There can be nothing more humbling than coming face-to-face with a grizzly bear unexpectedly. A moment like this is the great equalizer. It is the captain of time. Where you feel every nanosecond. That your life could pivot at any point. Especially when they head closer to you with every breath. Incredible animals. 

This was taken just after I had paddled backwards relatively calmly, at a slow enough pace not to trigger a chase response, and he kept gliding past. Thankfully, he was way more interested in the million sock-eye salmon that had made their way up the river.