Chapter 26
Kendra and Grayson headed down the trail that was fine to walk on, though they had to watch for bears, cougars, and wolves there too. They waved at Patrick as he went down another trail.
He waved back and disappeared from their view.
“Well, that was unexpected.” Kendra texted Amy to let her know they were out of danger.
Amy texted her: But you’re still in the forest.
Uh, yeah.
Let me know when you get to the lodge.
I will.
Then Kendra put her phone away. “Just let Amy know we were out of danger.”
“Good. Here I thought we would have a nice, relaxing walk in the woods.”
“But, hey, we’re making memories.”
Grayson laughed. They walked for about an hour before heading back to their place. “Ready for grilled steaks and sides and to watch the sunset?”
“You bet.”
“Good, because all that hiking and rescuing a couple of knuckleheads made me hungry.”
She smiled and leaned against him as they walked back along the trail. “I agree. The café is closed for the night so I guess we can have ice cream after lunch tomorrow. I wonder if those men got some good photos of the cubs after all that.”
“Well, if they did, they will be telling all their friends how they got the photos after they outmaneuvered an angry mother bear.”
“We could always give the real version.”
“We would need pictures of them,” Grayson said.
“Patrick took some.” She called his number, and he immediately answered, probably worried that she and Grayson were in trouble. “Hey, you took photos of those guys who went down the closed trail, right?” She put the phone on speaker.
“Yeah, for a report and for when they try to say they did nothing wrong and get their fines reduced or tossed out. And to share on talks with hikers about the danger that they could be in if they don’t follow the rules,” Patrick said.
“Yes! Can you share those pictures with a reporter?”
“I can. Why?”
“To educate people about how important it is to follow the rules when dealing with wildlife.”
Patrick laughed. “You want to make sure the real story gets out in case they want to make up their own version.”
“How did you know?” Kendra asked.
“We think a lot alike.”
She laughed. “Yeah, that’s what we were thinking.”
“It will be done. No more trouble on the trail?”
“No, we’re headed back to our place now. Have you had any other trouble?” Kendra asked.
“Someone asked me why there weren’t any glaciers at Glacier National Park.”
“They’re at the higher elevations during the summer,” Grayson said.
“Exactly. If he wanted to hike that far, he would see them, since the snow had melted, revealing the glacier formations. Someone is waving me down to speak with me, but in the meantime, I’ll get the photos off to the press. They’ll love the story.”
“Thanks!”
They ended the call.
“I’m glad you suggested Patrick share the story with the press.”
“He’ll give it to one of our grizzly bear shifter reporters. He’s all over nature and human-interest stories. He’ll love it,” Kendra said.
They saw some other hikers and smiled to see they were on the right trail.
“See anything of interest?” the man asked.
“Birds and butterflies. You don’t want to run into bears. In fact, it’s getting late, and bears will be foraging for food even more now,” Grayson said.
“Same with early in the morning,” Kendra said. “We’re bear experts.”
“Oh, wow, cool. So it would be better to try this tomorrow, later in the day,” the woman said.
“Yeah, that would probably be safer,” Grayson said.
Then they wished them a great time there, but the family followed them back to the lodge area.
Grayson and Kendra finally reached their cabin and ran up the steps to their treetop abode.
He was soon making their steaks and corn on the cob on the grill while Kendra started boiling potatoes and frying green brussel sprouts on the stovetop.
While she waited for those to be done, she poured them glasses of red wine and took them out to the deck, where Grayson was cooking the steak and corn.
She quickly texted Amy to let her know they were back at their cabin. She kissed Grayson’s cheek. “Hmm, that smells good. I wonder if they ever have bears climb the stairs to come after the food in a lodge.”
The next day, Grayson and Kendra made coffee and sat on the deck while they watched the sun rise, the bright pink clouds reflecting off the water and highlighting the mountains. It was really beautiful, perfect for their stay.
Then they went down to have breakfast at the café. Grayson ordered the breakfast burrito of red potatoes, ham, bacon, scrambled eggs, plus cheddar cheese.
Kendra also had a burrito, but with bacon instead of ham, and hers included tomatoes and spinach. “I’m having the huckleberry iced tea also.”
“Yeah, I’ll have the sweet cream cold brew.”
After they finished breakfast, they began the rope climbing course.
Kendra was glad they could do it at their own pace, which was faster than many other visitors, who were either afraid of heights or just found the climbing challenging.
