Four Bear-ance

 On Saturday we attended an event hosted by Ted Turner on his bison ranch in Montana - more about that another day.

Because we were so far from home, we decided to spend Saturday night near Big Sky and then drive home through Yellowstone Park on Sunday. We debated where to stop for a hike in the Park and decided on a trail along the river in Lamar Valley. This is a hike we have done dozens of times before and one we always enjoy.

When we crossed the bridge over the Lamar we realized we were going to have to change our plan a bit. Not only was the low ground where the trail crosses very marshy from recent rains, but the bison were strewn across the bottom land blocking access without putting yourself in danger. So we decided to bushwack a little and take a route we have taken in the past that leads more to the east toward a large band of rock. We did not do this trek at all last year because the area was closed all summer due to bear activity.
We are always very bear aware and perhaps even more so this week since the tragic mauling death of a tourist by a grizzly bear near Canyon.

About two miles into our hike, as we were approaching the rock wall, I heard a noise and saw a flash of black fur running through the brush toward a big tree. Ken was behind me so I turned and yelled "bear" to warn him. He came up to me and we both had our bear spray in hand as we tried to assess the situation.
The conversation went like this:
Ken: Where is it?
Me: In that big tree. I think he climbed up.
Ken: I see him. It looks like a cub.
Me: He is really cinnamon colored! I thought he was black.
Ken: He is black.
Me: OMG! There are two bears in the tree!

Sure enough - there were two bears in the tree; one cinnamon colored and one black. We were pretty sure they were black bears but we didn't want to take the time to try to figure it out for sure at that moment and we sure didn't want to underestimate a mama bear of any kind. We started to continue on our way but quickly realized that was going to take us even closer to the pair and could be construed as a threatening move on our part. So we backed out slowly the way we had come, keeping eyes and ears open for any sign of pursuit and keeping our bear spray firmly in hand.

I did click off a few shots as you can see but I want to emphasize that 1) I took the shots during those few seconds we were deciding what to do - we did not linger or try to get closer for a better view and 2) I was using a high quality 400mm lens and have since cropped these photos.  We were not anywhere as close as you might think from these shots!

All in all we saw four bears on our trip through the Park - almost certainly all black bears. I am just happy we did not see a fifth in this pair's protective mama!