Tags
399, adventure, bears, camping, cubs, documentary, experiences, Grand Teton National Park, grizzly bears, Moran WY, mountains, national park, Nikon, outdoors, Oxbow, personal experiences, photography, research grizzly 399, single woman traveling alone, Snake River, sow, Tetons, travel, travel photography, trials and tribulations, wildlife photography, Wyoming
A couple of days before I had finished editing my documentary video, and before the quarter ended, I did something unusual and picked up a copy of the local newspaper. Perhaps a headline caught my attention, it was too long ago now for me to remember the details of this pivotal moment. Which is why I try to journal and commit my memories to paper. Remind me later to tell you what I discovered during this trip about the correlation of my memory and loneliness.
In the outdoor section of the newspaper was a story about research bear 399 emerging into spring with three cubs. The story talked about how 399 had previously raised three cubs near the main roads of Grand Teton National Park and how, five years later, she was repeating this behavior. As icing on the rich chocolate cake, her five year-old daughter, 610, was also raising two cubs near the road. Apparently, according to the article and many people that I’ve spoken to since, 399 figured out that being in close proximity to humans was the best way to keep her cubs safe from predators and she had taught her daughter this same behavior.
Believe it or not, last year was my first real year of traveling and shooting wildlife. I quickly became obsessed with capturing bears but didn’t have much luck in getting good shots with the few bears that I came across. I didn’t have the bear karma yet but felt certain that it would come with time. I also hadn’t had a lot of interaction with bull moose and bull elk but that also changed during the trip.
From the minute that I read the story in the Spokesman Review, I was headed for the Tetons. While finishing my project the trip began to play out in my mind and I had no idea how to pull it off. Except one foot in front of the other. I began packing before knowing that it would be possible to go – possible to have someone look after my dog…my heart knew what my brain couldn’t fathom.
To be continued.