Ok @Sacagawea I was informed you have some concerns about bears. I do care about the success of others on their trips and their safety. The picture of me and a bear is on Mt. Rainier in Washington state. It is a brown Black bear and not a grizzly. I have seen bears in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming(Yellowstone), Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, Wisconsin and surprisingly enough also Iowa.
Grizzlies only exist in a few of those states and the only time I've seen a Grizzly was in Yellowstone.
Only about 1,500 grizzlies are left in the lower 48 states of the US. Of these, about 800 live in Montana. About 600 more live in Wyoming, in the Yellowstone-Teton area. There are an estimated 70–100 grizzly bears living in northern and eastern Idaho
To prevent problems with bears the best thing to do is not have ANY food in your trailer you are pulling. Also don't have anything scented in there. Other than food that also includes items like deodorant, gatorade, tooth paste, wrappers, garbage, etc. In short NO Smell-ables.
All that needs to be thrown in a bear proof box or cooler, otherwise it gets put in a bag and strung up a tree every night. When I back packed through bear country we kept our tents separate from EVERYTHING else. That meant our packs, clothes, food, etc was all in one location and our tents were about 40 yards away. Even if you don't hang up your smellables just sleeping in a separate location will help you significantly. Keep the sleep zone as scent free as possible.
I have spent many nights camping in bear country and I have only seen a bear near camp one time and that was in Yellowstone.
0n this MC trip there are probably 100 other things that are more likely to occur before a bear attack. Hazards of the trial, wrecks, tripping, broken bones, other people, weather, food, environment, hypothermia, food poisoning, navigation errors/ getting lost, heat stroke, .... the list goes on.... Make a solid plan and you'll be fine.
