A bear walks into an elk party...
by Gary Kochel
Title
A bear walks into an elk party...
Artist
Gary Kochel
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Well this was exciting! Last week I headed up to RMNP to photograph sunrise and the elk rut. I was at one of my favorite sunrise locations, waiting for color to fill the sky. I had high hopes as there was some decent cloud cover, and it looked like it could be a really nice sunrise... but something inside bubbled up and said, "leave, right now, this very instant." I almost hesitated, but grabbed my tripod, and hopped in my car. As I drove to this second location (about 20 minutes away), the sky did fill with color, but I in no way felt like I was missing out on anything. I saw some bull elk in the distance, so I parked, and walked out onto a rock with a nice view of the meadow. Not 1 minute later, two sparring bull elk scare this bear out of the willows, and he starts barreling across the meadow. He was agitated and moving so fast! Much faster than you'd think an animal this size could move. I couldn't grab focus as he was running, but he stopped right here, directly in front of me, and allowed for 5 shots, before he ran into the trees, up a rock, and out of sight!
I've been coming to RMNP frequently for almost 5 years, and this is the first bear I've seen inside the park! I've certainly bugged plenty of rangers asking about any bear sightings, but no tips were needed this day. Just an openness to listen to the universe. It said if you leave this very instant, you and this bear will be in the same place at the same time. Unbelievable!
500mm / 1/800 @ f5.6 / iso 2000
Uploaded
September 28th, 2020
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