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

[Liz315]

Any idea who that tour operator was?

[aussiekers]

Thanks so much for your photos! We aren't able to do this bear excursion THIS trip, only a cruise, our first, so we will HAVE to do another one!! I'm enjoying your blog here, also, have you seen the site explore.org ? They have a live bear cam of browns fishing for salmon. It is set up in Brooks Falls. Really addicting to watch, as are your photos! Looking forward to your next batch of photos!

[framer]

I would like to thank you for the detail of the tour. I hope the wife wants to go on our next trip. This really is a special tour. At least she(DW) will know what to expect:eek:.

 

framer

[Tweedy]

These shots are soooo awesome!!!!

 

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.

[Tweedy]

Love it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

[WalleyeLJ]

Betcha it made the leg cramps worthwhile. ;)

 

Fortunately I near got them - it just seemed like I would. I think it might have been lessstressful if it HAD just happened (jk!):D.

 

I loved the trip, but I probably would rather take a float plane there next time if possible, or via boat from Kodiak.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

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?

 

I agree. This may sound cold, but I'm glad they kept the family together and the rest of us in other groups. We were so rushed when we checked in to get the waders, us the restroom and head out to the flight, that I don't think I fully realized she was with us until we were on the ground in Katmai. If she acted out, I don't know what the situation would have been like - and yes, since there was no cell service there, I assume her mom was using her camera phone:D.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

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

 

 

Thanks Wendy. I think being able to stay at a lodge to spend a few days viewing would be SO much more relaxing. I think we might do the same thing our next trip, depending on the time of year and where we go next time. I'd love to hear how your experience was when you get back.

 

I know I've spent a lot of time on this day, but I figured (even before the poll:)), that a lot of people would really like the bear portions of the review. Since we did a lot of fishing on the cruise portion, I'll actually spend a good part of the cruise portion of the review on the ship itself!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

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?

 

They seemed to have a certain distance that they would get to a given bear to start. Then it was up to the bear. As long as it didn't display negative behavior toward the group, that were allowed to get pretty close. I looked at a LOT of reviews, photos and videos from other folks trips like this to Katmai, and the closeness of the bears seemed very common. I know that Aex pretty much kept his hand on the flare pretty much all the time whenever we were in close proximity to the bears. He said having flown everyday since May, sometimes flying in twice a day, he had to confront and run off four bears total. Didn't find that out until lunch time...on the other hand, he said that it was amazing how terrified of the flares the bears were when they did have to be used.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

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!!!!

 

Yeah, I wasn't a big fan of the choice. As I mentioned is was such a rush at the start that it didn't register with me until we were there. Even then, I thought more about what parent would choose to do that. It would have been less risky to find a total stranger to be a babysitter in Homer - and likely cheaper. I have no idea if they gave her something to keep her quiet or what. I know that Aex said to the little girl when we got back to Homer that she was by far the youngest bear viewer he had ever seen. It may be why the owner took them on seperately from the rest of us.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Any idea who that tour operator was?

 

 

K Bay Air. As I mentioned above, the owner, Michael, guided the group. He's been doing it so long that I guess he was confident that he could handle the situation. Still, glad we weren't in that group.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thanks so much for your photos! We aren't able to do this bear excursion THIS trip, only a cruise, our first, so we will HAVE to do another one!! I'm enjoying your blog here, also, have you seen the site explore.org ? They have a live bear cam of browns fishing for salmon. It is set up in Brooks Falls. Really addicting to watch, as are your photos! Looking forward to your next batch of photos!

 

Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'll have to check out the site - I really want to go to Brooks Falls, but not until we can stay overnight for a night or two. I've heard too many stories of people who took a day trip, and ended up with only 30 minutes at the falls between the rotation rules for visitors, bear jams on the trail to/from the falls, and their need to fly back that afternoon.

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

I would like to thank you for the detail of the tour. I hope the wife wants to go on our next trip. This really is a special tour. At least she(DW) will know what to expect:eek:.

 

framer

 

Thanks framer,

 

At some point I'll sort through all the video Bev shot and try to post that here on CC, or at least a link to it. I love my photos but sometimes the video does some of our adventures more justice:).

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Love it!!

 

Thanks Tweedy!!!