But for grizzly shifters, they had this covered.
People of all ages were climbing the ropes, from five years old to over eighty.
Several teenage staff members were encouraging anyone stuck at various points on the ropes course.
But one kid, about 12 years old, started having a meltdown, crying and screaming, frozen in place, shaking. He was too far away from staff members or his dad, and Grayson easily made his way over to him. “Hey, what is your name?”
“Steven,” the boy said, choking on sobs, barely getting his name out. Tears were streaking down his face, and he looked miserable.
“You can do it,” Grayson said. “Believe me, when I was a kid, heights terrified me.”
Kendra got closer to the two of them, smiling, amused. No way was a grizzly shifter ever afraid of heights. They were fantastic climbers.
Grayson pointed to the boy’s safety harness protecting him. “That will keep you from falling. You’re safe up here.”
“Oh-okay.”
“Just move your foot into that rung. You can do it.”
Steven did what he was told.
“Now the next one.”
Grayson was so patient and reassuring that the boy finally started climbing almost like a pro, with barely any hesitation. One of the staff members joined them and asked if Steven was all right.
“Yeah, he helped me.”
Then the dad joined them. “Hey, man, thanks for helping my son.”
“You’re welcome. I didn’t see anyone near enough to help him and wanted to offer my assistance,” Grayson said.
“Well, it was much appreciated.”
Then Grayson and Kendra moved away on the ropes and began working on another.
“You are amazing,” Kendra told him. “You have a real way with kids and teenagers.”
“Tell that to my sister.”
“Oh, she thinks the world of you,” Kendra said. “I’m sorry you were afraid of heights when you were little.”
He smiled at her.
They moved to a platform where they had to navigate across tall tree stumps, leaping through the air. Now that was fun. Then they saw a grizzly bear cub eating blackberries in the forest. “Look. I wonder if that was one we saw earlier,” Kendra said.
“We were a long way off, but then again, grizzlies can move long distances.”
She pulled out her phone and took a photo of the cub. “I can’t believe we saw a bear cub at the beginning of the ropes course.”
“Yeah, and no sign of the sow or any other cubs.”
“I’m sure she is nearby. I’m glad we’re way up here.”
“I agree.”
The cub moved off, and they didn’t see any other grizzlies.
Then they continued working their way up the ropes course, walking on tall stepping logs to a platform, then across logs to another.
They managed to climb up a large section of mesh rope.
After that, they crossed a rope where they could hold onto logs in the form of eight-foot-tall “x’s” next to the rope.
They enjoyed the ziplines, but when they took the 250-foot zipline, Kendra said, “Ohmigod, that was so exhilarating.”
“Yeah, that was pretty outstanding.”
After that, they ordered lunch at the café.
“I’m getting the cheeseburger this time. Yours looked so good,” Kendra said.
“I’m having the nachos this time. Though I loved the cheeseburger.”
“This time we’re getting the ice cream afterward! And curly fries too.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Both of them ended up getting huckleberry ice cream. It really was a bear thing.
Once they finished lunch, they raced each other up the stairs to get ready for their whitewater rafting trip.
They had waterproof bags, water for hydration, and were wearing their water shoes, bathing suits, quick-drying shorts, quick-drying shirts, and waterproof jackets.
They went with Glacier Park rafting for a more personal tour for just the two of them and their guide, since they were doing this for a honeymoon before the honeymoon, so to speak.
When they arrived at the location where the rafts and guides were, they put on their red lifejackets, got into the yellow raft with their guide, Gaylord, and headed downriver, enjoying the gorgeous views of mountains, trees, and huge boulders along the shoreline.
And the really fun thing was that their guide was a black bear shifter. “How lucky we are to have you as our guide,” Kendra said.
“No luck about it. Park Ranger Patrick learned you were going whitewater rafting for half a day today and told me. I made sure I was the one who got the mission. He said you were just getting married. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Kendra said.
“So you live around here?”
“Yeah, in Kalispell. Both of us now,” Kendra said.
They saw other outfitters going by in their paddle rafts jammed with people. She was glad they didn’t have to go with a big group like that, though they were probably family and friends.
They put the raft into the water and climbed aboard. Gaylord was at the stern to command the crew and give them navigation. Grayson and Kendra stuck their paddles into the water and began paddling, per Gaylord’s instructions.