21st August, 2026
My upcoming Grizzly Bear/Kodiak trip has been the most difficult to pack so far, which I find surprising given the activities I’ve had to cover for some of the earlier trips. This one is only 13 days total and theoretically, there is only one activity – photographing grizzly bears. but somehow or another, I’ve wound up almost at the weight limit (50lbs) for my checked-in bag, have to bring my largest camera bag (I have five), and had to pack/re-pack four times until today. What the heck!
From a clothing perspective, the problem is the four days on the fishing boat – the trip starts out in the town of Kodiak. I’m there a day early to do some local photography (bald eagles I hope), and stay in a hotel for three nights. No problems so far. I can even do some laundry at the hotel. On the second day of the trip, we will do a cruise around the coast close to Kodiak, in search of ocean critters – warm clothing required but that’s expected. It’s Alaska, so you have to expect rain and cool weather in late summer. On the third day, we have to fly out on a small float plane to the Ursus, a converted fishing boat, where we spend the next four days looking for bears (and other beasties). There’s a limit on the size and weight of luggage we can take along, so I had to bring a water-resistant duffel bag along, packed in my suitcase. And, I needed to bring a water resistant backpack along as well, for my camera gear. That takes up a lot of space and extra weight in the suitcase. And then there are some extra gear requirements for the shore excursions – they provide chest wades and special boots, but you have to bring thermals, fleece pants and boot socks to wear under the waders. That’s a lot of extra gear to fit into a small duffel bag.
This is a photo excursion, so scrimping on camera gear would not make a lot of sense. I participated in a zoom call with the lead for this trip, and he recommended just a reasonably sized zoom, no longer than 100MM. But when you see all the videos from this and other Kodiak bear trips, most of the photographers have 400-600MM lenses. Plus, there are opportunities for photographing otters, whales and PUFFINS!. And when I get to Anchorage, I’m hoping for moose and bald eagles. So, I’m packing 3 lenses, 2 camera bodies, and all the other odds and ends you need for serious photography, including a monopod. And I’m packing all of this in a real camera backpack, and bringing along a brand new, smaller, mostly waterproof pack that I just bought at REI. Where else would I shop?
I did manage to fit everything into the two bags (see below), and used vacuum bags to organize all the clothing based on segments of the trip (I’m way too organized). I’m all set to go with three days to spare. Phew.
The three remaining trips for 2026 should be less complicated – Yosemite is a car trip, Patagonia is mostly on a Lindblad ship (laundry!!), and Baja is relatively short, on a ship with laundry service and mostly warm weather (although I’ll need snorkel gear). I’m not thinking about 2027 yet.
I should do advertising for luggage manufacturers.
Peace
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