Only three minutes after I made the previous image, this same brown bear moved forward to the very edge of the water, only a few yards away from our small boat. We could come no further to make a picture – the bottom of our outboard skiff was virtually resting on the bottom. The bear shows us its teeth, its stare intense. I was able to catch the essence of the moment here. This was the closest I have ever been to a brown bear in the wild. My guide was confident that it would come no closer, but added that the bear was “staring us down” and it would be “preferable” for us to leave. We did.