This piece is titled "Too Close For Comfort." After reading this story behind the shot, you'll understand why this is the appropriate title.
It was one of our last few nights of our month long stay in Alaska. During that time, we had many encounters with bears. Some friendly. Some quite aggressive. None the less, Don and I decided to leave our host and guide (Don's sister Missy) at home and venture out on our own. We wanted to see more bears!
We made the decision to head out to the Campbell Airstrip Trailhead in Anchorage. This area is known for its high concentration of Grizzly bears- especially at that time of year. You see, this trailhead has a Salmon stream running through it AND this is peak spawning season.
We were quite uneasy, but after all...this is Alaska. That's what we're here for right? Oh, did I mention that we were going at night?
To set the scene, Don was at this trail with Missy about 13 years earlier. A week after returning home to Pittsburgh, he saw a news report that just a few days before Missy took him there, a girl had been fatally mauled by a Grizzly!
When we pulled in and parked, we noticed that we were the only people there and it was getting dark. Dark by Alaska standards being that at that time of year sunset is around midnight. Probably not the best place for two city slickers to be on their own. It was ok though. I was carrying the bear spray while Don took his photos. (Or so he thought.) More on that later.
We entered the trail, during a light misty rain, and made our way to the Salmon stream. Don kept asking me, "Do you have the bear spray ready?" "Are you sure you're ready?" "If something happens, it's going to happen very quickly." "Promise me you're ready!"
I assured him that I was ready and I had his back so he could concentrate on his view finder and taking photos. He made his was down to the stream to get some shots and see if there were any bears fishing. I had to stay back a ways because it was muddy and I decided it would be a good idea to wear flip flops. (Did I mention we are city slickers??)
Anyway, we decided there were no bears so we started making our way back to the truck. On the way back, Don took a photo of the warning sign stating that during those few months, people should not come to this area due to the high volume of Grizzly bears and bear attacks. Ironically, the very next picture on his camera would be this bear. I guess the sign was right!
We stepped off the trail and rounded the corner to walk back to the truck and boom, Don was face to face with this Black bear. The bear was literally as close as it is in the photo. Don did not have on his zoom lens. What you see is what we saw.
Remember the assurances I gave him that I was ready with the bear spray?? (More on that in a minute.)
Pumped full of adrenaline and confident that I had his back, Don kept snapping away as the bear walked closer and closer directly towards him. Finally, once it was just a few feet away, Don decided to get into the truck, roll down the window, and shoot from there. He shot while the bear walked in front of our truck and turned down the exact trail we had just exited. Had we been 30 seconds later, we would have encountered him on the narrow trail which led to the Salmon stream where the bear was headed for dinner.
After Don took his last shot, he turned and looked at me noticing that I was taking pictures with my cell phone. He said, "um, where's the bear spray?" "You promised you had my back with the bear spray!" "Are you telling me that I was standing face to face with this bear taking pictures and you were sitting in the truck the whole time with NO BEAR SPRAY??" Oops! I guess I got caught up in the moment. We had a good laugh about it, and he was a great sport. He loves telling that story to everyone who comes into his gallery and looks at that photo.
Now you see why the title had to be "Too Close For Comfort."