Traveling Across America Day 3: Face to Face With a Grizzly Bear

Sunrise, you rise

I’m not a morning person, as much as I wish I were, but when we travel or hike mornings are a must.

There was a smile on my face as we wound our way through downtown Jackson in the pitch dark. The street lights were few and far between, so spread out that we had to rely on the subtle reflection of the yellow pavement markings to guide our way towards to the Grand Tetons.

We had never been to Grand Teton National Park, but we knew for sure we wanted to watch the sun rise on the infamous mountains. Taking a shot in the dark, literally, we pulled into a turnout on Teton Park Road.

I tried in vain to converse with a fellow photographer as I set my tripod up next to his, until my wife quietly pointed out that he did not speak English.

Regardless, a silence quickly overtook all of us as the myriad of oranges and yellows poured out over the mountains in the distance.

For about five minutes the multitude of colors seemed to build until finally the sky tinted with nothing except light blue. It was almost as if someone had cranked the sunrise dial to high until they ran out of power. As quickly as it had come, it had gone.

Happening upon beauty

I think in our everyday lives we find more ways to miss beauty than to capture it. But surrounded by the grandeur of the Grand Tetons it seemingly falls into your pocket at every turn.

I packed up the tripod and camera and we drove back down Teton Park Road and out onto 191. One right turn later and we found ourselves watching elk graze about a hundred yards away.

Another right turn brought us down Mormon Row. Suddenly it seemed like the person controlling the sunrise had found another power source. This time hues of brilliant yellow painted an old cabin, a cool running creek.

Moose on the loose

Back on 191 we came across a construction sign that prophetically read: “Moose on the loose. Drive carefully.”

Less than a minute later we were pulled over on the side of the road watching four giant Moose graze.

A date with death

We eventually peeled ourselves away from the Moose and followed the GPS in our phone towards “Death Canyon.” It was supposed to be a 1.6 mile hike to a scenic overlook. There was really only one problem: bears.

My wife had checked the Grand Teton National Park site earlier that morning and Grizzly Bear and Black Bear sightings were becoming more frequent. A warning to keep on the lookout, hike in groups, and carry bear spray with you at all times was recommended. We had two out of the three covered.

As we drove down the unpaved road the morning sun started to fade behind the mask of clouds creating a shockingly eerie effect, and we decided that Death Valley wasn’t worth the risk of being mauled by a bear.

Before we could turn the car around I saw a flash of red scurry up a tree.

“That was the biggest squirrel I’ve ever seen,” I said.

The creature emerged from behind the thick patches of pine needles, only it wasn’t a squirrel. It was an American Marten (which at the time we thought was a mongoose), and it was chasing something. The fox like Marten shot back down the tree and in between several makeshift brambles of fallen tree branches. It emerged later with a field mouse in its mouth.

Always watching

It was getting close to check out time at our motel so we needed to head back. But, our luck didn’t stop with the Marten.

On our way out we pulled in behind a white SUV. (Tip: if you’re searching for wildlife, stop every time you see a car stopped)

At first we didn’t have a clue why the driver was standing outside the car with a huge telephoto lens. Then we spotted him.

Directly to our right about 100 yards was a Great Gray Owl. He turned his head 180 degrees right, then back left, then he pivoted on the branch and took flight.

The day was just beginning

It was just after 11:00 a.m. when we loaded up the car back at our motel and took off for Yellowstone. Already we had seen moose, elk, a marten, and an owl. Not to mention the incredible sunrise. Even if we didn’t see anything else it would have been an incredible day.

But, my wife and I had been to Yellowstone a couple years ago. We knew for absolute certainty we were bound to see some more awesome wildlife and views. We weren’t wrong.

Hanging out with a Bison

We’ve seen lots of Bison before, but never quite this close.

My wife decided it would be a fun time for a Periscope. (Follow her here!)

And then we saw even more Bison. I may have gotten a little carried away with the photos, but these animals are behemoths. And they are awesome.

Face to face with a Grizzly

We were on our way out of Yellowstone around 3 p.m. when my we decided to Google, “best place to find a bear in Yellowstone.”

