Griz 399

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So, after our close encounter with a moose, we finally get to the bears and watch grizzlies from a safe distance. No adrenaline rush here, just the enjoyment of being out on a cool day with a light breeze of soft clean air and a hundred or so people at a classic bear jam in Grand Teton National Park. We were heading back toward Jackson from Coulter Bay when we spotted a very well organized line of cars on the side of the road near Pilgrim Creek.

Noted wildlife photographer and Jackson resident Tom Mangelsen had noted in an article just the day before in the Jackson newspaper that there had been fewer grizzly sightings in the parks this Spring so we were happy to have seen bears in Yellowstone earlier in the week and not hopeful of seeing more. Pilgrim Creek, if you are a follower of bears, is the birthplace and home to perhaps the most famous bear in the world,  Griz 399 as she has been named by the famed Yellowstone Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.

Griz 399 is 22 years old and mother to dozens of cubs over the years. This year she has twins again, the two young bears you see in front and behind her in the picture above. Twins are her norm but she has had triplets three times in the past, the last time being in 2013.

399 is renowned for her longevity - 22 is ancient in bear years - and her productivity. She is seven feet tall when she stands on her hind legs and weighs about 400 pounds. Her territorial range includes much of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Each year that she shows up in the Spring at her advanced age is reason for celebration, especially when she trots out a couple of new baby grizzlies like she did again this Spring.

Below you can see her heading into the safety of the woods. It is the end of our brief visit with a wild and magnificent part of our world.

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Next week we will be share images from a Great Blue Heron colony in North Georgia and talk about what its like to see through a lens. Do you see more or less when  you take photographs? Do you miss some essential part of the experience when you tote around a camera? Or, is the experienced enhanced? Look for the posting on Thursday, the 28th.

All photos and text copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, tell your friends. The more readers the better.

These and other images from Yellowstone and Grand Teton are posted on our sister site TrekPic.com in our Wild Wyoming Gallery. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here to subscribe to a weekly email that tells you when we issue new entries. Or, click in the column to the left to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.