Huge Bear Paw Print on Her Window - a photo on Flickriver

            Late one afternoon, while I was headed into a mountain on public land just west of (but in sight of) the Great Salt Lake in Utah, I met a lady who was headed in the same direction.  She was camping in her "Girl's Jeep" (that's what she called her vehicle) and had asked me for directions.  I was using my Overlander GPS (along with the Gaia GPS app on my cell phone) to navigate towards a potential campsite, so I offered to lead the way.  

Unfortunately, she bottomed out her jeep on the first steep incline... so I drove back down and we found a flat spot to camp.  It was far less than ideal, however.  Some guys right next to us were using powerful rifles for target practice and each shot boomed off the sides of the mountain.  Also, we weren't able to enjoy any type of a view and the area was barren.  The ground was littered with shell casings, broken glass, and some trash.  She left early the next morning without saying goodbye... probably thinking that I was still asleep.

While we camped that evening, she showed me a picture on her cell phone that she had taken of her driver's window.  She asked me if I thought it was a paw print.  I was astonished... there was an distinct, enormous print on the window!  It covered more than half of the window!  Because she was sleeping inside the jeep along side of her food each night, it was extremely fortunate that she wasn't harmed.  Apparently, she was not aware that a large bear (perhaps a Grizzly) had visited and left the print.  I guess she was a sound sleeper or perhaps she was away from the vehicle at the time the bear was there.  It is worth noting that a Grizzly is capable of ripping the door off of a vehicle... but other than the paw print, there were no scratches or damage to the vehicle.

In all of my travels over the last several years, I've had a hard-fast rule that all food and anything fragrant (such as toothpaste and deodorant) are kept locked side the cab of the truck.  I never (NEVER) bring them into the bed of the truck or in the ALU-CAB rooftop canopy tent where I sleep.  A bear's sense of smell is so acute that it can detect a single crumb of food from miles away! 

By the way, I also stay away from the national parks.  They are beautiful but crowded... most bear interactions occur in them.  Bears are fed by people and they get into people's trash... and they begin to associate food with people.  When that happens, bears often become aggressive and have to be removed if they haven't already attacked a person.  That doesn't mean that there haven't been any problems in the national forests (especially where they border a national park), however.  Traveling alone, I am always on high alert.  

By the way #2, that is not her actual license plate.  I changed it in Photoshop.

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© Stephen L. Frazier - All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, printing, publication, or any other use of this image without written permission is prohibited.

Taken on: June 19, 2022

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Camera: Nikon D750, f/10.0, 1/80 sec, 58mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D750
Lens:	28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/10.0
Exposure Time:	0.013 sec (1/80)
Focal Length:	58mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	-2 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Fine Weather
Saturation:	Low
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 25.11 (Macintosh)
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