Great Bear Encounter at Kukak Bay, Katmai National Park

 

A huge brown bear ambles past our group through the meadow. This bear was chowing down on grass as he slowly worked through the meadow.

It is hard to explain the feeling of being on the ground, here in Alaska, and sharing that space with brown bears. All of us guides undergo intense bear trainings every season, as well as advanced wilderness medical classes every two years, so we can successfully and safely take guests out on adventures in remote Alaska. This coastal part of Katmai is about as remote as it gets. There isn't even another ship in sight as we set off on our small boats for the adventure of lifetime.

I had twelve guests with me on our skiff, and they had heeded my advice that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. They were waterproof from head to toe, which was good since the clouds opened up on us during the skiff ride to land. The rain let up quite a bit once we got to land, but the high grasses kept us wet. I led the group slowly, not wanted to sneak up on any bears in the grass, but not wanting to scare them out of the meadow. We emerged from the grass and had a beautiful overlook, deep into the meadow here at Kukak Bay. This spot is known for its density of brown bears, and is part of the Katmai National Park.

We watched some juvenile bald eagles, and a very noisy greater yellowlegs for a while, but no luck with bears. After a while I walked the group back to this tall hill, jutting out from the flats. The trail looked very steep, and slippery, but I ventured up it and just kept going. A couple guests were able to follow, but it was pretty tough. I eventually had an amazing view from the top. I still couldn't see any bears though, and my group was waiting below, so I slid quickly down, and called the small boat for a pickup.

We didn't have much time left before we were supposed to meet back up with the big boat, but I didn't want to go home empty handed. I knew there was a bear farther down the meadow at the other viewing area, so we called in to say we were going to be late, and we landed at a rocky beach. I wasn't sure exactly where the bear was, so I gathered the group tight, and we slowly walked up to the viewing area.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I got eyes on the bear. He was a nice distance away, happily grazing on grass in the meadow. I told my group to set up here and take in the show. It was a wonderful encounter, as the bear got close enough for everyone to get a great look, and he waded across a river, but never even curious about us. Just how I wanted. My group did great as well, not moving around or making too much noise. Everyone just soaked it in. After a while I told everyone it was time to go. It seemed like the whole group was on the same page that we had done this just right.

Things got even wilder on the skiff ride back to the boat, when a humpback whale popped up in between us and the Safari Explorer. We weren't expecting to see a whale this far up in the bay. Then it surprised us even more by giving us our first breach of the season, launching its entire body out of the water. That is Alaska for you. Just when you think it can't get any better...

A humpback whale dives down, showing off its unique fluke ID.

A Katmai brown bear crosses a river, not far from our group.

Check out the big shoulder hump. Black bears don't have that. Only our brown bears.

This bear mostly grazed through the meadow while we watched from a safe feeling distance away. After crossing this river he did look up, almost past us, but I didn't see anything behind.

The other photos are zoomed in quite a bit. This was the comfortable distance that the bear was away from us, shot with around 100mm telephoto.

A little drink in the river.

As we explored the area, a chocolate lily was worth a pause and a photo.

One of the big open meadows at Kukak that can be good bear viewing. We didn't see any from this side on this trip, but a few juvenile bald eagles sat and kept a wary eye on us.

The mountains started poking through after a torrential downpour on our skiff ride to shore.

Watching and waiting. We ended up moving on before seeing anything of too much interest from this vantage.

My group, actively watching a brown bear in Katmai.

Heading back to the pickup spot after checking out a bear here in Katmai.

Climbing up a steep hill for a better vantage.