Watching the Watcher: A Quiet Evening at McNeil River

In 2010, Kevin and I had the incredible opportunity to visit the McNeil River in Alaska to photograph the local brown bears. After a long day at the waterfalls—watching the bears strategically catch salmon to fatten up for the coming winter—we would usually end our day back at the "cook shack."

Life at a bear camp requires a lot of discipline. To stay safe, we had to cook and store all of our food inside the shack, far away from any curious bears. Once the daily chores of cooking, filtering water, and cleaning our camera gear were finished, we always looked forward to spending a little quiet time outside.

An Unexpected Encounter

Just behind the cook shack lived a female red fox and her kit. Seeing them was never a guarantee, but we were feeling lucky.

With our cameras at the ready, we spotted her perched atop a weathered stack of driftwood. She sat perfectly still, scanning the area to ensure her kit didn't wander off into any trouble. It was a beautiful, serene moment of motherhood in the wild.

What struck us most was her temperament; she wasn't scared of our presence. Instead, she was simply attentive—keeping a watchful eye on us while never losing focus on her little one. It was the perfect, peaceful conclusion to a heavy day of photographing Alaska's powerful bears.