Special Edition, the Bear!

Off in the distance, by a small pond swimming with Chum Salmon, we spotted a solitary brown bear sitting and grooming. Another initial long distance observation on the other side of the viewing platform. We waited...

Our bear sighting improved when this awesome creature decided to forge the pond in our general direction. This afforded us a better view as he crossed the water towards the creek that fed this pond. He walked towards us and then disappeared shortly after walking up the creek and out of view. We all thought, okay that's it, happy to have seen at least one bear relatively up close.

We patiently waited again and, low and behold, it showed up on the other side of the raised walkway and across the road from us! Now this is close, really close. I had to zoom back my telephoto lens to capture the bear in full frame format! The rangers are extra vigilant when the bears are this close, but it strolled by and down the asphalt road to disappear again through the brush on the opposite side of the road surface and viewing area. Okay, that was an unexpected extra. WOW!

But wait...there's more! I positioned myself with a clear view on the viewing platform where the creek passes under the road bridge leading to where the bear entered the brush just hoping it might keep walking to where the fish were in the stream. All this walking must have made our new friend hungry.

Our new brown bear friend was now in the main stream with the Salmon and was definitely fishing. It seemed generally relaxed with all the watchful eyes, binoculars and cameras of every shape and size. I had brought my Nikon D750 full-frame digital SLR with a 80-200mm telephoto lens for this occasion. I had no reason to rush or worry about getting a good vantage point. Everyone was happy to have so much time to watch and enjoy the show the bear was putting on for us.

How to tell a brown bear from a grizzly bear? While grizzly bears are indeed a subset of brown bears, several key differences set them apart: Habitat and Diet. Grizzlies thrive inland and lack access to marine-based food sources like fish and salmon, distinguishing them from coastal brown bears.

After almost an hour I had over 115 still images of this magnificent creature. The venue was incredible for this wonderful wildlife experience. We had talked to others who had spent hundreds of dollars to fly in to see these animals in other parts of Alaska and we did it for a mere $10 per ticket to the viewing platform. As the last light of the day approached, our friendly brown bear retreated back to the woods and our Alaska experience was now complete.