T-1 week!

 After almost 13 months of counting down, we are just a week from our great big polar bear adventure. By my own assertation, one of the most ambitious items I have ever put on my Bucket List and to some friends, a trip that is quite unnecessary with all its "guaranteed discomfort" and "danger of being eaten by a hungry bear"! LOL

The last year has seen preparations for this trip in ways that were similar to Antarctica though. YouTube vid's of white-on-white photography, countless testimonies from past travelers, polar bear behavior and conservation classes, packing lists, a new much longer lens (600mm) and so many little photography escapades to get used to the shear weight of the camera and lens. Natural Habitat gave us all manner of info too, from a photography guide to a pre-departure briefing long enough to take up most of the 13 months! :-)

I plan on taking 2 camera bodies - just in case - but with no reason to assume camera 1 will fail (EOS 6D Mark II) the second is packed out of an abundance of caution and it would be a shame not to put it to better use than as insurance in my camera bag. Mark is stepping up! With one super crappy lesson taught by yours truly under his belt, he volunteered to accompany me to RMNP to practice a little before being faced to face with a priceless polar bear subject and tasked with recording memories too.

The highlight of this post is obviously not my words; it's always the photos:

First, the "getting there" pics. Beauty before we even enter the park at Lake Estes. 

Inside Rocky Mountain National Park:

On the way out of town we happened upon a herd that stopped traffic; complete with bugling, dueling males, moms and their babies and ... tourists getting WAY too close for a vital selfie!

Not to be outdone by elk... this young deer staying above the fray, like me!