Grizzlies!!

When driving back from a truly magnificent hike to Ptarmigan Cirque in Kananaskis Country, the long awaited thing happened: a Grizzly sighting! And not just one bear, but THREE! A mother and her two cubs (probably in their second year) were foraging on the opposite side of a river from where I was driving. The distance between us felt good, because they didn't seem to notice my presence and so were not disturbed, but also because I'm not at all used yet to walking around in an area where a magnificent, but potentially dangerous animal like this could be hiding behind every tree and bend in the trail! As you see I managed to make a few shots, none of which are nearly as good as I'd hope, but this was such a great thing to experience that I'm putting this up anyway. The three bears were slowly following the river south, digging at roots and eating berries as they went. Not once did they all show their faces at the same time unfortunately for the photographer in me. On the other hand, they will need all the food they can get before the snow comes in. Due to the time spent nosing between the bushes, this didn't seem too big a problem for them!

Note the tags on mom's ears! I hope to find out a bit more about this mother!

Image number: AWMC2114Can