2012 July 6-20 Alaska Land and Cruise Adventure Review with LOTS of photos!

[Dawn1004]

Gorgeous photos .... Loving the review.

[peppajay]

Thank you for your review. Awesome photos thanks for sharing:)

[WalleyeLJ]

Thanks all - I appreciate the kind words. Here comes the next installment!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Well, after spotting a few bears from the air, we worked our way a bit further down the cost until we reached famous Hallo Bay. We were able to see the overnight camping area as the plane continued south a bit, then banked left for our landing on the beach!!!

 

 

Hallo Bay Beach - if you squint really hard you might see Bev in the lead plane already on the beach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wheels down and parked!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The landing was cool as we touched down, yet we were still rolling along at a decent clip when Axe cut the plane sharply to the right, and the left wheel half buried itself in the soft sand, bringing us to a quick, if effective halt!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

The first order of business before heading out was an all out in nature pit stop. This may be the only time in our lives that this will happen, but while the men were sent down to the waterfront, our guides climbed the berm at the top of the beach to make sure there were no bears taking a relaxing snooze by the soothing sound of the waves breaking on the beach. Then the ladies who needed to headed over the top to rest. I can't imagine how I would have felt if I was Bev, even after the area being given the all clear!

 

That business attended to, we all headed over the hill and towards the interior. The backdrop was surreal as there was a thick, low cloud cover overhead, with lush, waist high + grass in a variety of green hues. The air was thick and expectant, moisture heavy in the air, yet it never rained on us while we were there. To the right and left, mountains towered above the coast in the distance, and straight ahead there was a distant rock outcrop at the back of the coastal plain, with a fog shrouded glacier descending from the misty clouds well beyond. The grassy plains we bisected by meandering creeks and streams that criss-crossed the grassland.

 

 

 

 

We made our way inland, using the game trails created by the bears as they have been making their way through this coastal areas for weeks, searching for the sweetest grasses and marking out their territories. It was both cool AND creepy! Aex told us that when moving, we were to stay in a single file line and not spread out, and that if anyone wanted to stop and take photos, that was fine and just let him know. Just do NOT stop and let the group separate from you. Aex informed us that despite how huge the bears were, if they were bedded down in the grass, you could almost step on them before you would see them.

 

Once we came upon a bear to watch, we would spread out in a line facing the bear, and then take a knee. If a bear became aggressive, he would tell us to stand up, and make ourselves as big as possible. If all else failed, he would light up a magnesium road flare, which he said absolutely terrifies a bear and sends it running in the opposite direction. As I was bringing up the rear of our little bear snack train, I was tasked with checking behind us in case a bear popped up that we could "view". Instead of spotter I called it rear guard protection/first line of defense from an end around ambush!

 

 

 

 

So, despite my proclivity to take a LOT of photos, Bev & I followed the rules. That said, not everyone in our intrepid little band did. There were two couples in our group of 8 (plus Aex), that were from overseas and English was not their primary language. The first couple in the group didn't have a problem lagging behind, but the poor gentleman did have a tough time walking and staying on his feet, slipping and falling several times during our adventure, and he was not a young man. In all seriousness I was worried we'd be carrying him back to the plane before the day ended.

 

The gentleman in the second couple apparently also had a death wish, he spent a good part of the day off and on stopping or wandering away from the group. It was so bad at one point, that I gave up my rear guard duties as I wasn't going to become bear dinner thanks to his foolishness. Towards the end of the walk, Aex made the two of them move to the head of the line right behind him. Bev called it putting them in the bear watching version of "time out".

 

Before we found our first bear of the day, we found plenty of bear signs. In one of the many shallow pools of water that dotted the landscape, we found bear tracks in the mud in the bottom:

 

 

 

 

Moving further along, we found a spot where a VERY large bear had bedded down in a shallow depression near the grass line. While it was interesting to see the spot, what made the memory indelible was the big piles of bear dung scattered around the spot in a semi-circle. It was explained to us that it was a bear way of marking off the area as theirs so another bear won't take their bed. I'm SO glad that people don't follow the same process...

 

 

 

 

Moving just a bit further along, we came upon another tour group and...our first bear of the day! As alone as we were 100+ miles from Homer, there were three other similar sized groups working their way through the same area. So while it was stunningly quiet, we were not completely alone out there.

