The Traveling Widower

Tag: Grizzly-bears

  • Grizzly/Brown Bear Trip – Random Thoughts On My Alaska Trip

    A large black and white fishing vessel named 'Ursus' anchored in calm waters, surrounded by lush green hills and mountains under a clear blue sky.

    Sept 6th, 2026

    I usually remember things I wanted to include in my trip posts after a day or two home. I also come up with a bunch of random thoughts about the trip like issues I thought I’d have but did not or issues I did not think I’d have but did. I’ll stop there before I dive too deep into Dick Cheney type logic. 

    Brown vs. Grizzly Bear – our guide lectured about this somewhere along the way. The trip was billed by NatHab as a Grizzly Bear tour but in reality, we were dealing with Coastal Brown Bears. Both are the same species (Ursus Arctos), and are classified as Brown Bears. Grizzly bears do have a sub-species classification, horribilis. Sounds terrible. The difference is basically location and to some degree, diet and behavior. Grizzly bears live inland – Denali, the Pacific Northwest states and Canada, while Katmai and Kodiak are Coastal Brown Bears. The inland bears subsist on berries, grasses and preying on other animals, while coastal subsist on fish rather than animals. I’d be snacking on those annoying and loud sea gulls though if I were a coastal bear.

    Traveling solo – even after all the trips I’ve been on, I still worry about having to interact with a group of complete strangers, especially when it’s a small group like this trip. But unlike the larger cruise ships, where I have to deal with the dreaded “May I join you” moment the first night, there was no choice on who to sit with. There was just the eight of us plus the guide, and one table. It was like a big family gathering, passing plates of food around, sharing stories, bad jokes, fun jabs at each other. This was one of the best trips I’ve had so far in terms of interactions, maybe the best. 

    I’m old, just deal with it – this is probably the first time I have accepted help from others, when I needed a hand getting up a big step or steep slope while hiking, or just needed a steady arm to hold on to while crossing a stream, or walking across a rocky surface. I really did appreciate that helping hand on this trip from our guide, and also from the younger members of our group. I have to accept the fact that I’m the same age as some of their grand parents, and just say thank you. 

    Nat Hab vs. Nat Geo – this was my first Natural Habitat Adventures trip, after having six straight trips with National Geographic. Obviously the ship and accommodations would not compare with what I’ve experienced with NatGeo – different trips, but the lead/guides and crew from NatHab were top notch, and overall trip organization were just as good. This was really two trips – Kodiak and Katmai. Both leads were excellent, very focused on our safety and comfort. I was surprised to be picked up at the Kodiak airport since I came in a day early. They get points for that. The guide/leader on the Ursus was awesome. Given my experience with my land-only Iceland trip, I currently think NatHab did a much better job with travel arrangements than National Geographic – Lindblad handles all the cruises and they have fantastic travel support. National Geographic land expeditions have almost no support, not even a portal for managing trip arrangements. I have two more Nat Geo/Lindblad this year, and four more NatHab trips next year. I’m sure they will all be fantastic. 

    The Ursus Chef – I never really mentioned the food on this trip. This was different than the National Geo/Lindblad trips, where you have a large dining room with a significant staff, which serves a variety of main courses with each meal. On the Ursus, we had a fantastic chef who lives part time in Hawaii when not in Alaska, amd who had to feed a small group (13 including herself and the crew) nutritious and filling meals, in a small galley with limited storage space for ingredients. She did an amazing job. And she is publishing a recipe book for what she serves on the Ursus, and one of my photos may be in the book. I’ll be ordering a copy for sure.

    A major oops – I was in a rush when the hotel van showed up way early at the hotel to take us to the airport. After checking my luggage at the airport I discovered that I had left my iPad at the hotel. I immediately panicked of course. But, one of the attendants at the Alaska Air counter called a cab for me, and 10 minutes later, a Ford pickup showed up with a really pleasant, local driver, who got me to the hotel and back in about 20 minutes. She would have just picked up the iPad for me if I had asked. Either way, I made it back with plenty of time.

    Disappointments – Just a few. First would be not getting the fly around of Denali, but that still worked out with the flight that I did go on. Second would be not seeing a moose, other than at the wildlife conservancy thing. I hiked in two parks around Anchorage, but came up empty although I did see this one at the airport. It seemed pretty tame.

    Taxidermy moose displayed indoors with a colorful ceiling mural and decorative plants in the background.

    Another disappointment was how sloppy and careless I was with my photography. Once again, I shot without checking my settings, and lost probably half of the action shots (too soft) because I did not reset my shutter speed. Dumb – that’s why I consider myself to be an amateur photographer. I still do really stupid things. My last disappointment of course were the puffins, especially after seeing the photograph my cabin mate got of the classic shot of a flying puffin with a beak full of fish. He was just so annoying with all those great bird pictures. Just kidding Dave. I had the wrong lens. And probably the lack of experience as well.  But I get another chance next summer in Iceland. I’ll be better prepared for sure.

