I would characterize the trip as jolly fun but strenuously informative.
   Richard N.


Favorite advice (paraphrased from Molly on the bus): Grizzly bears are particularly dangerous to humans, so hikers are advised to wear bells and carry pepper spray. You can distinguish between black bear and grizzly droppings if you see them along the trail: black bear droppings are round and smell of berries. Grizzly droppings contain bells and smell of pepper spray.
   Bernadette


A post-trip tidbit provided by our friend Marie, who was a child in Missoula during World War II. When she had her tonsils out at age six, the orderly who carried her in his arms in and out of the hospital (gurneys not being available for some reason) was an Italian POW interned at Fort Missoula. He didn't speak English but found out her name and sang O, Marie to her in Italian.
   Bernadette