In both cases as we were driving through the respective parks we came upon cars pulled over to the side of the road. So of course we joined them. The first time, in Glacier, I was not able to get my camera out in time (we had yet to get to our lodgings and I had to dig through the luggage; rookie mistake). The second time I had the camera at the ready, but a park ranger came along and chased both us and the bears away. And this was the only shot I managed.
But I saw them.
🐻 🐻 🐻
I've been to Yosemite, multiple times, where folks had pics on their cellphones of bears outside my hotel. I've camped in glacier (an previous trip) and went hiking all over; the only bear seen by the group was one dad saw walk across the visitor center parking lot as he waited for us to return from a hike. And there was the time I was in the second car when the first car saw a bear cross the road. And so on.
I've been in bear country plenty of times and it seemed everyone but me saw the bear. "You just missed it"; "It was here this morning"; "It was just around the bend back there"; I heard again and again. I started to consider bears in the same category as unicorns and dragons. Mythical beasts.
But that's no longer the case. I saw them.
🐻 🦁 🐻 🦁 🐻
And on the way back to Glacier from Waterton we were in two cars, with me driving the second. And the first car stopped for seemingly no reason. There was a reason, a Mountain Lion was crossing the road in front of them.
But this time I wasn't that guy. I saw the cat as it crossed as well.
I saw it.
No comments:
Post a Comment