Max Waugh Photography
Best of 2023: Grizzly Trio
Bears featured prominently in this year’s highlights, and it all began on the very first day of my spring tour in Yellowstone. Sometimes when we head out in the morning, we pick a general destination and just hope to see and photograph whatever surprises appear. On Day One of this tour, however, I set a very specific goal. I’d heard that a popular grizzly bear sow had recently re-emerged on the west side of the park with her three little cubs. This was notable for a couple reasons. First, it’s a part of the Yellowstone road loop I rarely explore due to hampered visibility and limited wildlife sightings. And in the case of this particular bear, she normally shows up earlier in the spring, before vanishing into the park interior for the summer. So an early June sighting is somewhat uncommon. But it was worth a shot. The potential payoff was too good to pass up.
We drove into the park and began the commute along the western corridor. Low fog was slow to burn off, but as we approached what I knew to be her territory, I could just make out the shape of a grizzly bear in the gloom. It wasn’t until I pulled over that we were able to spy three tiny fur balls following her.
Over the next hour, we shared the sighting with relatively few people. The bears stayed on the hill above the road, allowing for safe viewing, and as conditions brightened and the haze lessened, our photo ops improved. The first year cubs were as fun and energetic as you might expect, but a messy hillside covered in deadfall isn’t always the most photogenic setting. Nonetheless, things came together a few times, most notably when the odd speeding vehicle zoomed by on the road below. That gave the cubs pause, and allowed me to line up group portraits like this.
View the Best of 2023 (Part 1)
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Best of 2023: Grizzly Trio
Bears featured prominently in this year’s highlights, and it all began on the very first day of my spring tour in Yellowstone. Sometimes when we head out in the morning, we pick a general destination and just hope to see and photograph whatever surprises appear. On Day One of this tour, however, I set a very specific goal. I’d heard that a popular grizzly bear sow had recently re-emerged on the west side of the park with her three little cubs. This was notable for a couple reasons. First, it’s a part of the Yellowstone road loop I rarely explore due to hampered visibility and limited wildlife sightings. And in the case of this particular bear, she normally shows up earlier in the spring, before vanishing into the park interior for the summer. So an early June sighting is somewhat uncommon. But it was worth a shot. The potential payoff was too good to pass up.
We drove into the park and began the commute along the western corridor. Low fog was slow to burn off, but as we approached what I knew to be her territory, I could just make out the shape of a grizzly bear in the gloom. It wasn’t until I pulled over that we were able to spy three tiny fur balls following her.
Over the next hour, we shared the sighting with relatively few people. The bears stayed on the hill above the road, allowing for safe viewing, and as conditions brightened and the haze lessened, our photo ops improved. The first year cubs were as fun and energetic as you might expect, but a messy hillside covered in deadfall isn’t always the most photogenic setting. Nonetheless, things came together a few times, most notably when the odd speeding vehicle zoomed by on the road below. That gave the cubs pause, and allowed me to line up group portraits like this.
View the Best of 2023 (Part 1)
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