<b>We will be hiking, but will try not to hike alone in remote areas. Because all lodges have already been sold out in early Sept, we're planning to camp (inside a minivan)</b>

Camping inside a minivan and hiking in groups ... your chances of needing bear spray are miniscule under those circumstances.

As I wrote above i was just in YNP & GTNP.

I didn't see a grizzly but saw 3 black bears. One was very, very close to me and was eating until he bolted to the side and ran away.

There were crowds at the Old Faithful viewing area but it was manageable. I think a bus pulls up and several hundred people walk over.

If you are there between 7AM and 9:30 it's pretty empty and that's the best time to view from there as the sun it behind you.

Observation point was basically empty and if you are watching late in the day the sun will be in you eyes at the viewing boardwalk so you're better off joining the 5 others at Plume Geyser on Geyser hill on the opposite side.

Myer, did you make it to / find the Patriarch Tree?

Well, I'm a little late to the party, but we did NOT purchase bear spray for our Yellowstone hiking. Honestly, there was only one time that I was even a LITTLE worried about a bear encounter, but that was in the Grand Tetons. Funny about the bells -- one of the rangers told us that bears are curious and when they hear bells, they will investigate! Everytime we got near to a person with bells on their backpack, I moved away as quickly as I could, LOL!

<You need to be within 20 feet of the bear which is super close and spray right in the face and eyes.>

No thanks to that idea!

AnnMarie_C,

No, after seeing photos of the Patriarch tree and the effort to get to it I decided there were many other photo ops around.

I'm about to post my trip report.

Just a quick update on bear spray in Yellowstone. We ended up not buying a bear spray. The parks were quite crowded (1st week of Sept) when we were there, and there were plenty of people on the trails. Unless you want to go off in the wilderness on your own, I don't think you need to buy any bear spray. In fact, it was so difficult to spot any bears. We only saw 2 black bears (remotely) and no grizzlies. Lots of hype out there about bear attacks.

Its not the number of bears that you see. Its the number of bears that see you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_662828.html

The CG where the attack took place, Soda Butte, is located about a mile ease of the town of Cooke City. The irony of the situation we have been camping in the same CG off and on for over 20 years and never saw a bear in the place.