Arrived at the park around 5 o’clock and headed up the South Rim trail. I hadn’t been up there since last season – most of the flowers are in full bloom and there are a lot more than last year around this time.
From the top of the ridge I could see a black bear mom and two brown cubs in the distance. I really, really want cub shots this year, and I almost hiked to them for some photos, but my instincts told me that it was a bad move since I was out hiking alone, miles from anything or anyone. It’s so dangerous to approach a protective mother bear – I made the right choice, took some far away shots and moved on.
Hiking down the trail, Rob’s voice came over the radio – “I’ve got a bear in the canyon, get down here!”. “I’m on the way, thanks!” – I high-tailed it down to him, just in time to watch the bear disappear into the brush.
We spent the rest of the evening watching the bear wander the hills, too far and heavily wooded for anything decent in the way of photos. There was a mountain lion sighting around 8:15 near the lower parking lot, Rob and I had barely missed it. The sunset was excellent, the summer sky morphing into vivid blues, oranges, pinks and purples.
The golden eaglet is really big now, almost completely dark and quickly losing the patch of white on its head. It was an excellent four-bear day for me, no complaints whatsoever – hopefully those elusive cubs will make themselves available for photos soon!
Teklanika Nature Photography 