CARNIVORES: Bear Stories - Part VIII

Searching for Bears in the Fall is quite different than Spring. In the fall they tend to head higher up in the mountains where the pine trees are. It was September and I was photographing in Yellowstone National Park. I was staying in Gardiner, Montana just outside the North Park Boundary. My plan was to be up in the Mount Washburn, Dunraven Pass area by sun-up. It's a good hour or so from Gardiner, so I need to be on my way an hour before dawn. But, it didn't take long to find what I was looking for once I got to Mount Washburn. It was a fully grown Male Cinnamon Black Bear, probably 550 pounds or so. He was walking alongside the road:

Soon he jumped up on one of the White Pine Trees:

Then further up the tree:

And, still further up the tree:

Until he got to a place where he could reach the pine nuts: 

He was up in the tree for a good hour or so having a high protein meal. Once he had eaten everything within reach, he head back down the tree:

This process for several hours, by which time there were easily 50 cars stopped along the road.  Interestingly, he wouldn't go from one tree to the next tree. He would walk a hundred yards or so between each tree he decided to climb. I suspected that he would continue in the same direction. I decided to get further ahead of him (and the crowd), thinking eventually he would come to me. I was hoping to get a couple of good "last photos." Sure enough he did, stopping at a tree no more than 10 feet from me, and posing for a "close-up." This copy on the blog doesn't quite do the original justice. When blown up to 16 x 20 you can clearly see the iris and pupil of his eye:

Then, as I expected up the tree he went:

By this time all the people and the Ranger caught up with the Bear and to where I was. So I departed the scene. (I didn't want to incur the wrath of the Ranger --- Or, set a bad example).  As it turns out, those last photos where the best.