Goldilocks and...

We only really had time to take a leisurely drive through Yosemite with a few photo stops before we had to be on our way. I wanted to go back to Olmsted Point in the early morning light, and it didn’t disappoint.

I’d asked Bruce about the possibility of seeing bears. Yosemite is obviously a good place to see them, but your chances are much improved by hiking away from the roads, he said, and there wasn’t time for that so I was resigned to not seeing bears. I never do see bears, so I’m used to it.

And then it happened. A couple of people at the side of the road were clearly watching something of interest, so we slowed the car and… yes! A Black Bear! I had packed the big lens away the previous day, right at the bottom of the bag of course. Needless to say, everything – binoculars, laptop, clothes – was dumped out in half a second and after the quickest lens change in history I leaped out of the car.

There were two bears! No, three! Unbelievable! Right in front of us, a mother and two cubs were going about their business seemingly oblivious to the clicking shutters from the small crowd that was forming.

Typically, I was only able to shoot directly into the light, so the photos are not brilliant, but I wasn’t going to attempt to outmanoeuvre three bears. I can’t remember for certain, but I think the top half of the sign in the photo below read “Pissing off bears…”

Surely it doesn’t get much better than that. It had been an amazing trip but this really was the icing on the cake. I’ve wanted to see bears in the wild for years and had come so close several times in Arizona. I found bear poo early one morning in Madera Canyon that was still gently steaming – I’m sure the bear could see me, but try as I might, I never did see it. Well, this time, I probably used up my whole life’s supply of bear viewing luck in one sitting.

And what a way to end the trip. A few hours later I was on the flight home with a big, stupid grin on my face and a matching hole in my wallet, but it was worth every penny.

Thanks, as always, to my friends Bruce and Brenda Barrett for their customary warm hospitality. If not before, I’ll see you both for my next Yosemite trip in June. You were right - I’m hooked