He lifted his nose and started to sniff and then was starting to push through the bush towards me. After a few moments I looked up to see what the bear was doing. My heart is racing and the amount of details that went through my mind were amazing. I immediately stopped, looked down and went submissive. About 10 to 15 yards away and above me on the slope of the mountain is a small grizzly. Well, as I am hiking up a section that curls around to the left I hear a snort and an animal breaking through some brush. IвЂ™m about 4-5 miles into the hike with a goal of reaching the summit by noon-1pm.ДЄs IвЂ™m hiking I hear noises in the woods so I every so often would bang my hiking poles together so as to not startle any forest creatures. I couldnвЂ™t find anyone to doing something this ambitious. A very smart move on my part.ДЄnother not so smart move on my part was to hike this one alone. Round Valley has some great hills to hike up and down so when I train, I train with my ipod.ДЇortunately on my hike in Jackson Hole I thought the better of it and chose not to wear head phones. I had trained for several weeks to prepare myself for this hike. I read all the advice and decide to hike with bear spray. Now, I am from central NJ we donвЂ™t have bears here (except for the rare black bear that may wander nearby).

I found a 20 mile loop going up Paintbrush Canyon over Paintbrush divide and returning down Cascade Canyon.ДЄn ambitious hike to be sure but well worth it. Since I was going to be in Jackson Hole, I decided to check out some hikes well in advance. During August 2010, I was in Jackson Hole supporting a relay for life American Cancer Society Fund raising event.

Paintbrush canyon