Grizzly Encounter - When the Wild Reminds Me - Yellowstone

In this video I'm embarking on a 3-day trip solely to Lizard Lake Country in the northwestern corner of Yellowstone National Park I'll be camping alone traveling across a vast open field with cold nights and expansive views This area has significant brown bear activity and I've had several close encounters So let me show you how this journey was and explain what happened along the way This trip was a three-day backpacking journey to Lizard Lake Country in mid-May Tomorrow was cold 27 degrees and the ground was frozen from the previous night I crossed the Taylor Fork River in the northwest corner of Yellowstone using the footbridge and bega e path as the sun rose over the crissas Just a few hundred meters farther on I spotted perfect brown bear tracks in the frozen mud There were places where the bear had slipped and slid To someone with little experience the tracks might have looked like those of a massive bear They usually appear larger in the mud and were about the size of a dinner plate I've been here before but I've never seen a grizzly bear I had imagined my chances of seeing one were very high but that thought was already beginning to change Along the riverbank amidst a dense clump of willows the trail rose almost a kilometer and a half to view the footprints I should have thought more carefully before feeling so at ease walking around there When I stepped out from behind the willows a brown bear emerged from the same group only ten meters ahead of me I was completely surprised and slowly I grabbed my bear spray The bear continued forward slightly to my left never once looking at me He walked calmly through the brush as if I weren't even there I slid my bear spray back into its holster and raised my camera He stopped and looked up in the direction I was heading She could clearly see the long crooked nose the small ears set forward and the hump on the shoulder He stayed there grazing for fifteen seconds never turning to look at me Then out of the corner of my eye another brown bear appeared My hands were shaking so badly that the footage was nearly unwatchable He was a large black male directly in front of me no more than twenty or twenty-five meters away Keep the camera on Follow the bear's example He didn't even look at me He moved through the vegetation with the slow confident gait characteristic of brown bears All he could think about was retreating I waited for the right moment when the male was about fifty meters away But thankfully in view I began to slowly and steadily back away standing straight opening up—didn't notice any movement I kept climbing until my head was above a small rise I felt a bit safer but another concern arose Eventually one of them would catch my scent With the two bears so close I felt completely helpless Shivering with each question wondering what if they realize I'm here It seemed neither of the bears had seen me and after a few minutes they moved toward the trees The first one was a female It was the start of the mating season So this was a couple mating The black guy is someone I recognized I've known him for years Encounters like this where brown bears act as if I weren't even there have happened before More often than I can count it affects my movement across the territory of the grizzly bears Silent respectful calm Even so the bears need to know I'm here especially from that distance After a few minutes I regained my composure and seriously considered ending the journey I'd done it before when something like this happened But this was supposed to be a three-day trip so I decided to keep going This was the kind of experience I'd been hoping for I took a few deep breaths and kept walking along the trail I still didn’t know it but things would heat up again in about fifteen minutes About 800 meters further on I glanced back and saw a third brown bear coming toward me He was walking steadily covering the ground quickly I didn’t know whether he was following my scent or heading the same way but he was closing the gap We were beside a small lake about twenty meters wide My best chance was to get across and climb up on the far side from where I could Looked down from above even though the air was below zero I didn't hesitate I went in The water reached my knees soaking through my boots and pants But all that mattered to me was getting to a safer place On the other side I climbed all the way to the crest and looked back Nothing The bear had vanished That's just how brown bears are One moment they're there the next they're gone I moved to another ridge about 300 meters away and stayed there for a while scanning with my binoculars I was out of breath and exhausted but I felt relieved that the bear was no longer in sight From there I continued off the trail toward the basin leading to the albino lake The snow remained in soft patches A small group of moose stood silently along the stream ahead watching intently before returning to the woods I stopped by the lake to examine the brown bear tracks in the mud Walking along the lake was pleasant and peaceful After the lake I walk another two and a half kilometers and arrive at a place I call the grizzly bear corridor I always find tracks here but never those made by the bears themselves Fresh tracks once again They were heading in the opposite direction If I had arrived an hour earlier I might have encountered another brown bear coming straight toward me I crouched down and studied the footprints—the size the distance between the front and back paws Analyzing the spacing I can see the bear's speed This obviously a small female was walking slowly a little ahead for a tree that's rubbing against something Where brown bears had worn down the bark over the years their tracks crisscrossed the snow in every direction Moreover the path climbed a few bends The snow had barely covered the ground but it was easy to walk on By late morning it was warming up quickly and the remaining snow was melting on the higher elevation The snow was too deep to continue following So I turned back and walked until I reached an open area surrounded by trees There I found a spring with cold water bubbling up from the ground It's hard to find anything tastier than this Later that afternoon I set up my hammock with the rain cover open To be able to observe the night through the eyepiece if I woke up I put out the small fire and cooked e meal I drank a hot chocolate as the sun set settled into the hammock knowing There were brown bears somewhere in the darkness surrounding the camp The problem is that I sleep soundly I never hear anything When I finally wake up and take a look I see nothing The next morning I woke before sunrise lit a small fire and watched as the dawn broke The moose grazed on the slope while having breakfast I returned seven kilometers and took another trail toward Lizard Lake The snow didn't stop me again but I spent the day tracking moose Fresh tracks and a distant view of Lake Alino Late in the afternoon I found a spot with a great view and decided to set up camp I fortified my network with thick brush behind an open field ahead After preparing the lunch I hung the food about twenty meters ahead When night fell I walked through the area of fresh brown bear dens but found no tracks on the trail In thawed areas bears appear to be searching for roots and ground squirrels Just before dusk I climbed onto my hammock The rain started falling soon after There's nothing quite like lying in a hammock as the rain drums against the canvas Sleep well until morning At dawn I awoke to a stunning view of snow-capped mountains with clouds gathered in the valleys behind The sun touched the peaks with a brilliant pink glow that shimmered in the mist below I slowly packed my bags the camp's mist stubbornly refusing to lift I went straight to her At nine o'clock it was so thick I couldn't see more than a few meters ahead No brown bear cub used my thermal camera Still it's unsettling to move through the fog in a place like that Half an hour later the fog began to lift I relaxed because I could see farther once again Half a kilometer along the trail I arrived at the same area where I had seen the footprints earlier The first two bears and where a third had followed my tracks I was no longer being very careful I was thinking about food and the trip back home Then I heard a quick splashing sound of water No stream twenty meters away There were three brown bears with two cubs likely each two years old A puppy was very light-haired I had never seen anything like it before They heard me first and ran up the hill The mother stayed in the middle with her kittens beside her All three stared straight at me We stared at each other for more than a minute The puppies let out soft curious and hesitant grunts I filmed and remained silent I've never felt the need to grab my bear spray It's hard to describe a moment like that—a wild mother with her young calm and fearless simply watching After a while the pups gathered the others and led them up the hill toward the trees When I reached the trailhead I'd already seen six brown bears on a backpacking trip The weather was perfect—cold nights fewer days It ended up being one of my favorite trips You had the chance to observe brown bears remaining calm quiet and respectful in their own home That's what matters The funny thing is whenever I'm out there it's always when I least expect to see bears that I end up spotting them I don't know why this happens but it occurs quite often Perhaps nature knows how to remind me to stay alert humble and grateful