Bush
Planes and Brown Bears
These bear-viewing flights offer a rare
opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with Alaskan grizzlies.
I’m
already standing so close to this 400-pound brown bear that I can
hear the smacking of her lips as she peacefully munches her way
through a field of grass just outside the boundaries of Alaska’s
Lake Clark National Park. Which is why I’m
taken completely by surprise when my guide leans over and whispers “She
seems pretty relaxed, so I think it’s safe to get a little
closer.”
In my travels over the years I’ve seen a handful of grizzlies
in the wild, but always from a distance that made them look like
little more than balls of chocolate-colored fur to the naked eye.
So the idea of being here, close enough to take in even the smallest
details of this powerful creature—including those potentially-lethal
three-inch claws—without binoculars is one of those wildlife
encounters that comes around oh, say, once in a lifetime if you’re
lucky. The fact that I lived to tell the tale, well, I guess that
makes me luckier still.
Like many of my favorite adventures, this thoroughly remarkable
experience began routinely enough at the offices of Anchorage-based
Alaska Air Taxi. Along with more conventional flight-seeing tours,
the company offers two different bear-viewing expeditions using
its fleet of tundra tire-equipped bush planes.
As we approached our destination 90 minutes southwest of Anchorage
on the shores of Cook Inlet, our pilot flew low for a closer look
at the beach that would serve as our runway. Landing on that sloping
strip of hard-packed sand was a unique thrill in itself, but it
was just the beginning of our adventure.
Jim Isaak, our guide and owner of the Alaska Homestead Lodge,
met us on the beach astride his four-wheel ATV with his specially-built
passenger trailer that serves as the lodge’s version of an
airport shuttle in tow. After a quick pit stop at the inn, it was
time to head out for a closer look at the brown bears we could
see grazing in the marshy meadow outside the dining room’s
large windows.
Not surprisingly, those bears that were so plentiful only a short
while earlier decided to make themselves scarce as we bounced down
the beach in the trailer. But, just as we were beginning to believe
we might not get the up-close grizzly encounter we’d come
for, Jim hiked to the top of a dune and signaled us to follow.
As we crested the ridge we saw our bear, her silhouette reflected
in a small pool like something out of a wildlife photographer’s
fantasy. As our small group stopped to admire her from a distance
of about 50 yards, I realized that we were already much closer
to this magnificent creature than most folks would ever get outside
the confines of their local zoo.
Having lived side-by-side with these bears for years, Isaak is
keenly tuned in to their behavior. So when he told us the sow grizzly
seemed to be comfortable enough with our presence for us to move
closer, we didn’t hesitate—well, okay, maybe we hesitated
a little—to step forward for a better look.
Things got really interesting a few minutes later however, when
the bear, head down and munching the entire time, began to amble
in our direction. It was at that moment I remembered the old joke
where one hiker asks his companion why he’s putting on his
running shoes after encountering an angry brown bear.
“You’re crazy, there’s no way you can outrun
a full-grown grizzly,” he tells his friend. The second hiker
replies, “I don’t
have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you.”
Xtrordinary Xtra
Brown bears (ursus arctos)—also known as grizzlies—can
be found throughout the world. While their size can vary greatly,
the brown bears of Alaska’s Admiralty and Kodiak Islands
are among the largest carnivores on land.
Xtrordinary Xtra
Despite the fact that brown bears are technically considered carnivores,
much of their diet consists of plant material including grasses,
roots, and berries.
The Facts
Name: Alaska Air Taxi Bear-Viewing Flights
Location: Anchorage International
Airport
Phone: 907-243-3944 800-789-5232
Website: www.alaskaairtaxi.com
www.alaskawildlife.com
My Advice
- Weather in Alaska
can be unpredictable, so leave enough flexibility in your itinerary
to allow you to reschedule if storms cause your original flight
to be canceled.
- Alaska’s capricious
climate also makes packing a warm fleece jacket and a waterproof
shell a good idea year-round. Same goes for wearing sturdy shoes
or light hiking boots suitable for crossing uneven terrain.
- Because
these trips last between 6 and 10 hours and the nearest convenience
store is hundreds of miles away, take a minute to throw a few
snacks and a water bottle into your daypack.
- Though this borders on the
obvious, be sure to bring your binoculars, camera or camcorder,
and more film, memory cards, or tape than you think you’ll
need. A spare camera battery can also come in handy.
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