Into the Wild: Brown Bears
Originally my main reason for wanting to go to Alaska was to see whales. Yet this time there was another animal that was competing for the top of my list… bears, specifically those iconic Alaskan Brown Bears.
In past trips, I have been lucky enough to see a few scrawny brown bears here and there. One walking the beach looking for food under rocks and another peaking over some tall grass from the other side of a grassy meadow. This time… this time I wanted something more iconic…
I made plans to visit Lake Clark National Park, world renown for its coastal brown bears. I took a small plane- you know, one of those that weighs you and organizes everyone based of their weight and then lands on a beach- which dropped us off at the outpost where we got on a 4 wheel drive converted bus, walked through the forest, and got on another bus. It was then from the far bend in the bay we saw our first bear…
The first one was a small brown bear taking a morning walk down the beach. Before he came too close, he turned up into a meadow and disappeared into a line of trees. It was our first siting, an appetizer for more to come hopefully.
The second stop was a large meadow. Immediately we saw two bear galloping through the field. When we made it from the viewing spot, the reason was clear- a large male was ambling through. The younger bears kept looking back cautiously, the big guy didn’t seem to care at all. The younger ones had clean brown fur while the big male had large scars, visible to us with the naked eye. Luckily for the younger bears, they made it to the forest and disappeared into the trees before the male turned more of his attention to them.
A few more bears walked into the valley, no one really seeming to care about the others. We moved our spot to watch them better, our Guide always vigilant to the bears and when their attention might turn to us.
I had yet to get that shot that spoke to me, but this many bears fulfilled all my hopes and prayers for a successful trip. I knew our time was coming to an end and instead of satisfying a craving, this just made me want more…
On our way back, our Ranger stopped at a small trail so I could collect my National Park stamp. As we walked off the beach and started on the trail we stopped. Walking towards us was a young golden female. My excitement combined with those around me and the air practically buzzes around us. She would graze for a bit, sat in front of a pine tree, grazed again. Every once and a while she would look at us, but we seemed far more interested in her than she was in us.
As we held our ground, the bear continued walking closer. We scooted back a bit and our ranger started calling out “Hey Bear… Hey Bear” to make sure we didn’t startle her. She continued to seem not to care…. I knew that could change in an instant so as I continued to take photos, I knew at any moment that could change.
The bear crossed our trail, the five of us watching her as a clump. She stopped, smelled the area, looked around, looked at us, and then continued on…
I got my close bear encounter as she passed us maybe 20-30ft away and that was plenty close enough. Yet her gaze seemed to bore into me, made me feel seen by something I’m not sure I wanted to be seen by…
She continued on in the field, grazing on the tall grasses and heading towards a line of trees stretching below the ever rising mountains- a classic Alaskan image seared into my memory.
