Capturing the Moment

  I set the skiff up to get this bear coming up and over this rocky promenade. It is always powerful getting photos animals coming towards you. It shows that you are being respectful and not scaring the animal. This is the ultimate goal for a wildlife photographer. Katmai National Park is known for being one of Alaska's premier brown bear viewing locations. People are used to the boardwalks and reservations needed for famous spots like Brooks Falls and McNeil River. However, if you have access to a sturdy boat, or an expedition ship in our case, you can get to the seldom explored coastline of Katmai, and see bears in the untouched wilderness. We were lucky with weather, and planned to explore two different bays on the outer coast, Kinak Bay and Geographic Harbor. We started out the morning with a new spot for me, Kinak Bay. This is a long inlet that narrows to a very tight gap, then opens up into a big back bay called Hidden Harbor. The other guide, Nicole, and I jumped in the skif...

  We shared an intimate encounter with this brown bear from our kayaks this morning. Another Alaska memory to store away forever. We saw four brown bears this morning while we kayaked around Geographic Harbor in Katmai National Park. I felt like I really put our guests in the perfect positions for all the bear viewing. It is always a great feeling as a guide, when you make good calls on what the wildlife is going to do before it happens. It takes a certain amount of luck, and a lot of experience sure helps too. This morning was a little of both. We started off at the estuary in the back, since we could see a big brown bear there from our boat. I got my kayakers together, gave them a quick talk about kayaking around bears, and listening to my advice out there. Then we paddled in close to watch a bear move around a little deeper in the meadow. As we were watching, people from an anchored private charter boat pulled up in their dinghy, and proceeded to get off on shore and walk right ...

  A swimming Katmai bear, heading our way! It was another spectacular visit to Katmai National Park in Alaska. Known for its bears, it did not disappoint. We had many close bear encounters, and we even got to see a number of swimming bears. One swam all the way across Kukak Bay. I couldn't blame him, as it was one of the hottest days of the summer for this part of Alaska. We had another playful bear that rolled over in the shallows, giving us a good view. We explored Kukak Bay in the morning. This is one of the more famous bays on the outer coast of Katmai National Park. People will fly in on float planes to come watch bears here. Early in the morning, Christian and I paddled our kayaks out for a recon of the shallow bay at the back of the bay. It was a beautiful morning with calm water, but no bears. Then, after breakfast, I took out a shorewalking group. The tide was going out, so the landing was tough. No one topped their boots, and everyone walked slowly so they didn't slip...

  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 w...