One nice summer day several years back I was driving to the northern part of Banff National Park. My goal was to hike to Bow Glacier Falls, which originates from the Bow Glacier and flows into Bow Lake. Bow Lake subsequently gives rise to the Bow River, which flows through Banff and Calgary and merges with the Oldman River to form the South Saskatchewan River.
My destination is shown below, and it is a truly beautiful place.
(Bow Glacier giving rise to Bow Glacier Falls, which flows into Bow Lake)
A few miles before reaching my destination I noticed a black bear walking beside the road. I pulled off the road onto the curb, rolled down my passenger window and snapped away. The bear was so close that I could smell him (a rather rancid odor).
At first the bear was mostly hidden by vegetation, but soon he emerged and I was able to get a few decent photos of him.
The bear was just wandering along, continuously grazing as bears do in the summer. They eat almost constantly to build up their stores of fat, such that their bodies have enough fuel to survive the long winter’s hibernation.
