Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I visited Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park early on a rainy, July morning. As I drove through, I spotted this mother bear and her four cubs enjoying a breakfast of clover on the side of the road. Carefully, and without disturbing them, I pulled to the side of the road and photographed them. I was fortunate to capture the moment when the mother bear looked right into my lens and seemed to know that I meant her family no harm.