Pelican Valley lies directly north of Yellowstone Lake. This remote valley is home to grizzly bear, wolves, bison, and tons of migratory birds nesting on the shores of Pelican Creek.
Being prime grizzly bear habitat, the Pelican Valley Trail comes with some restrictions that include day-use only from 9 am – 7 pm, and groups of four or more are recommended.
It was an early morning routine check on the trailhead register for hikers going into and out of Pelican Valley when I made my fastest walk in and slowest walk out of Pelican Valley.
I had parked my patrol car at the end of a gravel road and quickly walked a short distance to the trailhead register.
As I stood there checking names, I glanced off to my right for no reason and saw a grizzly bear watching me with some interest.
Time to practice my crisis negotiator skills to prevent this situation from escalating.
So, I identified myself and spoke to this grizzly in a soft tone and hoped for the best.
“You know I’m Ranger Rick and I’m just passing through and I’ll be leaving the area if that’s ok with you.”
Knowing that bears can run as fast as a racehorse, I slowly backed one small step at a time toward my patrol car parked what seemed like miles away.
I did my best to stay calm and continued talking to him.
“Tell me about your day here in Pelican Valley. I’m told that there’s some pretty good fishing here.”
It worked. The grizzly decided that I wasn’t a threat and headed down the Pelican Trail for some fishing. Right?
A Ranger's Journal 