I had stopped at the Albright Visitor Center to find out if Spring biking would be open next weekend and was told that bear tracks had been reported at Tower Junction. As I came down the hill from Roosevelt / Tower Junction to the Yellowstone River Bridge at about 1:00 pm, there were several people standing on the bridge looking and spotting southward. There was a grizzly bear about 200-250 yards from the bridge next to the river. My first grizzly of 2009. Everyone driving through couldn't miss seeing him with the crowd that was there. I watched for about 30 minutes, then moved to the Yellowstone Picnic area and walked to the edge of the bluff to see if the bear was visible from there. Yep, I had my spray with me.

By this time he had crossed the stream and was in the area that I posted the photo. The watercourse is hidden behind the snow bank in the foreground of that photo. I stayed there about five minutes, then left for the Northeast Entrance.

As I came back through about 4:00 pm, there was no sign of the bear and there was no one at the bridge.

Here is a little wider shot taken from the bridge to hopefully give a better perspective.