February 10, 2008 - Looking for Grizzlies, I Found Bluebirds Instead
Grizzly bears are widely believed to be extinct in Colorado. But, there is one place in the state where that is debatable. In 1959 the "last" grizzly was thought to have been killed in the southern Colorado mountains. Twenty years later, in 1979, a bow hunter was charged by a female grizzly in the South San Juan Wilderness near Blue Lake. He managed to kill the 16-year-old sow before she got to him. Not only was this bear born four years after the last known grizzly was killed in Colorado, but an autopsy showed that this female had given birth to cubs at least once. She was proof that, not only was there another grizzly in Colorado all those years, but that there were likely at least several of them.
After that bear was killed in 1979, The South San Juans received much greater protection under the Wilderness Act. Now, between the South San Juan Wilderness and the adjacent Tierra Amarilla Spanish land grant, there are around 300,000 acres of federally and privately protected wilderness surrounding the location of the 1979 bear. There has been little development in this area in the nearly 30 years since. The area sees only marginally more visitors now than it did then. And, while there have not been any other completely conclusive encounters with grizzlies since then, there have been many credible sightings as well as biological findings (hair, scat, etc...) to suggest that these "ghost grizzlies" may continue to live in the area. If they do, they have adapted to be highly elusive in an area that still sees relatively few people (far fewer people than, say, Yellowstone, where grizzlies thrive).
Last summer, I ventured into this area on a five-day backpacking trip. I wasn't there specifically to look for grizzlies, but their potential presence was in the back of my head the whole time. I was a little more vigilant than normal while hiking across the beautiful high alpine backcountry.
Perhaps it was for that reason that I spotted them. No, not a pair of grizzlies. A pair of bright blue Mountain Bluebirds! Way up at 12,000 feet, these two joyous birds were fluttering about, skimming the sub-alpine field of wildflowers. I watched them for some time. Their bright blue feathers were a spectacular sight against the lush green of the meadows and the expanse of wildflower color. The surrounding rocky peaks and blue sky to match the backs of those two birds completed this perfect picture of wilderness serenity.
I had seen bluebirds before, always a treat, but I was accustomed to seeing them in the valleys below the peaks. They always seemed to be near a backroad, along some fence line, or mingling with the horses on someone's ranch. This was the first time I had seen mountain bluebirds in a true alpine wilderness environment, and I will never forget the sight of them, there at 12,000 feet on the roof of the continent.
While a grizzly sighting might have been more thrilling, I think the sight of those two bluebirds in that location was as enchanting as anything I could have seen there. The area is full of snow in February, and I like to think that those two birds are somewhere in the deserts of Arizona right now dreaming about their return in a few months to their beautiful mountain home in the San Juans.
