While up on Mt Washburn early in our trip to Yellowstone, we passed a large herd of bighorn sheep near the summit. Still clad with partial winter coats, these sheep could not have been any more relaxed. My temptation to walk up and pet one was tempered by some semblance of understanding that these wild “strong” animals would probably simply knock me off the 10,000-foot mountain I was currently standing on had I gotten too close. Yeah, sure, I admit it, I had the same lame idea about the bear.

We were out for a drive just this past Saturday afternoon heading towards the eastern park entrance there in Yellowstone, but the road, which was under construction, unpaved, with no guardrails, at a scary high elevation with impatient idiots tailgating us, forced an early turnaround. Lucky for us, a few miles back near Yellowstone Lake was the tell-tale sign that an animal had been sighted, meaning half a dozen cars piled up on the side of the road with heads gawking out of windows. Strangely enough, these people were looking towards our side of the road, and there were no vehicles sitting on that side, so we pulled right up, and seemingly out of nowhere, this black bear was pawing about the ground, looking for something or other. In the excitement of seeing a bear this close, you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to take one picture in focus, even if you try fifteen times. After what seemed like ten minutes of blocking everyone else’s view, we left and, not three miles later, stopped at another bear-jam to check out a grizzly in the forest. The grizzly was too far away to get a decent photo.