Walking with Grizzlies ~ An out of body experience

It’s 7:00 AM and I have arrived at Beluga Air dock on Beluga Lake, Homer Alaska. I’m ready for my trip to a remote spot in Katmai National Park to view grizzly bears.

I am nervous and very excited at the same time. I have never worn a pair of hip waders before, much less Hike 6 miles in them. We were told Dress for Cold, Wet, Rain, Heat and no bright colors.

The aircraft is a vintage DHC-2 DeHavilland Beaver.

 

 We all were issued life jackets on this trip as well as a more in-depth safety discussion. We were given one last chance for a bathroom stop and after that, it was the end of a traditional toilet facility until we returned 9 hours from now. Our guide casually mentioned that if we should need a pit stop in Bear country, we would have to give him 10 minutes notice and he would do his best to scout the area for any hiding bears. He also added, “I have to warn you,  I don’t know why this is, but whenever anyone exposes themselves for this nature call, Bears seem to know and appear out of nowhere.” , Now that was a real comforting thought!

 

 

Cloud cover along most of the flight, but from a radio transmission from a guide on a boat in the bay, we heard the skies were clear. I am one of the four photographers on board, two are from Houston Texas and a student from Los Angeles. The student, Max, had taken the tour about 9 days earlier but it rained so hard most of the places they trekked were flooded;  I assumed that was not a good experience. It is the chance you take on these more remote trips. The weather can be far different from Homer or Soldotna from where you might take off. He decided to give it one more try. A very expensive tour week for him indeed.

 

 

As we approached our destination the water was several shades of blue and turquoise. If the mountains didn’t have snow on top you would think you might be flying over a tropical location.

 

We were landing in a small bay and as we were in our final approach I looked out on the right side of the plane and saw several bears in the meadow, our guide was counting them and making a mental note where they were so we might find them once we are on the ground.

After a very smooth landing, we all got out of the plane and stepped into around 10 inches of water and onto the shore. A “BlueBird” day, as my friend Brent Bradley would say,  and very little wind. We assembled our cameras/lenses and tripods and monopods and prepared for the trek across the meadow.

The grass was fairly deep at this end of the meadow. We had a very clear walking path though, at this point, so we didn’t need to get into the tall grass. We walked about 3/4 of a mile it was muddy but easy walking. We were headed for the north end of this meadow, knowing bears could be laying down in this grass most anywhere.

 

We were all on bear lookout duty since our guide had warned us that soon we will be surrounded by several bears that he spotted from the plane. We walked fairly slow and very close together.

Sure enough, an older male bear came into view and walked right into a grassy area that had a beautiful backdrop of the glacier.  He noticed us probably far before we saw him.

 

The rest of the day was like that. Walk 100 – 200 feet or so and there would be another bear and sure enough, we were soon surrounded by grizzlies of all ages; a sow and her two cubs, many older males, and a few teenagers perhaps another sow.

The terrain was mostly tall grass that was growing on very unlevel ground. It was a challenge to watch for the bears and yet watch where we were walking because there were so many small creeks and ditches that were hard to see. We would nearly disappear as we walked down into the ditches and up the other side. Our guide would call out in a calm voice (Hey Buddy, Where are you buddy) We didn’t want to surprise any of the bears we couldn’t see. It looks like a very flat meadow but it had many dips and small creek areas that you could not see.

Some of the bears were laid out in the more open areas just like a horse would do.

 

 

I think the most entertaining part of the day was with the sow and her cubs.  Who knew you could be that close and quietly watch them interact as a family.

 

 

 

 

The cubs were all about having fun with each other and playing in the small ponds. There were small minnow-like fish about two inches long and they were trying to catch them in their paws.

 

We began our trek further down the meadow toward the lagoon to see who might be fishing.

By midday, we had walked only about 3 miles and then had to wade across a small river in water well over our knees. The cold glacier water could be felt through the waders and it felt good, it was quite warm and we were now shedding many of our layers of clothing. No chance of photographing much of our travels across the water. I didn’t want to drop a camera or lose my balance!

We walked to a small inlet of water from the bay and there were several bears there around the water. One was sprawled out looking like a sunbather. He watched us for a long time but never got up.

After some time we watched him struggle to stand and then walked on three legs with the one paw lifted as though it was broken. He was unable to swim or fish and avoided getting close to any of the other larger bears in the area. Soon he disappeared into the trees. I hope he will soon heal and be able to fend for himself again.

There were many bears in this area but not many fish so most of them were either grazing or just laying around.

Bears in every direction now. I’m trying to take it all in and process what I am seeing and doing. This is definately feeling like an “out of body” experience.  Am I really here walking among these grizzly bears or am I dreaming.

I’m sure by now I have taken over 800 shots of these guys and gals and I am sure glad we don’t use Film anymore!

 

In this is flat, clay surface beach area,  we made a UTurn and slowly headed back to the far end of the meadow to our plane;  but not before we encounter many of the bears we passed on our trek earlier in the day and a couple of new ones. Two of which were what Drew described as teenagers. He called them goofy bears because they are still trying to figure out who they are and are more unpredictable.

There was a boat off the shore of this inlet and infact it was the guide here that gave us the weather report on our trip here.  They came ashore to visit with the bears also.  You can see how close we all were to this older male.

Back down the meadow now and another chance to see the family.  Mom and her cubs were in roughly the same spot.  To me, these bear family pictures have a lot more to say than just a bear standing alone.  So much emotion between the mom and her cubs.

 

 

 

The cubs were very rambunctious and starting to “bug” mom. All three of them started growling at one another. She wanted them to stop jumping on her so she took off in a fast walk……. TOWARD US! I tried to stay focused and take pictures but the last shot I got she abruptly made a left turn in front of us and we got “the eye” After she passed us I realized I had been holding my breath. Drew said “Was that your first Bear Rush”? Indeed it was, and I won’t soon forget it. I lost all control of my camera when I found myself too close to mama and cubs to focus with the lens I had been using.. It generally focuses at 19 feet minimum and this family was starting to blur!  WOW Of course the rule is 50 yards from a bear and hmmm maybe 100 yards with a bear with cubs but all rules are moot when the bear comes into our space. None of us were allowed to have bear spray and our guide carried only a flare.  He said a few guides lately had used a flare but he felt it perhaps was unnecessary. He is a great guide because he kept us all very calm, at least on the Outside!

This was the last we saw of them

We walked the last 3/4 of a mile back to where we met the float plane without seeing any other bears.  We began our return flight back to Homer.

As we took off we saw several small bears on the beach running along the water’s edge.

 

The flight back everyone was very quiet. For me is was a time to get back into my body… and realize what I just experienced was not a dream. It will be permanently etched into my memory. A totally different experience than Brooks Falls. Both are bucket list rated. I would have to say that this trip, that drops you into a wilderness where you don’t see any sign of human life, is a bit daunting. No Park Rangers, No brown signs; Nothing but the raw untouched landscape dotted by grizzly bears has to be put at the top of my list of best experiences in Alaska…in fact it is very emotional just to reflect back on.

 

ALASKA ~ It truly is The Last Frontier