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Well, we were headed back to the beach and the planes, but still managed to see a few more bears along the way. Here are a few more shots of the "twins" that sparred earlier during lunch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more river crossing to go!!!

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Just before fording the final river, we saw one more beautiful male:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up - river model Bevy working her waders in the water!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just after the river crossing, Aex held up the group. He was rummaging around on the ground, like he lost the keys to the plane or something:eek:!!! Fortunately he was forging, not searching. He came back to the group with a handful of sedge grass. He offered each of us a piece to try, so we could have a truly visceral bear-like experience. It was, as he aptly described, both a bit salty and sweet. I wouldn't want to eat a bowlful, but I could see if added to a salad!

 

 

 

 

 

 

One more cool moment just a bit before we got back to the beach was a spot where Aex showed us where a really big male had walked though the area we were in. He showed us the big depressions in the ground where the bear had walked, grinding theirs massive paws into the ground to literally leave an impression on/for others to see and in theory fear. If you look around Axe's feet, you'll see three marks from those big paws:

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[Linda the Book Lover]

I could swear I was on the trip with you and Bev just looking at your fabulous photos!

[WalleyeLJ]

Well, our Katmai experience finally drew to a close. Just before the beach we detoured to see once last female, the misty mountains in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that, our bear watching was actually over. Here's a shot of one of the other groups ahead of us headed to the planes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back onto the beach, with time for another "pit stop", photos of each group by the planes, then it was off to Homer! It's absolutely amazing how little distance those little Cessna 206s need to take off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[mommybearx2]

Can not say enough of how much I enjoyed your postings and pictures. We are going to Alaska in July 2013 and don't expect to be able to afford to go on the bear trip you did, but loved hearing and seeing the pictures. Looking forward to more posts and greatly appreciate how much time you have put into your postings.

[WalleyeLJ]

Can not say enough of how much I enjoyed your postings and pictures. We are going to Alaska in July 2013 and don't expect to be able to afford to go on the bear trip you did, but loved hearing and seeing the pictures. Looking forward to more posts and greatly appreciate how much time you have put into your postings.

 

Thanks mbx2! We did manage to get the trip as a buy one get one free groupon, so you never know. I'll also be posting about a second bear viewing outing (Day 4) that was half the cost, so that might be an option as well. Have a blast planning for next year!

 

L.J.

[Liz315]

K Bay Air. As I mentioned above, the owner, Michael, guided the group. He's been doing it so long that I guess he was confident that he could handle the situation. Still, glad we weren't in that group.

 

L.J.

Oh, I didn't realize that all of the groups there belonged to k-bay. I'm so enjoying your trip review. Thank you.

[WalleyeLJ]

Oh, I didn't realize that all of the groups there belonged to k-bay. I'm so enjoying your trip review. Thank you.

 

Liz, there was actually one group that had walked over from the Hallo Bay camping site. The other three were K Bay day trip groups. Four was enough. I figured the bears couldn't get EVERYONE unless they ALL came after us:).

 

L.J.

[DizzyDallasDi]

LJ - I'm just curious if you got a whiff or two of that unmistakable bear "perfume?"

[WalleyeLJ]

The flight back was generally uneventful. Cloudy for most of the flight, the clouds began to thin out as we completed the run across the Cook Inlet and entered Kachemak Bay. We were able to have a much clearer view of the shoreline below the Kenai Mountains. The water looked totally different under the brighter light of midday, a bit deeper and richer shade of blue in the deeper water.

 

 

Here are a few shots of the coastline on the way into Homer. The small town in the upper left of the first photo is Seldovia, which can be reached via float plane, water taxi or the ferries which operates between Homer and Seldovia. We didn't get to go there this trip, but would certainly like to in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a pretty neat shot showing the demarcation between the salty sea water of Kachemak Bay, and the fresh glacial runoff water from the Kenai Mountains:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then...finally...yes, that IS sunshine warming the Homer Spit! After nothing but thick, solid cloud cover, the bright sunshine was a welcome sight. Most people we talked to said they hadn't seen the sun in weeks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Homer Small Boat Harbor

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

LJ - I'm just curious if you got a whiff or two of that unmistakable bear "perfume?"

 

No, not really. The wind blew onshore pretty hard all day, so the way it worked out pretty much every bear we were at all close to was upwind of us. Might have been a different story on a still day.

 

L.J.