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PARADISE VALLEY Paradise Valley is aptly named. It is a hiker's paradise. It is such a perfect valley that the bears love it too. There is a large, adult, male grizzly bear that calls Paradise Valley home every July. In August, he moves over to Morraine Lake. The big grizz has been getting very aggressive towards humans and during his last encounter with humans, he stalked a group of 6 hikers for two days. To protect the bear, the park planned on closing Paradise Valley to humans as soon as there were any signs of the bear in the valley this summer. This leaves a small window of opportunity to hike Paradise Valley; after the snow melts and the avalanche hazards drop and before the large grizzly enters the valley. It was the first week of July but due to the late snowmelt this year, there had been no signs of the bear yet. We decided to hike the whole 12 mile loop of the valley as a dayhike. No sense in doing it as an overnight and giving the bear one more day to show up... |