Day Three - Dayton, WY to Bozeman, MT

BEAR COUNTRY - Today we drove from lovely and historic Dayton, Wyoming to a campground south of Bozeman, Montana in the Hyalite Canyon--a place Kathy insists on calling nothing but "Bear Country".  (As we hinted at yesterday, grizzly bears and camping were in the forefront of Kathy's mind.  We stopped at a camping store in Bozeman and asked to buy some bear spray.  A combination of the $50 price tag and our salesman's assurance that we wouldn't need it convinced us that we could pass on the spray.)

We arrived at our stunningly pristine and refreshing campground and pitched our tent.  (See photo above.)  We were greeted by fellow camper, Mike, who offered us some of his firewood.  We talked and, guess what, Kathy asked if we should be afraid of bears.  Mike had to bring up the fact that someone had recently been killed in nearby Yellowstone by a grizzly--though it was a rare occurance, and that he carries a pistol just for such occasions.  Mike was our new BFF.  Then he went on.  Mike said that the mountain lions were a larger concern for him, at which point Jeff asked him to shut up.

We eventually figured out that the nighttime temps of less than 40 degrees F were way too cold for the bears to venture out anyway.

This "cuisine sauvage" consists of basmati rice, green chilis, and Springfield chilli from Joe Roger's Dew Chili Parlor.   Just what the bears ordered.