This is my second black bear encounter in Yosemite in the last two weeks. This time it was much more close and personal. This handsome young bear (not a cub though!) was curious about us and did not seem to be afraid at all. Before we realized, it walked right to our group. After some jumping around the boulders it leaped to the nearby tree and quickly climbed up 20 feet in about 5 seconds. Amazing creatures! We ended up chasing it off so hopefully it stays away from humans in the future.

Awesome! I love that shot. Great color and composition. What a cute bear too. I wish there were catch lights in the eyes, but that's ok. I wish I could find one out here!

I like this shot as well! I love the saturated color and the detail in the surrounding tree. You were lucky to get such good light in the forest area.

James

That looks like a young grizzly bear instead of a black bear. What makes me think it is a grizzly is the shape of the nose to the forehead. Black bears have a straighter line from the nose to the forehead whereas grizzly bears has a dished face and more prominent forehead like this young bear.

I wish this was a grizzly. Unfortunately grizzlies are extinct in California

Hey Misha,

I saw the craziness in another forum around your post and story. Oy.

How old do you think the bear was? He is certainly not a cub as momma would be around the corner. Yet, the bear does not look so big (and of course, I may be seeing it wrong) that it would be on its own necessarilly.

Anyway, as I said earlier, great work.

James


James

Hey James,
Yeah I guess it is a part of posting your work online or through any other medium. There will be many who love it and some who choose to put it down for one or another reason. Ironically, the one that put it down lives far away from Yosemite and obviously does not have a first hand bear experience. So I am not taking it too seriously. I on the other hand, "met" bears in the wild five times over the last two years. Once a bear charged me and my friend as soon as we spotted it about 100 yards away; right by the road too! Fortunately this was a "false" attack as it stopped cold half way, turned around and ran off. Made my blood going though!

This one was definitely not a juvenile anymore. It does look smaller in the photo though. While standing on all fours, it was probably 3' tall. We looked for momma but it was definitely alone. It was so cute and curious... at first it stopped about 30' away from our group to check us out. After we scared it off a bit, it went around the boulders to approach us from a different side. So we scared it off again until it finally left.

What a great photo. I love bears but think I can live without a few close encounters