August 31st, 2026
We had a few relatively close encounters with the bears on the previous days, but nothing too exciting. You really do get to a point where you trust that the bears really don’t care about us – we don’t bother them, and they don’t bother us. Today we was a little different, but not in a bad way.
The crew raised anchor early on Monday morning (6AM), and we headed off in rough seas to our next stop, Kinak Bay, just on the other side of the mountains from where we started (Geographic Bay). It was really rocking and rolling along the way – the skies were clear, but there was a really strong wind. Things were rolling around on board, especially in the kitchen. But, once we reached the bay, we were sheltered from most of the wind, and the seas calmed down. We boarded the skiff for a look around in a beautiful bay, with long sand spits and a sandy beach. We did not venture too far – it was a long way into what appeared to be the main part of the bay. There were some bears there, so we watched for a while, hiked around in the deep sand, and then headed back to the ship. Our guide told us we would not recognize the place when the tide came in later in the day. He was not kidding.
A few words on the sand and geology. It was not the sand you find on beaches, which typically is a mix of bits of shell and some rock crystals (like quartz) – most everything we walked on was ash, as were what look like snow fields and glaciers in the mountains. In the early 1900’s, there was a massive volcanic eruption in that part of Alaska that was much larger than Mount St. Helens, and buried the area in huge volumes of ash – 30-50 feet deep in parts. Kodiak was covered in feet of ash for three days, to the point were roofs collapsed, and there were ash avalanches. Over the years, the ash has been washing down the mountains, and accumulates along the coast, making for some nice, but very soft beaches. And there are still deep layers of the stuff on the mountain slopes. Once the wind picked up later in the day, there were ash clouds blowing off the peaks. Which was probably why some of us had itchy eyes.
After lunch, we pulled on our waders and boots, and headed off in the skiff again. This time, all the beaches and large spits were gone, and we traveled through a huge tidal basin instead. Incredible. And it was absolutely stunning.
After landing, we started our hike in along the river, following bear trails through the tall grass and crossing a few times. Most of the river crossings were relatively shallow except for one, and that was almost a disaster for me. I had two problems with the waders – one was the boots, the other was flotation. The chest waders are one piece, with attached booties – you just slide your legs in, and your are waterproof from your chest to your feet.
You then put on these clunky hiking boots. Mine were the right size (13), but way too wide, so my feet rolled around in the boot. That does not do much for maintaining your balance in water. The second problem was in deeper water, there was air trapped in the wader booties, so your feet float a bit. So, when we made that one crossing, I had my camera hanging on the strap, down around my waste. As I slowly worked across the stream, I realized that the depth was more than waist deep. And I was struggling to keep my feet on the bottom. I had a flash of my immediate future, floating down stream into the bears who would pounce on me, thinking I was the largest salmon they had ever seen. Fortunately, our guide realized I was in deep trouble (pun intended), and came out to save me from a very embarrassing moment. I really dislike being treated like an elderly fool (well, I am elderly and foolish at times), but this time, I appreciated the help.
We reached a point where we were pretty close to a few bears, one with a cub, so we settled down on our buckets, and set up shop. I was hoping for more bears but I was not expecting a bear pool party, which is what we got. Pretty soon we had four bears, two with cubs, charging through the water as the salmon made their way up stream. As the tide went out and the water level dropped, more salmon started making the run, and the bears were having easy pickings, catching and immediately eating what they caught. The mother bears with cubs had to fight off their kiddies, adding to the chaos – charging bears, growling mothers and crying cubs.
More bears showed up over time – at one point, there were seven or eight along this stretch of the river. I was expecting them to pull out a beach ball and start calling out Marco Polo.
Most of the bears were in the water, or on the other side of the stream, but there was one juvenile, named Spunky, that started wandering around us on our little beach. And rather than heading into the grass, he just side stepped around us, a few feet away. That was close, but not that close. Then he started fishing right in front of us – and caught one. A few feet away. And kept on coming. When the bear’s face fills my view in the camera, I know it’s getting really close. I thought he was coming over to share the fish. But, much like every encounter, he veered off to the side. A bit later, a large female started walking up the shore, straight at us…and kept on coming. We all sat very still and she veered off maybe three or four feet in front of us, and circled around. That was incredibly close. You could hear her huffing and puffing as she walked by.
Finally, Spunky came back a bit later, and was interested in one of our group’s camera bag, and seemed intent on grabbing it. Our guide, who speaks fluent brown bear, had to intervene, first telling him loudly, “No”, and then “Stop, that’s not yours”. Spunky got the message and ran off. That was amazing – telling a wild, apex predator to stop stealing a bag, and it listened.
As the tide started receding we eventually worked our way back for a pickup – the water levels drop quickly, so you cannot linger too long or the skiff will not be able to make it upstream. As we waited at the pickup point, the bears seemed to follow us – what a beautiful scene looking back at the mountains, with the bears splashing in the river
This was absolutely one of the most amazing days, ever, from any of my trips. Aside from the photography, it was just one of those incredibly wonderful memories that will stick in my brain for a long time – just the incredible beauty of the scenery, and watching those huge, amazing beasts in the wild.
We get to revisit Geographic Bay tomorrow for a few hours, before heading back on the float plane to Kodiak. Bummer. But I’m out of fresh clothes, and I’m ready to return to civilization again. And the internet.
Peace
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