On a recent vacation, our family took a road trip with the main destination of Glacier National Park in Montana. On the way, we talked a lot about grizzly bears, and our son Max, who is 13, was insistent that we follow the recommendation of carrying bear spray.

I was fairly certain he would refuse to hike unless we had the spray. Fortunately, it’s easy to buy near that park (although many items for sale near national parks seem like a racket to me, I will concede that preventing a bear attack is a good idea).

Our first idea was to hike from Logan Pass, but that parking lot filled up much earlier than we arrived. We chose another hike a bit farther down Going to the Sun Road and hit the trail, armed with bear spray.

Everyone we passed was carrying a can.

Although I was fairly certain our chance of seeing a bear was low, the dense vegetation crowding the trail had me on edge as I imagined a bear hiding behind the bushes.

We finished the hike with no bear sighting, although another hiker said he’d spotted one another mile up the trail.

Safe in the car, we started the slow drive to Lake McDonald. Along the way, my husband, Jayson, said we should have listened to “Night of the Grizzlies” by Jack Olsen, which recounts the true story of two women who were killed in separate bear attacks on the same night, Aug. 13, 1967, in Glacier National Park.

I didn’t think that book would help my anxiety on that particular trip.

Fast forward a few weeks and we were again road tripping to our niece’s wedding. This time I relented and we downloaded the book.

Olsen is a good storyteller. He paints the picture of what Glacier was like in the late 1960s, when bear visits were a nightly occurrence at Granite Park Chalet, where discarded food enticed the bruins to come for a snack much to the delight of visitors.

There was also the matter of another bear that, in the summer of 1967, was terrorizing seasonal residents at Kelly’s Camp within the park.

On Aug. 13, 1967, Julie Helgeson and Michele Koons, both 19, died of their injuries after being attacked by different grizzlies, in different parts of the park.

Following the attacks, armed park rangers killed four grizzlies.

The deaths did bring change to the park, especially the movement to address trash and food disposal that would attract the bears.

These days, visitors are provided with brochures about hiking in bear country — make noise, hike in groups, don’t run on trails, carry bear spray (thanks, Max!), be aware of surroundings, and secure food and garbage.

Mostly, “Night of the Grizzlies” is a good reminder to all of us who enjoy wild areas — these beautiful spaces are home to animals. We are just visitors.