 

 

 

 

It was awesome the see our first wild brown bear at this range, roughly 150 feet or so. After a minute or two, the bear stood up, turned it's rear towards us, urinated, then laid back down and appeared to go to sleep. While we would never let down our guard during the day, the bear couldn't have done more to make us feel as though she could have cared less about our being there, which kept the adrenaline from becoming overwhelming. Since the other group was still there, and the bear was out for the count, we moved on in search of more encounters!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Now that we'd broke the ice, we started to see bears all over. Several were way away from us to the south, but we circled counterclockwise away to the right. A short while later we happened upon this pretty blonde bear:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of one of the other groups ahead of us and how close they were to the bear:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moved up alongside the first group and got our own front row view:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This bear was less than 100 feet away - but we'd get closer yet!!!

 

 

L.J.

[NoobCruise]

You've got me hanging with bated breath! Hurry and post more :)

 

Loving your review and all the pics! Thinking of changing to a bear excursion now even though I live close to Yosemite and have run in to bears face to face several times while hiking in the backcountry. Our bears are little though compared to Alaska.

[Finch85]

Awesome pics! Can't wait to see the rest!

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review and magnificent photos.

[sue402001]

Keep 'em coming LJ!

[WalleyeLJ]

You've got me hanging with bated breath! Hurry and post more :)

 

Loving your review and all the pics! Thinking of changing to a bear excursion now even though I live close to Yosemite and have run in to bears face to face several times while hiking in the backcountry. Our bears are little though compared to Alaska.

 

Other than black bears in TN, all my bear experiences have been in AK. If you like/love bears, it's TOTALLY worth it to go to Katmai, Woverine Creek, Lake Clark or Brooks Falls - if you can:).

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thank you for your review and magnificent photos.

 

We you welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying the review. I promise I'll make it to the cruise part eventually:D.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Keep 'em coming LJ!

 

Will do - headed to dinner, then I'll be back to post while watching the Olympics!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Aex next led us into the river for a short while, then moved ahead just a bit to scout around the bend.

 

 

 

 

He came back with a smile and had us cross the river and move up on the far bank. Down around the bend in the river, a large male was laid out, sleeping in the middle of the riverbed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moved a bit closer, but the big bear never stirred...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here was where we were able to pause a moment to get some good photos ops, including photos of each group with the bear in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more close-up shot, and we headed off again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we had already seen a lot of bears, they had all been spread out so far. Now we were going to start to see several bears together in fairly close proximity...to each other, and us...

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

We were still circling counterclockwise, but headed deeper into the grassy plain, the tree line and the large rocky outcropping in the distance growing larger. Aex asked me to glass the rocky ridgeline as he said there was a resident wolf pack, whose den was located nearby. He said that it wasn't uncommon to see the mother bring the pups out on the rocks to look down upon vast plain below. Unfortunately, no such luck today. However, the bears were adding up! Next up, a couple of large males.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were approaching two tour groups. One of the big males we were watching was slowly but surely grazing his massive self towards the closest group. In case you were wondering, yes, the backpack the woman is carrying contains a 4 year old girl. I don't think a 4 anywhere has ever been so quiet for so long...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond them, a pretty blonde female was working her way towards the other group as well, seemingly oblivious to their presence:

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we approached the first group, Big Bear had gotten REALLY close!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time was cruising right along, and the next thing we knew it was lunchtime!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Before we actually broke out our own lunches, we watched a big male settle in for his. This was one of the most amusing things we saw the whole trip. The big bear was walking along grazing when he stopped and sat down. We had merged with one of the other groups, and their guide said if we were lucky, we'd see just how lazy a big bear could be. When asked to elaborate, he went on to explain that this particular bear was so lazy sometimes that he would actually lay down on his stomach to eat. Better yet, once he was cleaned out the area he could reach, he would DRAG himself forward a few inches at a time, and continue nibbling the sweet grass. Lucky us, we got to see it up close!!! One of the nice things about going with guides who have experience and know what they're doing, including being tuned into the habits of the animals they regularly see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's looking at you, kid...

