16/07/2023
Brown bear Expedition!
At Deosai National park!
"The Himalayan Brown Bear ( Family Portrait )
Location : Wolf Mountain, Upper Reaches of Deosai Plains. ( Skardu, Baltistan ) / 11th July '23
Really had to Trek & Hike Long before getting anywhere close to this absolutely shy and wildly innocent family of mom & two cubs languishing in the shadows of a slope on Wolf Mountain.
Dear Brother & Friend Abul Khan Spotted them, disappearing off a ridge around 3km + away and was sharp enough to take a record photograph of the family. It immediately ensued in a crisp short discussion entailing " the decision to go for them " as there were two critical factors to take into account... Time Left before sunset & distance to cover.. and how to approach them as the bears have an extremely sharp keen sense of smell and if they get the smell of us approaching, they will simply flee at an amazing speed and vanish into the vastness of the valleys & plains.
Lo behold, we started off at an acclimatised fast pace, as I had already been there in the area for now more than 2 days. It took us more than an hour & a half before we reached the Ridge, crossing many " Maasheez " and traversing through ravines, crevices on the way..
To our dismay and shock, we did not catch a glimpse of them as we cautiously peered over the ridge..Taking out an old fashioned Bino, the Wildlife department guard Mukhtar Strained it to his wary eyes and started panning across the receding shadows of the Wolf Mountain Slope, while Abul Khan & myself were using our long prime tele's ( as Binoculars ) and doing the same..
Suddenly, Mukhtar in a composed whisper asked me to take a photograph from my camera of a ( thin brownish line ).. On Zooming in, it was concluded that the mom bear was sleeping with one visible furry ball cub straddled on her.
Now was the critical time, light had faded down considerably, the distance was around 300 meters + and we had to approach them to get a clear shot before they took notice of us and scamper off. Knowing the direction of the wind, we decided to go down the slope on which we were on, and approach them from the Maashee, so if they even wake up, we may get a good shot ".!