Huckleberries: Grizzlies give campers a bad night

First, you need to know that last month marked the 40th anniversary of the “Night of the Grizzlies.” The now-deceased Jack Olsen wrote a book by that name about the night in which two 19-year-old women were killed by two grizzlies in two locations at Glacier Park: Aug. 13, 1967.

The story is known by everyone who has lived near Glacier Park, such as Ben and Mary Sue Haverman, now of Spokane Valley. And B.C. and Cammy Corpron, of Kalispell, Mont. And my northwest Montana-born and -raised sister-in-law, Lisa.

A few weeks ago, the Havermans, Corprons and my brother Ray and Lisa’s family were camping at Priest Lake when they had their own close encounter with bears. Some were camped in a trailer. Some in a cabin. Some in a tent. The ones in the tent – Cammy Corpron’s three older children, ages 16 to 21 – were the ones who emerged from the weeklong camping trip with the best tale.

Seems they’d stayed up to watch a lunar eclipse and were treated to an unexpected second feature attraction, introduced by sniffing and clawing. They didn’t realize that danger lurked nearby until a bear cub tore through the porch screen in the Havermans’ cabin to steal some chips and bear claws. Worse yet, the cub’s mother paced between the porch and the tent. All the three could do was sit and shake until the bears left.

The Corpron children knew the mother bear was big. But they didn’t realize she was a grizzly until the two bears returned the next night, drawn by the bacon grease in a burn pit. The grizzlies were finally driven off by noise made by Ben Haverman.

The outcome of this tale won’t inspire a book, like “Night of the Grizzlies.” But it does make for a happier ending.