Yellowstone — Road to Lamar
A black bear crosses the road.
Setting
Grand Loop Road near Tower Fall
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Spring morning — en route to Lamar Valley
44.893032° N, 110.388190° W
Observation
As the sun is rising, the asphalt road ahead and the grassy hillside on either side of the car emerge from total darkness. The flat, shadowy landscape suddenly gains form and texture. The car provides a barrier from the crisp mountain morning. All attention is fixed on what lies ahead in Lamar Valley.
Wolves.
Moment
A black bear crosses the road.
Suddenly, attention shifts to what is directly in front of us rather than what lies ahead. The search is for wolves, but Yellowstone has given us a black bear instead — a fleeting encounter with an animal we never expected to see at all.
The juvenile bear scurries up the hill and is gone as quickly as it arrived.
Reflection
What we go looking for is only part of what a place has to show us.
