When planning our trip to Alaska, I knew that seeing bear was in the number #1 spot. We knew we'd see glorious nature all about but wildlife could be hit or miss. I had hoped that bear sightings would become reality. To help increase our chances, I opted to book our family on a three hour air flight tour to some remote locations. There our chances to see grizzly would be better. We had been blessed to see a whopping seventeen grizzly in Denali yet they were quite far away. This intimate tour would allow for a more up and close and personal experience.
I did not tell the family my plans prior. At dinner the night before I told Don and the girls that I had an early birthday present for Don. They guessed and guessed and were completely surprised when the next morning we pulled into the tiny airport in Soldotna. Not only did we get to experience a seven seater plane that flew over glaciers, close to active volcanoes, over the Cook Inlet and some spectacular scenery, we landed on a remote black sand beach where we saw one, very large, sleeping bear on the beach and one mama and her cubs. They were fast moving and hungry. We followed close by and at one point it was a bit too close. They were just a stones throw in front of us. Still, seeing Mama hunt two fish, run in the river and look after her baby cubs was something extremely rare and a memory that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.
I was greatly disappointed by the poor quality of the lighting. Cloudy skies for this very amature photographer did not allow for good photos but these will have to do. Still, I feel like I missed some great photo opts. More and more I am thinking photography classes need to be a part of my future. In the meantime, it was a great gift to at least get as close as we did and snap what I was able to.
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