In celebration of the fact that the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act turns 50 this year, Ken and I have been wanting to get back to one of our favorite spots on the Clarks Fork to get some shots of the canyon. After all, it isn't everyone who can brag they have Wyoming's first Wild and Scenic River practically in their backyard! Today seemed like a great day for a hike, even though the sky was actually too blue to get the landscape shots I was hoping for, so we left home about 6:30 am and headed to the parking lot at the canyon mouth.
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| "Wild and Scenic" signage at the canyon mouth. |
Like most of our hikes we needed to travel off-piste to get to the location we had in mind. We had about a two mile hike in followed by a relatively steep climb of 1000' up a rocky slope to reach a narrow pass where we had a small flat area to set up and wait for the light to be where we wanted it. The north side of the pass is an even steeper drop straight down to the canyon floor.
Like always, I traveled with my telephoto lens on my camera but once we got to our destination I switched it for my much shorter landscape lens. I then went to work setting up my tripod and locking down the camera in preparation. Ken was doing the same, setting up a little higher than me, on my right. I should note that Ken's hearing is pretty bad these days which can make for some interesting moments.
I was looking through my viewfinder, fiddling with the settings and trying to make sure everything was level when I heard a loud rustling on my left. In the same instant I wondered how Ken had managed to get by me I realized that wasn't possible and I looked up and directly into the face of a large black bear standing about 10' away. I am not sure whose eyes got bigger - mine or the bears! I turned to Ken and shouted "Bear!"and by the time he looked up and I turned back all we saw was the black furry butt moving away from us at top speed across the face of the slope we had just climbed.
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| No hike in the canyon is complete without a side trip to Bridal Veil Falls. |
Neither one of us managed to get a shot off but it was quite a thrill just to see the bruin in that location. It would have been one of the last places I would expect an encounter but it was a good reminder that we are indeed in a "Wild and Scenic" spot!
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| 5-shot panoramic of the canyon looking southwest. |
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| The Clarks Fork River from a lower viewpoint. |
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| Checkerspot Butterfly. |