Hayden Valley and Lamar Valley were two locations that kept coming up. Lamar Valley was a bit too far, but Hayden was just right around the corner. The valley was breathtaking, but unfortunately no bears.

We almost turned around to head for Cody, Wyoming (where we were staying for the night), but we saw a sign for the “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.”

The huge waterfall and deep ravine was nice, but not as cool as driving up on about 50 people pulling their cars to the side of the road.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

My wife and I responded almost instantly. “Bear!”

Sure enough, several hundred feet away was a young Grizzly Bear just lounging in the forest.

We watched several people inch closer and closer, until the guy standing next to us said, “That’s one easy way to die.”

Not wanting to test the stupidity of some random people approaching a bear, we decided to leave the bear in peace. As more and more people poured in we drove away. We were so excited about finally seeing a bear that we hadn’t bothered to look up directions out of Yellowstone.

We quickly found ourselves driving towards Inspiration Point (which I have no clue what that is).

We also quickly found ourselves driving…alone…behind a giant Grizzly Bear.

Not wanting to bother Scarface (we found out later he’s a popular bear that has been making appearances in Yellowstone for about 20 years) we kept out distance. Slowly we followed the bear until a truck in front of us forced the bear to change paths and head back home to the woods.

It couldn’t get any better…could it?

There are two animals in the world that I’ve always wanted to see: a cheetah (which we didn’t see while on safari in South Africa), and a wolf.

Remember that tip about always stopping when other cars are stopped? Well, yeah, do that.

On our way out of Yellowstone (for a third time!) we pulled up next to several people behind large telescopic instruments on tripods. My wife got out to ask what they were looking at, because again we didn’t see anything.

I honestly believed it was probably nothing, because even though stopping where others are is a great tip, it’s also often just people looking at really ordinary things.

This time though my wife came running back to the car flapping her arms like she was landing a plane.

I rolled down the window and she said the only two words I needed to hear, “Black wolf.”

I grabbed my camera bag nearly knocking my water out of the cup holder and bolted across the street towards an older couple looking through their telescopes fervently.

Trying not to drop my camera over all the excitement, I zoomed in as far as I could using a 250mm lens.

“Just along the far tree line,” I heard the man say.

I stood behind him, trying to use their sight line and looked towards the far tree line. It had to be at least 500 yards, if not more. It was just too far for my lens.

The woman looking through the other telescope must have realized this when she saw the expression on my face.

“Do you want to take a look?” she asked. “There’s a black wolf lying in the grass next to a gray wolf.”

Did I want to take a look? No, actually I wanted to sprint across the vast plains and pet the dang thing, but I settled for taking a look. Sure enough, lying in the grass just before the tree line was a large black wolf. And several feet to his right was another.

(Note: I know you can’t see the wolf in the picture below, but I insert a picture of the area they were lying down just for reference of how far away they were)

One of the best days ever

Some people reading this may roll their eyes when I say this is one of the best days of my life.

I’ve had a lot of best days though recently. And the longer I live, the more I experience, the more I begin to realize that my dogs (Story and Linkin) have it all figured out. Because the truth is everyday has the potential to be one of the best days of my life.

Other posts in the Traveling America series:

• Day 0: I’m Traveling Across America (And One Day You Should Too!)
• Day 1: Discovering Snake River and Eating Chick-fil-a
• Day 2: Someone Turned Down the Shoshone Falls
• Day 3: Face to Face With a Grizzly Bear
• Day 4: Rediscovering the True Wild and the Old West
• Day 5: Bad Weather and Beautiful Colors
• Day 6: Every City Needs Waterfalls
• Days 7 and 8: The Windy City is…Really Windy
• Day 10: The Most Beautiful Scenery and the Most Disgusting Hotel
• Days 11 and 12: New York Countryside and Massachusetts Coast
• Day 13: New Haven and Old Friends
• Day 14: The Land of the Free and Chocolatey
• Day 15: Science, God, and Disappointment
• Days 16, 17, and 18: The Blue Ridge Parkway (Still Amazing)