![]() ![]() Whether you are just out of education, just got married, have a young family or are in retirement, everyone wants to travel. Instead of buying expensive jewelry, the latest car or designer goods, people are now opting to buy new experiences. An abundance of Grizzly bears, Bald eagles, foxes and wolves all live in this place.In recent years, travel has become increasingly more popular. My wildlife encounters throughout the week were everything I imagined and more. No spray required.Īs a travel destination, Alaska is an amazing, challenging, beautiful place. He skids to a stop his point proved and swaggers off. This Grizzly’s charge is thankfully just a bluff. ![]() Confident in his actions and tone of voice he takes a step forward and firmly and loudly tells our charging male “No bear, NO” several times. Lightning-quick Phil grabs for bear spray. Holding my camera, I steady myself focusing on getting the shot. Just as abruptly, as if he says to himself, ‘Hang on a minute, I’m the bear’, he suddenly stops mid-run, turns and charges back towards us. Without warning the Grizzly turns and runs away from our direction. With the Grizzly 40 metres away from us, Phil looks to change our position to have room to exit quickly if needed. A male Grizzly appears – he is immediately alerted to our presence. As if on cue, she walks within an arms reach of me before continuing to slowly walk past. I find myself holding my breath, not in fear but trying to ensure I don’t miss the shot. The bears look up again, more curious this time staring straight at us. ![]() Razor-sharp teeth expertly pry open the shells.Īn Alaskan grizzly bear catching breakfast in Hallo Bay. Their giant paws easily dig the clams out of the muddy sand. The bears look up and assess our approach, but go back to the job of clamming on the beach. As we head off two Grizzly bears appear on the outskirts of our camp. Adrenalin yes, but it’s more that I am in awe of these beautiful animals experiencing them for the first time up close.ĭay two we pull on our waders to hike out from camp along the beach. She heads our way, slowly but deliberately. The only sound in the meadow is the machine gun stutter of camera shutters.Ī female blonde Grizzly decides we are worth a closer look. We set up our cameras about 50 metres from them. They look our way with a half sideways disinterested glance and continue to feed. Single file we continue along the trail until we reach a group of four large Grizzlies grazing in the meadow. Not at all concerned by our presence, he dozes in the grass – sleeping giant springs to mind. He is around 600 kilos and two metres in height when standing. This really is bear country five minutes into our hike we spot our first Grizzly lying in the long grass, catching some afternoon Alaskan sun. No firearms just bear spray if needed and a flare. ![]() We are in capable hands, but our protection is basic. The plane lands on a desolate stretch of beach, where we meet our bear guide, Phil, who has been guiding for 20 years. It’s such a humbling experience viewing this remote landscape from above. The flight to Hallo Bay is just over an hour. My fellow adventurers include a Scot and two Californians, all just as excited as I am about this adventure. I arrive at the small airstrip in Homer and am met by our pilot Jessie, and our six-seater plane. I’m a mix of emotions at this point, really excited about getting close to Grizzly bears in the wild, but equally nervous about living in the remoteness for a week with these powerful creatures. Hallo Bay is surrounded by just over 10,000 square kilometres of Katmai National Park on three sides and the Pacific Ocean on the other. It’s always good to be prepared when you’re over 500 kilometres from the nearest access road and 200 kilometres by air from the nearest civilisation. I have packed for every contingency, even purchasing a GPS locator in case of emergencies. Even in summer Alaska’s weather is highly unpredictable and can fall to zero degrees overnight. This trip has been months in preparation.
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