Alberta Wilderness Lake

I brought my Wilderness Painting Course students (Alberta College of Art) to this site and the students scattered in all directions in an effort to capture in paint the beauty of this enclave.  Time  passed pleasantly during a period of quiet creativity, but as I hiked over the jumble of rocks and dead trees to reach each student for some one-on-one critique and support of their work, I unexpectedly caught a strongly acrid odour nearby.  Grizzly Bear!  I knew that musky smell.

Without undue commotion, I gathered my students together and we made a quiet but frightened exit out of the grizzly’s neighbourhood.  We never did see the animal, but the pungent smell that came on so suddenly in the vicinity we occupied was enough to warrant a hasty retreat.