Surprise Close Bear Encounter

Bear Food

  Fresh off an overnight in the Seattle airport I landed in Juneau, Alaska. Luckily the fog cleared before we ran too low on fuel, we had to circle for about a half hour before the visibility opened up enough for us to land. Typical Juneau. Once I was settled in my room at the Goldbelt Hotel I had a choice, head out for adventure or rest up for my next stint of four weeks without a day off. As you may have guessed, I picked adventure, and boy did it pay off!

  I jumped on an old white schoolbus that takes people out to the nearby Mendenhall Glacier for $10. I expected a cool glacier view from across the lake, but what I didn't expect to run into was a family of black bears!
  A mom and two cubs were frolicking in a salmon stream that luckily had a boardwalk over it. It was tough jockeying for position with all the other tourists and their iphones but i managed to put myself in a good spot for several passes.

Mom on the hunt

Like mama like son

  The momma bear was actively trying to catch the bright red salmon that crowded the stream. Several times I saw her lunge off the bank, or run through the creek, in search of the next meal for her and her cubs. Twice while I watched she caught a salmon and dragged it up into the bushes. The cubs would eagerly follow and crunching noises would soon follow. The bear family stayed in the area for a good twenty minutes.

   The shadows were tough so I tried to wait for the bears to enter patches of sunlight. This was my best and closest encounter with bears to date. Even though they bears passed right under the raised boardwalk I was standing on they never even looked our direction.

Scratching an itchy ear

  It is a weird feeling being in the presence of such a cuddly but deadly animal. Every time I see a bear, even very close up like this, I just want to run up and hug it. Just take a look at the picture on the right and tell me you wouldn't give that a big bear hug.
  Talk about a nice welcome back to Alaska!