Fresh snow, Midnight Sun and grizzlies

[Yukon]

This is Summer in the Yukon - we got a light fresh snow on the mountains at Carcross last night, down to about the 6,800-foot level. Sunset was at 11:04 p.m. and the sun rose this morning at 4:51. When you add a couple of hours of twilight onto that, it means that it no longer gets dark - I drove home without headlights just before midnight a couple of nights ago. There are black bears and grizzlies all over right now between Skagway and here - most of the Princess buses saw black bears on the way up yesterday, and I saw 3 grizzlies, a single male and a sow with a 2-year-old cub. This is the sort of combination of events that makes me recommend May as a travel time.

Happy cruisin' ! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Murray

[ute_fan]

Hey Yukon --

We will be on the Sun on 6/06, and driving a rental car to Emerald Lake that week. Are there still likely to be lots of bears around by that time, or will they have moved up higher?


If you still expect them to be hanging around, any hints as to where the best places to try and spot them are?

Thanks!

NCL Sun 06/04
NCL Sea 01/04

[sboh]

Yukon-I really enjoy reading your posts. Thanks!

[mommiemudd]

Yukon, NCL offers a bear tour in Prince Rupert. We are cruising Aug 21-28. I looked at a website for a local company and they do not offer tours at this time, I am assuming because it is off peak season for viewing the bears. What are your thoughts?

Norwegian Spirit Aug '04
Norwegian Sun April '03

[Yukon]

ute_fan - the bear viewing should still be good when you're here, though in different locations than now.

mommiemudd - I don't know what the seasons are that far south, but if the tour company isn't offering bear viewing, it seems like safe bet that they can't get to where the bears are.

Murray

[mpk]

How about in August? Any good bear sighting chances by Emerald Lake?

[tadjr]

Sadly, [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img] no bears spotted by us back last Thursday, but the lady we spoke to in Carcross said she saw several on the way to work that morning. We looked everywhere for them, but to no avail. I will post a report on the entire trip soon. Thanks for the help Murray. We used your guide and had a great time. Good lunch and buns at Cinammon Cache and lots of fun as well.

I'm having withdrawal. Need help!

[Yukon]

No, the chances of seeing bears in that area (or on the way to the lake) in August are near zero.

[20YearsBetweenCruises]

Yukon - I'll be there around 6/5 too - any hints on how to find bears? We were in Yellowstone last year & did not see one even though we spent several hours looking. Is morning or afternoon better? I seemed to remember in yellowstone they said early evening, but I think we will be back on the boat by then..

NCL Spirit 6/4/04
Carnival? 9/1984

[ute_fan]

20 years --

Between your family and ours, the bears will probably all be far gone from the area. I tease my 18 year old daughter that she must have built in bear repellent. We have been to Yellowstone numerous times since she was born, and haven't been a bear since she was old enough to remember. That is her main desire for this trip is to see a bear, but with our track record they will probably stay well hidden.

NCL Sun 06/04
NCL Sea 01/04

[sboh]

Saw a grizzley in Yellowstone two summers ago. He was strutting around back and forth on a hill near Duvean Pass. I swear he knew we were all down on the road watching him. What a thrill!

[Yukon]

20Years - for bears, the time of day makes litte or no difference here - you're as likely to see bears at 2:00 in the afternoon as in the early a.m.
For ungulates, early morning and late evening are the best, but keep in mind that with the long daylight hours, "early" and "late" means "very early" and "very late" [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Murray

[sherryf]

Three years ago we were in Alaska and didn't see a single bear. The same summer we went to Yellowstone and about 5 minutes into the park we hit a traffic jam - a mother and cub crossing the road! We got very good views but not pictures because we hadn't even dug the camera out of our bag yet.

Of course, even here at home we have bears, but I never manage to see them. There was one spotted in my neighborhood last weekend - the neighbors got a picture for the newspaper and everything. They are spotted in our n'hood at least once each summer, but after 7 years I have yet to see one. Not that I go out looking for them!

Sherry

Carnival Spirit - July 11, 2001

[ute_fan]

We do have bears here in Utah, also, but I've never seen one here. There was actually an accident involving a bear and a car this morning in one of the canyons this morning.

I told my son maybe we should save money and just stay home and go looking for bears!

NCL Sun 06/04
NCL Sea 01/04

[JohnQ]

We spent about 3 weeks in Gacier Bay Nat'l Park, Waterton Glacier, Baniff, and Jasper a few years ago and we were mainly looking for bear and moose. Every place we were at, someone had just sighted one an hour earlier or saw several where we were the day before!! Our only sightings were of one black bear fairly close and a grizzly way up on side of mtn. As we left parks on long highway day to Vancouever, we had black bear cross highway right in front of us. My wife stopped right in middle on fthe road while I went digging for camera stuff that we had been carrying for 3 weeks 12 hrs a day, and now it was put away!! We say nice view but got a lousy picture. So you never know.
Our best bear viewing was in denali where we saw a dozen or more over two days. One right next to bus and three others just in front of us on hillside. Last day of May and first of June.

[Sea Turtle]

Yukon,

Thoroughly enjoyed your post!! Felt like I was there with you on that day. This is the anniversary week of my last cruise to Alaska so many thanks for 'taking me back' to your side of the world.

Enjoy the evening!

<img src=http://members.hometown.aol.com/bay2baygal/myhomepage/seaturtle.gif?mtbrand=AOL_US>

[20YearsBetweenCruises]

Just thought I report on my bear sightings on my trip. I did not see any on the road trip to Yukon (although I did show my brother the one in Yukon's guide out my window so he could say he saw one from his car..)

But I did see some bears:
1) When we got off the bus at the Mendenhall glacier - there was a bear in the distance at the top of a tree.
2) On the Tracy Arm excursion - we saw a bear at edge of the water
3) Leaving the glacier - we saw the "fake" bears on a little island - The captain announced something about a bear sighting on the port side, I ran there with my cameras - it was a crew person dressed up as a bear... People who initially saw him, really thought it was bear. They said when he stood up & waved at them, they figured it out
4) After the cruise, we went to Olympia National Park. There, on the way down from Hurricane Ridge, my husband spotted a baby bear. From our car we watched & saw the mama bear on the other side of the road. She went across the road in front of us to her cub. Now that was the best bear sighting!

So, I guess our bad-luck-in-seeing-bears is now over!

[yukoner]

Hello Bear people,
I see alot of bears along the South Klondike Highway, around The Sam McGee Hiking trail by Conrad City. Look Up along the ridges as they are feeding on the new growth. Also the hot weather wil keep them in the shady area like along creeks but they are there. When you look for them, look for the dark spots and then take a good look. Very thing else is green so look for the odd colors.
Good luck?

[ute_fan]

Unfortunately, as predicted, our cruise on 6/6 yielded no bear sightings. Talked with several other people on the cruise who had seen one, but my daughter's streak is still intact. We spent some time looking from the balcony, but never did see anything.

I have this problem on the cruise ships -- the motion makes me sleepy. Not sick, just sleepy. It might be easier to spot the bears (did talk with some people who saw one from their balcony) if I wasn't snoozing. :p

[mpk]

[quote name='20YearsBetweenCruises']it was a crew person dressed up as a bear... [/QUOTE]

I wonder what real bears think when they see this. "Know what those crazy humans did today?"

[mbisson]

[quote name='mpk']I wonder what real bears think when they see this. "[/QUOTE]

Let's hope they don't see them during mating season

-Monte