Taylor Creek

This California black bear was photographed at Taylor Creek in November 2023, during the peak of the Kokanee salmon spawn. Knowing the creek was alive with salmon, I waited at a quiet bend where I hoped a bear might appear. When it finally emerged from the autumn brush, its dark coat blending into the fading grasses and forest shadows, the moment felt both earned and fleeting—one brief meeting between patience and wild instinct, just as winter closed in on the Sierra.