ハイキングとやせいのであい。- A hike and a wild encounter.

This afternoon

I drove out to a public park nearby to walk the trail and see if there are some good colors to capture. And indeed - the aspen trees were very pretty with their bright yellow leaves shimmering in the sun. It was already late in the afternoon, so perfect lighting to play around with my camera. I think this will be the last weekend of good colors, so I better get out again tomorrow...

On the way out, I decided to take a detour and drive through some remote neighborhoods, far up the mountain. As I rounded a corner, there it was. A big black bear, just at the edge of the road! I stopped and got out of the car to retrieve my camera from the backseat, but the bears are so fast. He stood there for a brief moment, probably surprised to see a car, and then ran into the forest. He stopped again for a short while, but while I was trying to point and set the camera, he ran off again. I was only able to take a picture from a distance between the trees and it was not even sharp. 😥 Too bad, but the image is in my memory... 🐻

Bears are my favorite animal after all, so it was super special. The last time I saw a bear here was probably more than 10 years ago.