I've gone through this sort of thought process, and I expect anyone who didn't grow up in grizzly country does. While my experience with this sort of bear is quite limited, I've done two long trips through grizzly country and feel now that it's a matter of getting some perspective to hit a sort of sweet spot of doing the right things, and comfort (sleeping sound) because you're doing the right things --- and because the statistics are good.

I did end up hiking solo through some grizzly country, but that was inadvertent --- my trail partner was injured and had to leave the trail, but we were through a lot of it by that time. So I did hike through Yellowstone and the Winds by myself, but I think that part of "doing the right things" includes hiking in a group of two, or even better, three if you can.

For the one serious grizzly encounter that I had, both I and my hiking partner completely forgot we were carrying bear spray until quite a number of minutes after we broke contact with the bear (it was right in our trail, and we ended up bushwhacking quite a ways around it). Just not something we were used to, and perhaps it was for the better: the bear gave us fair warning (scratching on a tree, huffing and chuffing). There was no reason for us to use bear spray there. But ... as I said, we both just forgot we were carrying it. I would carry it again if going solo; not sure if I would in a group; hiking east-to-west through Glacier N.P. last year I was in a group of three, and only one of us carried spray; we saw no bears.

I definitely DO think that the in-camp rules are to be taken seriously in grizzly country --- if hanging, get not only high enough, but out far enough from the trunk. The triangle approach (don't cook where you sleep). And if you come upon a bear kill near the trail, just keep on hiking! My trail partner and I were in Glacier early season in 2011 and came upon partly eaten goat carcasses two different times --- that has a way of speeding up your steps for a while.

For folks with long distance hiking experience in black bear country, it can be easy to sort of let that stuff slide ... in places where bears are hunted.

FWIW, the one significant grizzly encounter I had made me MORE comfortable in grizzly country. It helped me realize in my gut that the bears aren't all out there just looking at us as a food source, and that their behavior is at least to some degree predictable, or at least, understandable if you read up on it.

All of the above being said, I'm no kind of expert on grizzlies! This is just how *I* feel, that there's a kind of balance to be achieved in doing intelligent things, but then being comfortable once you're doing them. Key for me is to know not just in my head but in my *gut* that driving on the freeway is more dangerous than hiking through grizzly country, so long as you have follow reasonable process in the latter case. Actually, in both cases: our highways and freeways are friggin' dangerous! We're just used to that danger.