Bears: The Mighty Grizzlies of the West

As the snow starts to melt andspringtime arrives in the Rockies, many people like me find themselvesdreaming not only about the beauty of the wild places you can visit, but also aboutthe wild animals who inhabit those places. Its at this time when I start thinkingabout the mighty grizzly, and wondering what kind of year I am going to have whenIm out with my camera and shooting photos.

As a young girl, I remember traveling to Yellowstone with my family inhopes of seeing one of these magical bears. Back then we considered ourselves luckyif in a time frame of ten days we were able to see just one, and when we did finallycome across one, it was the highlight of our trip. We would then spend as much timeas we could watching it. It didnt matter if the bear was hundreds of yards away andlooked like an ant on the horizon, we were always in awe and stayed until itdisappeared out of sight.

As the years went by, my love for this incredible species grew and Ifound myself drawn in their direction more than ever. I started visiting Yellowstonemore often, hoping to catch a glance and watch them in their natural habitat. Iwanted to see sows and cubs as they interacted, and to watch as the big boars madetheir presence known. I wanted to know what it meant to be a grizzly living in thewild.

The memories I have made over the years are priceless. I remember whenthe Fishing Bridge campground was located across from the Fishing Bridge storerather than where it is now. It always seemed like a very eerie place to stay.Whether it was daytime or nighttime, I remember thinking that every noise was a bearcoming to carry me away. Eventually that campground was closed and the new one wasbuilt. That area was given back to the grizzlies because it was considered theirpassage as they traveled to and from Yellowstone Lake.

At one point in time, there was a grizzly that learned how to get intothe bear-proof garbage cans. It would use one paw and stick its claws underneath thehandle and open it up and then use the other paw to reach down in and get thegarbage out. Im not sure whatever happened to that bear. I remember themsetting a trap for it, but never heard the outcome.

I also remember a small ranger station or warming hut that was locatedright by the entrance of that first Fishing Bridge campground. We would often stopin there and ask if there were any recent bear sightings. If there were, we hopedthat we could make it to the destination before the bear disappeared into thelandscape.

Speaking of landscapes, Yellowstone is such a beautiful place for agrizzly to wander. The amazing sunrises and sunsets, not to mention the mountainsand valleys, the rivers, the wildflowers, the pines, and all of the smells that goalong with themwhat an incredible place to call home.

Ive watched grizzlies swim and fish in the lake, take down anotheranimal for food, fight another bear, chase wolves, play on a patch of snow, andsleep on a log. Ive watched sows and boars mate, cubs hug their mom, and many otherwonderful sights. There is no better way to learn about this type of nature than toexperience it firsthand. Thankfully I have been able to observe many of the things Ialways dreamed about.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed spending so muchtime in the wilderness.