My mood could not have been better as I rounded a rocky corner of the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park in 2010.
Several days off work, beautiful weather and a backpack filled with essential camping gear — as well as luxury items, such as a bottle of wine and a John Grisham novel — had combined to lift my spirits to heights above the surrounding snow-capped peaks.
Nothing could sour my groove.
Nothing, except for a 400-pound grizzly bear, that is.
Unfortunately, that’s what stood before me as I rounded the rocky corner of a veritable goat trail.
My heart told me to run.
My mind told me to curl into the fetal position.
My adrenaline allowed me to do nothing more than quake with fear as I considered taking my chances with the cliff to my left.
Instead, I took one step backward. Then another. Then another. Then another, and several more until the enormous beast disappeared from my field of view.
My trip was over.
There was no going back.
Thoughts of my close encounter with one of the iconic carnivores of the American West surfaced sporadically in my mind as a read a story by former Chronicle reporter Amy Nile this week.
The Everett Herald journalist wrote of plans to bring grizzly bears back to Western Washington, where they were hunted to the point of eradication as pioneers populated the region and made use of the animal’s fur in the 1800s.
Fewer than 20 are now believed to live in the North Cascades south of the Canadian border, with the last sighting in Washington taking place in Snohomish County in 1996.
The National Park Service is funding a study and collecting comments relative to the potential return of the grizzlies.
It’s a notion that has caused no shortage of concerns from farmers, recreationalists and hunters who fear the impacts of reintroducing the animals to the Evergreen State.
The debate is not unlike the one surrounding the return of wolves.
As detailed in a Chronicle story Feb. 7, wolves have already been spotted in Western Washington over the past several years, with sightings at Mount St. Helens and along the southern portion of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
In other states, packs have destroyed entire herds of livestock, drawing the ire, and sometimes gunfire, of ranchers seeking to protect their livelihood.
By 2022, experts predict, seven to nine wolf packs will call the Southern Cascades home, feeding on an abundant supply of elk and roaming one of the largest wilderness areas in the state.
Much has also been made of the return of the fisher in Mount Rainier National Park, and recent reports indicate that its more famous cousin — the wolverine — continues to expand its reach in the North Cascades.
Taken together, the wildlife developments mean Western Washington will likely see massive and irreversible ecological changes over the next several decades.
It’s not fear-mongering to note that our children and grandchildren might grow up in a region where encounters with large carnivores are a daily reality when venturing out into our national parks, forests and wilderness areas.
In fact, experts say it could be beneficial.
Bears are poor hunters, they say, incapable of having a large negative impact on deer and elk populations.
Experts say that the abundance of elk should prevent wolves from salivating at the sight of cows, sheep and other livestock.
The reintroduction of the animals would repair an ecosystem that was forever altered when settlers unloaded their weapons at the sight of these majestic beasts.
Humans are here en masse now, though, and many will likely be confronted by grizzlies, wolves and other returning carnivores as they explore the outdoors.
And once these decisions are made by wildlife officials, there’s no going back.
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Eric Schwartz is the editor of The Chronicle.
