You may feel a sense of deja vu reading this. Here we go again, another post where they’re looking for bears, don’t find them, go home. But no… spoiler alert, this one ends differently!
Actually, it kind of starts the same. We’d moved on to the Grand Tetons, the third of the National Parks on our trip. We’d selected a hike based on wildlife viewing opportunities. Moose apparently, around Heron Lake and Swan Lake. No moose. Not even any herons or swans. Darren had to improvise with a rendition of Swan Lake.
Heron Lake. No herons.
Swan Lake. No swans.
Swan Lake!
Bears too apparently frequent this promontory leading out from Colter Bay to Jackson Lake. It’s not like we want to run smack bang into a bear on a blind corner whilst hiking in the middle of a forest. What we were looking for was a cool bear viewing experience that safely involves not being in a vehicle. Like seeing a bear in an open clearing or down by the lake. Again, nothing doing. We did run into another hiker who said she’d seen a mother bear and two cubs. Always the case. (Sometimes I wonder if we’re really that unlucky that we always seem to meet the people who’ve just seen the bear/moose/wolf – take your pick, we’ve had all three. Or if there’s a bit of artistic license and creativity going on).
The views out onto the lake helped ease our pain.
Next up: canoeing.
Done with this wildlife watching lark, let’s just get out on the lake and enjoy it. Rather than choosing our normal watercraft of choice – a double kayak, we thought we’d mix it up a bit and go with a canoe instead. I was a bit surprised that the canoe was made out of aluminium. For some reason, I expected a canoe to be made out of wood.
Took me a while to get used to the paddling (in fact, I’m not sure I ever did get used to the paddling – Darren could attest). Once properly out on the water, we could appreciate the peace and solitude.
It’s difficult to portray how the water itself differs – and therefore how the experience of being out there/in there differs. I find it mind-blowing to come across patches of surface water that are so glassy, it looks like you’re paddling through clouds. It is surreal and quite magical.
After a hard morning’s paddling, we had to do a portage – getting out of the canoe and carrying (aka dragging) it through the shallow water and over the shale to the next inlet.
Darren taking the canoe for a walk
As the canoe was out of the water, and we were tired from our paddling and dragging, an opportune moment then to have our picnic lunch: salmon. No sooner had we sat down and opened the salmon than a black bear appeared over the other side of the lake.
Just wow! We finally had the bear experience we were yearning for. We watched entranced as the mother bear led her two cubs down to the water for a drink (maybe the hiker we saw yesterday wasn’t bullshitting after all). OMG. I can’t explain to you how cool an experience this was. We watched transfixed as the mother bear sniffed her way along the shoreline and the baby bears gamboled along, clumsily splashing in the lake.
BEAR!!!
Let’s just have a little splash…
Oh hang on a minute, I think I can smell lunch…
Wait for me…. and me…
And then the mother bear squinted over towards us and started heading for where we were. I might remind you that at this point we were out of the canoe and on the shoreline. About to tuck into only the best hot smoked wild salmon. I could sense that the mother bear was thinking the same. I wondered if we could make a run for it back to the canoe, to get to the safety of the water before the bears were in striking distance. But as the bears moved ever closer, the canoe was now smack bang between us and the bears. We didn’t fancy our chances of getting to the canoe first, so heading directly towards them at this point would probably not be the most highly recommended tactic.
We announced our presence loudly, just in case the bears thought the salmon was a free for all. Rumour has it their eyesight is even worse than mine.
“Hey Bear” we yelled. Louder and louder. “Hey Bear”. Thinking No way bear, turn right around, this is our lunch! The cubs stood up on their hind legs and looked directly at us. How can something be so adorable and yet at the same time there’s still a sense of danger. That mama bear was still leading the way, nose in the air, and heading in our direction. You should never underestimate the behavior of wild animals.
With the salmon in one hand, I readied myself and picked up a rock in the other, prepared to make even more noise by throwing it down in front of me. Darren cast me a sideways glance and raised an eyebrow. “Really?” You and a tiny rock vs a bear?
We had retreated along the shoreline, and we watched as the bears stomped past our canoe (with barely a sniff, maybe just a little gutted that the salmon was no longer there) and we breathed a sigh of relief as they headed out on their way. I guess they decided there were easier pickings out there than our lunch.
Suddenly that huge long canoe looks quite tiny
So maybe that one was just a little close for comfort. Probably best to move on and finish our picnic lunch elsewhere.
Always looking for ways to mix it up a bit, the next day we rented a bike and went for a ride through the national park.
No zoom. This one was taken from the bikes.
And well, fancy that. A young grizzly stepped right out into the road in front of us and sauntered across. Not batting an eyelid at the bikes or us. Again, such a cool experience. Maybe I’m not jinxed after all. 🙂