2008 Grizzly Bear Pictures ... Finally!!

It was a long and winding road...and road...and road - far too many kilometres to admit to - but I finally got my bear! My first grizzly of 2008 is actually an old friend, a bear that I photographed five times last year, including once while he feasted on grass in the warden's front lawn at Saskatchewan Crossing in Banff National Park.

My first encounter with him this year was at the end of another almost fruitless search along the Icefields Parkway, my 12th sojourn up the road at dawn or dusk in the month of May looking for new grizzly bear pictures. Some years I don't have any luck and go 'grizzly-less' until I leave the Rockies and go elsewhere, but last Thursday (May 29th) I drove back across Bow Summit along the Icefields Parkway just an hour before dusk and there he was, plunging through the last remnants of snow in the pass towards his regular spring feeding grounds.

Marching along at a quick clip across the snow at Bow Summit in Banff National Park

Still marching

And marching...through the deeper snow in the crest of the pass

Hitting solid ground

Grizzly bear portrait in late evening warm light

Another grizzly portrait, crossed legs and all!

Stay tuned for more grizzly bear photographs of this beautiful male from last Friday (the next day). And if you're interested in seeing more grizzly bear photography, please check out my grizzly bear image gallery in my stock picture library.

I'm currently in Altona, Manitoba proofing my new book, so watch for some prairie critter pics in the coming days from my travels across the grasslands of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as info on the new hardcover coffee table book due out June 15th!

Cheers!

John