Bear Aware Camping

Our campers at Madison are greeted by the Xanterra Staff at the Registration Office.  The July 4th celebration started here and quickly filled the campground.

Lots of campers decorated their RV's giving the Campground a festive air.

I love the Bandana Table Cloth!

At registration they also receive verbal and written instructions on camping in Bear Country.  Basically, store anything with food odors or scents like cosmetics, bug spray,  or citronella candles.
This does include greasy fry pans, coffee pots, grills and coolers.  Some campers don't hear or read how to save themselves, others and bears.

This is one of our most UN-aware campers.  Can you imagine leaving all this for a hungry bear to find?  3 Coolers, Cookware, a grill, food bins, etc.

It's our job to find a shared Bear Box somewhere in the CG to store all this or take it a quarter mile away to the Ranger Station Storage Garage.  We also give the camper a warning note and in this situation the warning included a visit with the Ranger and a $200 plus fine.  We all take our bear protection job seriously.  Food habituated bears are killed.  On the busy July 4 weekend two campers were fined for lack of attention to safe camping instructions.  There were many others who didn't store food items, of course, but not to this extent.

Once our 'Food Security' workdays were over, we did get up to see the wildflowers blooming at Gibbon Meadows.  I had never seen Elephant Head up close and each tiny flower section looks like an Elephant Head and trunk.

The heavier winter snows and wet spring have made this a fantastic wildflower season.  There are so many more flowers and the blooms are taller and very full.  Even the roadsides are full of blooms and very colorful!