Seward, Alaska

Seward, just before sunset Sunday night.  A cruise ship just out of sight at the dock to the left was preparing to leave.  My plan was to wait here to capture the ship as it moved out the bay, but I had a little change of plans.

You see when I hit the ridge, I became a bit uncomfortable when I noticed a large amount of bear scat in the patch of berries on the ridge- it was obvious something much larger then me also enjoyed the area!  Having left my bear spray with Janine a quarter of a mile away back in camp didn’t help!

I eased up to the edge of the cliff and looked down below me – all clear.  As I often do, I quickly became engrossed in the process of taking photos and never saw a black bear slowly climbing the ridge just below me.  By the time I saw it, it was way too close!  Because the sun was directly behind me, and I was working quietly, the bear never saw me either – I did a quick “hey bear”, and it was clear it was just as shocked to see me I was him!  It quickly dropped down into the alders and out of sight.  It happened too fast – I didn’t get a photo, but it was just the reaction I was looking for.

After I waited a while longer for the ship to leave, the bear re-emerged on the next ridge over – the one you see in this photo.  Once out of the alders, the bear just stood there and stared at me!  It stood motionless for a long time, just staring – I figured it was  staring out of curiosity, but as time went on, I started becoming uncomfortable.  Eventually, it turned and began climbing the ridge – sharpe eyed viewers can probably see it in this wide angle image.  It was at this point that I decided a Seward photo without a cruise ship was good enough, and hiked back to camp.

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