The story behind this photo is all that I think of each time I see images of this bear. It's a good story, mainly because everything turned out well in the end...

Upon arriving at Glacier National Park in October of 2002 for our second visit, Sheryl and I learned all that we could from national park rangers about recent wildlife sightings. We arrived that evening at one of the most promising locations to see bear watchers packing up their spotting scopes and long lenses after an adult grizzly disappeared from view up the mountain.

It was late autumn, and the grizzlies were active, ravaging the berry bushes on a mountain near the Many Glacier Hotel. We returned the next morning with pepper spray, a seriously long lens and directions to the spot on the trail from where the bears were being observed at a distance of about 300 yards - safe in terms of grizzly viewing. We had the latest reports from rangers...everything we needed to be safe.

But Glacier is the epitome of wilderness, And at a time of year when bears are extremely active, nobody tells the bears about where the people will be. Along our hike, we saw evidence of grizzlies, fresh tracks, scat and broken branches - so we knew we were on the right track. The brush was thick and we were attentive, using every sense that we had to its maximum. We stopped to check our map, confirmed we were at "the spot" when I saw out of the corner of my eye a large brown shoulder hump on the other side of huckleberry bushes about 20 feet to my right. I tried to convince Sheryl that a large adult grizzly was just on the other side of the bushes, but she couldn't see what I saw from her lower vantage point. We had rehearsed carefully what to do if we encountered a grizzly bear and now were putting those preparations into immediate play. We talked in a calm, monotone voice.

The bear lumbered out from behind the bushes in front of us, about 30 feet away. It was not surprised by our presence - we had made sure of that. It looked at us - we looked to the side, appearing disinterested in an effort to communicate that we knew he was there but could care less. The bear sniffed the air to catch our scent, but made no aggressive moves. He walked to the opposite side of the path and resumed eating berries from the bushes. He continued with a concerted focus on the berries, but well aware we were there. At the point I had my faculties back under control, and with the bear at a safer (not exactly safe) distance, I captured about a half dozen photos. None of them would ever make the cover of a magazine. Or even a small insert.

I can't impress enough, however, the changes your body goes through when you realize you're 20 feet away from one of the most powerful animals on earth. Every sense becomes heightened to a level you've never known. I was energized in every way - Sheryl was a bit more upset than energized. We recall this encounter with the bear we call Apakuni, named after the mountain upon which we had our first real bear encounter. Although we're grateful for the outcome we agreed to never to try that hard again to spot bears.

We've learned since then that bears can be found in the wild with good preparation and up-to-date reports from rangers and hikers. To date, we've seen 11 grizzlies and 14 black bear. many from a long distance, but each time it's a complete thrill that's hard to describe.

Canon EOS-1, Canon 600mm f/4.56L SSC, 1/500 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 100, Kodak Ektachrome EPP, Gitzo G1349 Mountaineer Carbon Fiber Tripod, Gitzo 1576M Ball Head