about the bear denning in a “warming cave†at JHMR is rather interesting and could be a pretty big surprise for someone crawling inside looking to get “warmâ€.
I’ve been asking around about the location of this rumored bear at JHMR and either people are being tight-lipped about it, or there is not much info going around about it. But, from what I’ve learned so far, it sounds as though the cave in which this bear has took up residence is located in the Crags area.
Anyway, since the bears have been allowed to have free reign of the Moose-Wilson Road area for the last few months, not to mention an easy meal due to the elk gut-piles around every corner, I’m sure this grizzly situation in the Southern Tetons isn’t going away anytime soon. My guess is that they will be down here next spring and fall as well, if not the entire summer. But hey, as long as I can shoot my elk from the comfort of my own truck…who cares!
JH skiers, for your protection, its really important that you ski only where the slopes are protected. Stay within the boundaries of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Snow King. I’ll be sure to let all of you know when it is safe to ski in GTNP again, but I’m sure it will take me a few months to conduct field work, analyze data and come up with a preferred alternative to circumnavigating the increase in bruin population. Stay tuned.
the unplanned, unannounced (and uncalled for?) closures in GTNP have me thinking of skiing on teton pass instead. the horror!!!
I’m a bit confused on how you get off placing yourself on top of the recreational food chain. I’m sorry that your convenience is being compromised by bears in the woods and pretty sure the NPS has not recently increased hunting activity in the area or changed its regulations on how far off the road you need to be to discharge your rifle. There are exceptions for disabled hunters, like combat veterans, but they don’t deserve to hunt anyway. right? I’m assuming you’re a vegetarian or only eat commercially produced meat products (the beef industry is horrible for our planet btw) as I’m sure you wouldn’t be so hypocritical as to enjoy your buddy’s elk while trash talking hunters. As to asking the NPS where and when the bears will bed down for the winter maybe you can give one of those bruins a pro deal on a spot locator so your wilderness park experiences don’t suffer from unexpected wildlife encounters this winter. Say hi next time you see me in the park; I’ll be the guy with a smile on my face when I see wildlife and won’t be grumpy from muscle soreness as that good elk protein is helping to keep me strong.
mr smoke…if i’m eaten by a bear while out recreating, so be it. i don’t need the park to restrict access because there is wildlife in the area (which i enjoy seeing as well) and should be obvious…since it’s a national park.
and it’s not about the hunters…it’s about the policy. duh.
edit to add: correct me if i’m wrong, but can’t hunters just shoot elk from their car on the antelope flats road?
Those bad boys could make safety meetings a bit sporty. Imagine the hilarity resulting from the accidental discharge of someone’s habanero howitzer in a packed tram.Griz do put the ol’ zing back in the wilderness experience.
Where’s the love, people? Pack some salami for the critters on your next outing and toss it their way.
Bears bustin’ up yo skintrack are pretty neat!
Randosteve, the elk hunting regulations state: “PROHIBITED ACTS. IT IS ILLEGAL TO: Shoot or attempt to kill any wildlife from any public road or highway. No person shall fire any firearm from, upon, along, or across any public road or highway.” Further, there should be no gut piles along the Moose-Wilson Road because it is closed to hunting, along with the whole west side of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. My guess is the Griz Bear is just returning to its natural habitat where the Rockefeller’s used to visit and scare them off!
I saw some megawatts poking into the pictures. I just bought the same model and mounted with dynafit. Any thoughts? I have a lighter weight dynafit setup for when the skintrack gets long.
love the MW…wish it was lighter.
Haven’t paid a ton of attention to the subject but if the policy of hunting in the park has been in place for decades, why is it just now that these grizz, who now supposedly hear gunshots and come running,have just figured it out?
Hey Steve,regarding “the park restricting access,” don’t forget what Jackie said: “BTW, you can walk/hike the road; it’s only closed to vehicle traffic.” Stay safe!
Not really sure what’s up with allowing us to skin/walk along the road but we can’t drive. Seems like it’s unlikely that any of us drive fast enough to DC trailhead to actually hit a griz with our cars and I’m sure as hell safer in one if we do come upon a big bear. That policy seems in opposition to the “public safety” rhetoric.
Yes, bears are part of the experience. Hey, let’s mingle.
It will be very interesting to see what happens next summer if the big boys and girls stay in the area and some touron from Missouri gets mauled on the way to Phelps. I bet they dart and long line that bitch (the bear) to the Absarokas faster than you can say wilderness experience.
On public safety, maybe the thought is that people who are willing to go in without driving might have a bit more wherewithal than the wheeled masses.
And let’s hope they start sending bad bears to the Absorkas. Here lately it seems like they all end up in the far north end of Teton Valley.
Dps120= not so heavy
yeah brian…none of it makes sense. with their logic…since the bears have been seen not too far from taggart trailhead…they should be restricting access to there as well.
Walking in the skin track, obviously a snowboarding bear.
hardy…4lbs per ski for the 190 pure is pretty impressive and also pricey at $1199. but i guess that is what it takes to get a ski that light.
Or we could solve it by opening a hunting season on bears. The bears did not change; there are just a lot more bears then there have been in the past. From Pinedale to Jackson the population has dramatically increased. The harvesting of elk in the park is a far cry from hunting. It is simple population control / harvesting, nothing sporting about it.
The state of Alaska is closed due to bear activity. The state will reopen when the bears move on and their presence subsides.
These bears sou see, are smarter than the average bear…
totally tka. our grizzly bear population (and problem?) is only going to get worse as they move further and further south towards the town of jackson. i can’t imagine they will close the whole park, so why close a section now because of bears?