Grizzly Bear Sightings

Summer. Whenever we hear the word summer, it always reminds us of the sea, the shore and the sun.

I spent three decades of my life in Asia, particularly in the southeast region which practically is NOT snowing. People in this region always dreamt of seeing and experiencing snowfalls. 

My family moved to North Pole America, and yes with the extreme weather variance from +35 degrees Celsius to -35 degrees Celsius. The childhood dream of having a ‘White Christmas’ was fulfilled.  Now that I have finally get adjusted, long winter days became ordinary days. And so, a glimpse of the sun and feeling of warmth during summer make me happier.

Lodge of the Ten Peaks

Last year, my family went out for a scenic drive from the city to Banff National Park. Banff and Lake Louise are part of the Canadian Rockies, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park offers a lot of outdoor activities – dogsledding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, snow skiing, ice climbing on winters; hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, lake cruises, gondola rides, wildlife sightings every summer season.

We haven’t seen a bear in our lifetime so we decided to try out Lake Louise Sightseeing Gondolas. They say June is a good month to spot bears but there is no assurance that  you can see one. One perfect summer afternoon, we purchased our ride tickets and brought our cameras. After our pre-ride visitor information orientation, we chose the open air gondola and our adventure began.

View while the gondola ascended

Can you see their excitement?

While the gondola cruised for several minutes, we noticed this small animal from afar. This was the farthest our lenses can capture. Yes, it was a bear! And so the gondola continued soaring.

Well, hello there Grizzly Bear!

Open chair and enclosed gondolas

Kids waiting for the gondola to halt

After fourteen minutes, we reached the final pit of the cruise at 6855 feet. We stopped and took a short stroll to take photos of the sceneries. We returned to the gondola station to have our descend to the reception.

At first we were not satisfied with seeing a single bear from a far distance. But a few minutes before reaching the base, I noticed something beneath on my left. A puddle of water… a puddle of water with a big brown creature! I couldn’t believe that I’ve finally seen a grizzly bear!!! Not in the zoo, nor the roads, but in their natural environment. It made me speechless for a second. I suddenly got confused on what I wanted to do next, whether I should take photos asap or tell my husband and daughter that I have found a bear.

Things happened quickly. I captured two wonderful images. My little girl was so happy to see the bear in true life. The following image shows an eye contact with the bear after getting its attention, probably because I was too noisy. 😀 I got overwhelmed! 

Face-to-face with a bear at 15-meter distance 🙂

Nice meeting you!

 To appreciate the bear’s image, I cropped this one for your viewing.

The views of Lake Louise and the Rocky Mountains

The views of the landscape were stunning. But the grizzle bear sightings was a treat – a treat to this rare and awesome spectacle of nature. One of our greatest summer memories, an item crossed off our bucket list!