re: #167 MandyManners

I’ve seen some real stupid stuff done by tourists, but that isn’t even the dumbest.

I was out at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone this past May and was up on one of the trails. Everyone was yapping about how there was a black bear down at the end of one of the raised paths.

Well, it wasn’t just a black bear. It was a black bear eating flowers about 5 feet from the raised path. And there were like 10 people within 50 feet. One even got down on their belly to take pictures from below the path - maybe 15 feet away (if that). I was probably 75 feet away - still closer than I should have been, but figured that if the bear did attack, I was further away and there were slower ppl between me and the bear. Nuts don’t begin to describe that situation.

The NPS recommends getting no closer than 300 feet to either grizzlies or black bears.