Thanks for the super info and links! Beautiful looking country.
If the bears make you nervous, take a look at any of the wilderness areas in Idaho. We have the most acres of wilderness in the lower 48...and for the most part, no griz.
I had my ultimate instantaneous transition from sound sleep to 4-alarm awake one night while backpacking in the Beartooths just outside Red Lodge. Dog barking and something snarling. Seconds later I'm outside the tent with bear spray in one hand and flashlight in the other--nothing but moonlight and silence. Next morning I went by a camp about half a mile up the trail, and a guy told me he went out to pee about midnight and saw a cougar ghosting through his campsite. Don't know what that cat was after, but glad to have a dog in the tent. I guess I always sleep with one eye open in griz country, but never had one as close as that cougar. I have accidentally been so close to black bears I could smell them, and I definitely don't want to be that close to a grizzly.
