| The
Beast
For twelve long years, a young crazy guy searches high
and low for an elusive and almost mythical creature.
Each spring, he hikes hundreds of kilometres and drives
thousands, braves snow, sleet, wind and rain, early sunrises,
no sleep, all for one simple thing -- grizzly bears.
Specifically, it is a hunt for that one magical beast.
This beast....
It was a morning for photographers. Crisp and clear,
with just a trace of wispish cloud hanging in the
valleys.
It was like so many other perfect mornings I have gone
out. But that all changed at 6:11 am. I remember
the time because I had just turned off my cd player, wanting
to take in the glorious sunrise that was unfolding over the
mountains ahead of me.
I came around a corner on the dirt road and there in front
of me stood, literally, one of the largest grizzly bears I
have ever seen in the Canadian Rockies.
A big, honking male. Maybe not quite yet in his
prime, but gigantic-looking for early springtime.
To my utter amazement, unlike every other big bear I have
ever seen, he did not immediately run. In fact, he did
the exact opposite, walking straight towards my car.
For a brief moment in time, just a pause, he stopped and
turned his head to look at me as he walked by. And for
that moment, from FIVE feet away, I was eye to eye with
him.
The remarkable encounter continued as the bear walked past
me, then veered over to the road's edge and began feeding on
the horsetails growing there. He ducked in and out of
the shadows, feeding, moving, watching, then feeding
again. And for four glorious hours I photographed him,
capturing some of my favourite shots ever, including 'The
Beast' to the right.
I drove that same road ten to fifteen times more over the
course of the spring and summer, but never did see the bear
again.
Still, for that one unbelievable morning full of moments, I
came eye to eye with the beauty of the beast. For me,
that's what wildlife photography and living here in the
Canadian Rockies is all about.
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