Henrik Rånman and Petra Klerhed got lucky both Friday and Saturday evening.
On Friday evening, Petra Klerhed from Ursviken was driving along a forest road outside central Vindeln with her partner Henrik Rånman. They were hoping to catch a glimpse of a bear, after hearing that someone had spotted one in the area a few days earlier.
– I didn’t think we’d see anything – we’ve done this so many times before, says Petra.
She explains that she and Henrik always keep an eye out when they’re out in nature, especially at dawn and dusk.
– I’ve always been so jealous of people who’ve seen bears in the wild. We’ve kept watch constantly. You hear they’re out there in the forest, but you never see them.
They were driving slowly along a gravel road and stopped next to a field. They had with them a DSLR camera and binoculars, just in case they got lucky this time. At first, it didn’t seem like they would.
– We’d decided to give up and were about to turn the car around – and just then, my partner saw something move in front of us. He shouted: it’s a bear!
They took turns looking through the binoculars, sitting completely silent as they watched the bear for a while. Then it started moving toward them.
Petra Klerhed had never seen a bear before.
"It was amazing," says Petra about the bear encounters.
– It walked past the car: that was the most incredible part as we were on edge. You could see the details up close: the eyes, the fur. It came pretty close, maybe 30 metres from us, and then disappeared into the ditch and undergrowth. It’s just crazy that we got to see one from that close, says Petra.
Even when the bear was at its closest, both Petra and Henrik stayed calm.
– It was so surreal. I was over the moon, the adrenaline was rushing, and I was just so happy to experience it.
The next day, they went back to the same spot – and just like the night before, it wasn’t until they were about to leave that the bear appeared again.
– It was totally calm, just walking across the field, eating. It was like being on a wildlife safari, says Petra.
They sat in the car and watched the bear for nearly half an hour. When they finally left, they felt pretty satisfied.
– Now it might be exciting to see a different bear somewhere else, says Petra.
Petra’s partner Henrik suggested they should go out and take a look after a colleague mentioned that a bear had been spotted in the area.