Traffic has come to a halt. Onlookers are craning to spot something by the pine forest, a canopy of thinning conifers and wind-battered branches.

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My husband deftly steers our car onto the road shoulder. I alight to investigate, soon to realise that this is foolhardy.

"Bear," a voice thunders.

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Feverishly, I bolt back into the car and seal the doors. On our right, through the thicket, is a riveting sight. I see the round prominent ears first. The beady eyes squint in our direction for a moment before the bear turns its snout to an ample harvest of whitebark pine seeds.

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The black bear - a misnomer, really, for its coarse coat is dark brown - is foraging and feasting, with a cub grazing beside it, barely 4m from our car.

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It is both thrilling and daunting, considering that park regulations stipulate that visitors, when on foot, should keep a distance of about 90mfrom bears.

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In the cocoon of our car, we gaze silently as the bears chomp on their pine nuts, unperturbed by, or perhaps habituated to, visitors.

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Instinctively, I raise the camera. Awed by my surreal proximity to the wild animals, I shoot away intently.

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At the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming, connected to each other via a short 12km drive on the John D. Rockefeller, Jr Memorial Parkway, it is not too difficult to take decent photographs because the sights are so intriguing, including some that surprise us, such as the bear.

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