Really big griz seen up North Fork

It has been an exciting week on the North Fork. First I had a skinny gray wolf saunter through my meadow at 7 a.m. It was collared and really skinny but paid no attention to the deer that just stood and watched as it passed by. The next day, six cow elk came through. Between them, they added to the 8 to 10 deer that are here every morning and evening.

Even more exciting, at McDonoughs’ and Hoilands’ they have both been able to see and watch a grizzly bear from their front deck. In both cases, the bear was in a meadow below the house and 100 yards or more from the buildings. Even so, after taking several pictures, Duke fired a gun to move the bear on to greener pastures.

This is a really big bear, and the pictures indicate it is the same big fellow that Bill Meeker photographed at his cabin in 2010. Anyway, I’m calling it the Meeker bear and assuming, by its size, that it’s a male.

Many of us have seen him and never too close to buildings, and he’s never been aggressive. Maybe he’s studying us as we’re watching him. At any rate, he’s a good reminder to all of us to keep a clean camp so he’s not tempted to approach humans or their buildings.

More exciting, or maybe just more of a concern, has been the river. Two weeks ago, if not clear, the North Fork of the Flathead River was mostly green, and I saw several parties floating even though the sunny weather was still too cool for me to get on the river.

The warm weather brought the river up fast. One day it was green, the next it was muddy and rising fast. Within 36 hours, the North Fork Hostel in Polebridge was sitting on an island and proprietor Oliver Meister had to move vehicles away from the parking area and use his canoe to get to and from the Hostel.

Then cool weather returned. Water levels retreated almost as fast as they had come up, and I don’t think anyone suffered any real damage — this time.

There I still a lot of snow in the high country. On Tuesday, Trail Creek was high and muddy. Ketchikan Creek was overflowing and a lot of water was running into Trail Creek Road. By Wednesday afternoon, Ketchikan was back in its banks, and Trail Creek, although still high and fast, was green and in its banks, too.

Rode my ATV up Trail Creek just to see where and how much snow remained. There are still deep snow banks below the retaining wall. You can’t see the bubble-ups due to the volume of water from above, and the road is snow covered about half a mile from Antley Basin, although a vehicle has gone past that point.

Highest water is usually the first week in June, and it appears there’s still enough snow up high that it could be the same this year. Like Yogi said, “It’s not over until it’s over.” A heavy rain could still make things exciting if mixed with the remaining snow pack.

P.S. Don’t forget the Sondreson Hall clean-up day on Saturday, May 25, at 10 a.m.