My luck at finding bears swimming or cooling off in lakes and streams around Alberta continued this fall. I hiked I short distance to a wildlife corridor passing under the Trans Canada Highway adjacent to the Bow river and couldn’t believe my luck. Just across the river was a big male grizzly walking along the bank. I fumbled with my camera which must have made enough noise and movement that he spotted me and took a few brief quick steps before deciding I wasn’t anything too intimidating. I figured he was going to continue along the bank around the corner and disappear into the thick bushes. I lost sight of him for a few moments and started walking back to my car thrilled that I had seen even just a brief glimpse of him. When I came around the corner I couldn’t believe that he had jumped into the river and was swimming across it!  I ran down the bank to try and get some decent photos but I was too high up on the opposite bank and the sun was directly in front of me so I didn’t get very good pictures. This one was taken as he hauled out of the freezing water and made his way into the thicket.