Kootenai Falls

As I sit down to write this, my husband is watching “The Revenant”. This reminds me of 2 different photography experiences.  Luckily, neither of them are physically traumatizing. 

If you like to be out in bear country, I don’t recommend the movie, btw. And while I would return to these places, it hopefully would not be as a revenant—- the definition being an animated corpse that has returned from the dead. (Although, there have been times that my look may have been reminiscent of such a predicament after a long day outside.)

I didn’t know what the movie was about or I would never have chosen it as my inflight movie on my way up to Alaska to photograph brown bears in the Kenai. I was probably a bit more twitchy out there than I needed to be as a result of the film, but a healthy respect for bears is always a good thing.

Grizzly Bear near Glacier NP Brown Bear in Lake Clark NP Brown Bear in Lake Clark NP

The following year, while I was in Montana, a friend told me about a great photo opportunity. A place called Kootenai Falls. It is one on the largest waterfalls in the US by flow rate, and it is gorgeous!  As an aside, he mentioned that “Revenant” and the “River Wild” were filmed there.

I was staying near Glacier NP, so it was a short drive through picturesque mountain passes to get there. Lucky for me, it only involved a short hike. There probably aren’t many bears there, and since I was alone, I didn’t really want to conjure up the nostalgia about the films as I walked out to the falls. It was a cold day, and I had the place to myself, so I practiced my best Tourette’s syndrome of boops, yodels, and outbursts of “hey bear”.... just in case.

I’m including the video because realistically anything or anyone could easily sneak up without being heard due to the noise of the water. Such power!

Kootenai Falls Kootenai Falls in Black and White Grizzly Bear near Glacier NP