JonBerndtPhotography

Rocky Mountain Black Bear

Taken at Moraine Park Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park on November 19th 2016. My wife and I had talked to the rangers the morning of this shot and the...
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Taken at Moraine Park Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park on November 19th 2016. My wife and I had talked to the rangers the morning of this shot and they said they didn't think there were any active bears nearby - that they were likely hibernating by now. This one we saw was seen only by total luck. We were driving on Fern Lake Rd at the Cub Lake trailhead. I saw some brown ahead of us and to the right through the trees - thought it might be a dog. But in that instant I got a funny feeling and thought to myself ... I wonder ... And then it darted across the road to my left. I drove up about thirty or so feet and grabbed my camera, removed the lens cap, aimed and fired all in one smooth motion as he stopped and looked back. The lens I just happened to have on was a Nikkor 200-500mm VR lens. Here's where the fast focus really did good for me. I shot it at 200mm to get an insurance shot and was about to zoom in when he took off. It happened very quickly. I think he might have been spooked by some hikers nearby - roughly where I had been hiking a few minutes earlier. It was quite a cool encounter.
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