    What worried me….needlessly – if you follow my blog regularly, you can probably guess that I tend to be high strung, a worrier about small details. Yeah, in first grade, I had a panic attack about not having straws for our milk break and they had to call my mother in to calm me down. So what were my worries on this trip:

    • A stranger for a roommate – Other than a tennis trip I made with a bunch of guys from my club a few years ago, I have not shared a bedroom with someone other than Jan for about 49 years. So I was a bit concerned about sharing a tiny room with bunk beds, with a complete stranger. What if they snored or talked in their sleep. Well, that could be interesting depending on what they said. At any rate, it all worked out great. My roommate was pretty much as strange as I am with a similar warped sense of humor. A perfect match. I also convinced him to take the upper bunk which seemed like a good idea at first, until I realized he had to boost himself up by stepping on my bed. That could be dangerous in the dark. He is a much better photographer, especially for eagles and puffins, and he shared a lot of good photograph tips throughout the trip.
    • Sharing a bathroom with 3 people – that also worked out well. We never had one of those “Hi there” moments with our neighbors in the adjoining tiny cabin, where you both open your doors at the same time. We did manage to lock them out once, but we both had keys to free the locks.
    • Balance Issues – probably my biggest fear. My neuropathy has progressed to the point where my balance can be a problem, especially on uneven surfaces. Which I expected to have a lot of. I’ve become extra careful now, using a hiking stick (or my multi-purpose monopod). I did OK most of the time, including the long stretches of walking on matted grass (bear trails), and most of the stream crossings. I did bail out of the short walk to a waterfall on a very unstable, rocky beach. One of our group did fall, and I decided to just find a comfortable boulder to sit on, and enjoy the scenery instead. And I accepted help from others when needed. 
    • Nature calls in the wild – not a major worry, but I was a bit concerned about finding an appopriate (and safe place) when we were mingling with bears. There was always a good place to duck into..usually in ankle deep water. 
    • The bears – I viewed enough videos from Nat/Hab and other companies, to pretty much calm my fears of being so close to these very large and scary looking beasts. The first time one approaches, my heart did skip a beat or two, but then you realize that what our guide told us was true – the bears pretty much ignore people, unless you do something really stupid. Like approaching a cub, or trying to grab a salmon from them. 
    • Small airplanes – I kind of got over my fear of flying on small, single engine planes on my Baja trip, but this was something new – small planes that land and take off from water. But other than our aborted first flight to Katmai, I really enjoyed the flights, especially sitting up front. 

    Speechless in Alaska – I had more than a few moments on this trip that what I was seeing through the camera lens was so absolutely stunning, that I stopped shooting, put the camera down, and just watched. And not just the bears on Katmai – seeing the glaciers around Denali from above was incredible. Sometimes I’d rather just have a memory rather than a photograph. 

    Worst Hotel Breakfast Ever – I set the bar low for hotels in Kodiak after doing a search on what was available. No Hiltons or Marriotts – that’s a bad sign. NatHab put us up in the best one available, the Compass Suites Inn, which was actually pretty nice. The rooms were huge, with a comfortable bed and a reasonable good shower. Like most hotels at this level, they offered a buffet breakfast in the morning. It was absolutely the worst excuse for a hotel breakfast I’ve ever experienced. Awful, dried out bagels, luke-warm coffee, cheap packaged pastries, warm packages of yogurt – what’s not to like about that menu? Fortunately, NatHab an account at a great coffee house across the road. It was worth the morning walk to have a selection of great coffee drinks and breakfast food. 

    And just for the fun of it….

    Peace

  • Close Encounters of the Brown Bear Kind – Day Three in Katmai National Park

    A grizzly bear and a cub by the water's edge, surrounded by tall green grass.

    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.

    Panoramic view of a mountain landscape under a clear blue sky, with wisps of cloud hovering above the snow-capped peaks.
    Ash bl

    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. 

    A pair of waterproof boots with a gray and orange design, resting on a wooden deck, alongside a hiking shoe.

    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.

    A brown bear splashing through water, with greenery in the background and two other bears visible on the shore.
    Two brown bears wading in a river with a seagull swimming nearby.
    A grizzly bear walking through a stream with splashes of water around its feet, surrounded by greenery and grass.
    A large brown bear running through shallow water, creating splashes, with two other bears visible in the background among the greenery.
    A brown bear standing in shallow water, surrounded by grass and rocky terrain in the background.
    Two grizzly bear cubs sitting in tall grass, displaying their fluffy fur and playful demeanor.
    Three brown bears wading through shallow water in a natural setting, with green vegetation and some birds in the foreground.
    A grizzly bear and her cub play in a shallow river surrounded by grass and foliage.
    A mother bear and two playful bear cubs wading through a shallow river, surrounded by greenery.

    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. 

    A group of bears playing with a beach ball in a river surrounded by mountains and trees.

    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.

    A brown bear walking near a stream, with a person holding a phone to take a photo in the foreground.

    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

    A serene riverside scene featuring mountains in the background. A bear is wading in the clear water alongside several birds, with lush greenery lining the riverbank.

    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