It's a bear! It's a bear! I can see a bear!

Grizzlies disappear into the bushes

Mission accomplished.  That's right, my wish to see a bear finally came true on the weekend!  Waterton National Park is well known for bears, particularly at this time of year, when the berry bushes are filled with fruit and the bears are stocking up ready for hibernation.  On local advice, we drove down the Red Rock Canyon road at dusk, hoping to spot a bear.  Countless other car loads had the same idea.  We stopped to chat to a ranger who mentioned that a Grizzly bear and her cub had been spotted several kilometres back.  We turned around and slowly drove back.  When we came across several other cars stopped on the road, we knew we were in luck.  We stopped just in time to see mamma bear and her baby cub cross the road directly in front of us.  The mother ran straight across the road, while the cub seemed to be a little lost and headed down the road towards our car.  We watched as they disappeared into the roadside bushes and down a small hill.  We pulled over and got out to watch the bears from a safe distance.  The cub frolicked around while the mother got up on her back legs to scratch a tree and then turned and stared directly at us before they both disappeared deeper into the bushes.

Baby bear is hard to spot ... the small dark brown creature on the right just behind mamma bear 

It was an incredibly special experience, especially since it was a Grizzly bear we saw.  Grizzlies are not nearly as common as black  bears in Canada and are somewhat more reclusive, hence less easily spotted.  C. had never seen a mum with a cub, despite living in Canada for most of his life, so it was a special experience for him too.  I was really surprised at the small size of the mother bear ... at first I thought she was the cub.  But I was assured that she was probably a young mother and that most bears are a lot bigger.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the bears on the road - I think I was in a little bit of shock that I was finally seeing a bear.  So, my mission has been accomplished  and I can now stop annoying Canadians with my touristy cries of "I want to see a bear!"