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Finally, we stopped for our own lunch break. So how far did we go from the closest bear (the biggest male we saw all day!) to make sure we didn't tempt the bears into sharing OUR lunch foods? somewhere between 50-75 feet...

 

seriously...

 

 

There was a large, weather-worn tree trunk truck lying across the top of a small rise right near the big bear. The 9 of us spread out, sitting side by side, quieting unpacking our lunches, all the while watching this massive, magnificent creature. So famed for its skills as one of the most dangerous predators on earth, here we sit, 9 meaty meals (me the most), the absolute stillness broken only by the sound of the bear tearing and eating the sedge grass. To say that is was a singularly transcendent moment in my life would still be an understatement. If you have ever thought about doing this kind of trip - don't - just book it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was looking over my shoulder, across one of the many streams bisecting the area, and saw two young males starting sparring. While I missed that moment trying to put down my lunch and pick up the camera, I did manage to get a quick couple of shots of the two of them together:

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you were wondering, there were only two rules about what we could bring for food.

 

1) NO FISH! No fish, ever. Even though the salmon wouldn't start running for a few more weeks in this area. we did NOT want to confuse the bears.

 

2) Nothing crumbly. The cardinal rule was to make sure that there was NO trace of food left behind, so that the bears would not learn to associate people with being a food source.

 

The grey ghost...

 

We had one more fantastic experience on our lunch break. As I was finishing up my sandwich, I spotted movement WAY off in the distance, a wispy white figure making it's way through the tall grass. I picked up the big camera and lens and found to my delight that it was a wolf - a first for both Bev & I! When I saw a long way off, the first photo below was taken at the equivalent of almost 800mm, and it was still pretty small in the frame. For the next 5 minutes or so, we watched the wolf move a fast trot, covering the better part of a mile or more in just a short amount of time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally reaching the very back of the grassy plain, the wolf climbed up on the driftwood marking the transition zone into the forest, the wolf paused, look over it's shoulder at us, and then vanished off into the woods...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch over, we began to make our way back towards the beach and our plane. But we still had a few more bears to see before we took off for the flight back to Homer...

 

 

L.J.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Despite my constant fear of dying in midair of screaming leg cramp pain, I kept checking out the views between the clouds of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Mountains as we headed SW towards Katmai.

 

 

There goes Bevy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As pretty as it was, I wasn't prepared for how exotic and lush the approach flight along the Katmai cost was going to be...

 

 

L.J.

OMG the pictures are unbelievable!

[WalleyeLJ]

OMG the pictures are unbelievable!

 

It WAS awesome!!!:D:D:D

[DizzyDallasDi]

It WAS awesome!!!:D:D:D

 

Betcha it made the leg cramps worthwhile. ;)

[DizzyDallasDi]

In case you were wondering, yes, the backpack the woman is carrying contains a 4 year old girl. I don't think a 4 anywhere has ever been so quiet for so long...

 

First, I'm amazed the tour operator allowed a 4 year old on this excursion....it could have been disastrous. I've had a couple of those and neither of them would have been quiet and still for more than 30 seconds. Duct tape and a straight jacket wouldn't have prevented them from causing a ruckus. ;)

 

Second, is Mom taking pictures with a cell phone?

[Montogirl]

Thank you so much for the great review. I'm heading to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge at Lake Clark in Sept for an over night stay bear watching & you have really made me excited about my trip with your photos. Can't wait for the rest of your review as I have a cruise booked to ended my 3 weeksin Alaska. Wendy

[celestialcruiser]

Your photos are amazing.

 

Maybe it's me, but that seems awfully close to get to a bear. Do the tour operators usually advise people to be that close?

[Liz315]

Wow, I have no words, just amazing. Thank you..Btw I've already booked K-bay for a day next June!! Thanks so much for sharing.

[greatam]

First, I'm amazed the tour operator allowed a 4 year old on this excursion....it could have been disastrous. I've had a couple of those and neither of them would have been quiet and still for more than 30 seconds. Duct tape and a straight jacket wouldn't have prevented them from causing a ruckus. ;)

 

Second, is Mom taking pictures with a cell phone?

 

Pretty bad tour operator, IMHO. I personally would not have gotten on the plane in Homer with a young child. The tour operator put everyone in the area AND THE BEARS at risk by allowing a young child on the tour. WOW!!!!