Wrangell, Alaska

July 27, 2015

Our tour today was another Bear adventure hopefully today we get the chance to see some.

We disembarked the ship at the pier and met up with a covered, heated boat and took a twenty-five-mile ride to Anan, traveling via Eastern Passage.

Upon arrival at the Anan, we were greeted at the trailhead by U.S. Forest Service personnel, who gave us a brief orientation of what we were going to do and see. Beginning this month pink salmon arrives at Anan Creek to spawn which attracts brown and black bears, bald eagles and harbor seals.

The walk to the observatory was 20 minutes long and about a 1/2 mile in length, we had one guy in the front with a shotgun and one guy in the back with a rifle. When we got to the observatory, we had 90 minutes of bear watching.  We even saw a bear catch a salmon and eat it in the creek.  The current was so strong in the creek, it didn’t even faze the bears which was wild to see how powerful they are.

Follow us on our journey our next destination is Juneau, Alaska.

Ketchikan, Alaska

July 26, 2015

Today we flew on a floatplane first time I’ve ever been on one which was cool.  The flight was twenty-five minutes of breathtaking views of homesteads, mountains with dense forest, pristine lakes and a great view of inside passage shaped by massive glaciers.

When we landed, we were met by this Alaskan Naturalist who lives in the forest.  After a short drive to the trail w got out of the jeep and began our half mile hike to a viewing platform that overlooks a stream brimming with salmon.  Although they don’t guarantee we see Bears, this is a good place to try and see them since they know that’s where they can get salmon.  We ended up only seeing a small black bear sitting in our path, but once he saw us, he ran into the forest.  

Follow us on our journey our next destination is Wrangell, Alaska.

Maria & John – with our friends Isaac and Michael

Maria