Kent Miller • Visual Journalism

A harbor seal pops out of the water in Aialik Bay. “They look like bowling balls off in the distance and sometimes come closer to check us out,” said National Park Ranger Joshua.

Back to Michigan today after shooting over 20,000 photos for the National Park Service. I will keep posting about my experiences.

MTC

Visitors to Denali National Park travel by bus. Visitors to Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks travel by float plane. When you visit the Kenai Fjords back country you must travel by boat. Kenai Fjords National Park provides visitors the only means of accessing a glacier on foot. Exit glacier is a about a mile walk from the Exit Glacier Visitors Center. However, if you want to get to the “back country” you must go by boat.

Here, a sea kayak is held to a boat by national park rangers just before a photo shoot in front of one of the 38 glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park.

I have just spent three days in the back country of Kenai Fjords National Park. My contact, Ranger Jim has been an amazing guide as well as rangers Sara and Joshua. Kenai Fjords is one of the crown jewels of the national park system. You must come here!

I will travel back to Anchorage tomorrow and then fly back to Michigan on Monday. I am so glad to be going home to see my family! I will post tons more in the coming month or so. I have so much to share!

MTC

I wrote the following in my journal just after this experience Sunday evening June 13:

I must tell you what just happened. I was shooting photos of a magpie catching minnows (below). Suddenly something appeared in my viewfinder blocking my view. Confused, I looked over my camera. A large brown bear was staring up at me! After calming and collecting myself, I photographed the bear from a short distance upon the bear viewing platform by the falls at Brooks Camp in Katmai NP. I only had a few minutes before the he/she wandered into the woods – the very same woods I need to travel to get back to camp. I’m a bit frightened by the prospect but I’m fairly sure I will be OK…

The magpie. Notice the rock?

In this photo you can see the same rock. The bear walked into my frame here, walked back to where the magpie retreated and then came back through.

Here you can see the falls with a wide shot. The bear kept an eye on me the whole time. The falls provide bears a smorgasbord of sockeye salmon. Many bears wait for them to jump up stream and all they have to do is catch them in their mouths from above or below. Each fishing spot for bears is garnered by bear hierarchy with the largest males getting the mouth-catching spots above the falls. I am a bit early for the salmon run. It should start in the next couple of weeks. When the salmon come in there will be up to 30 bears congregating in this small area. While I am disappointed to miss this amazing opportunity, I am so happy about this experience.

Bears at Brooks Camp in Katmai, this time of year, eat just about anything to keep their energy up until the salmon come in.

Never make eye contact with a bear. Look elsewhere if confronted. Otherwise bears will see you as more of a threat and perhaps charge you out of fear or defense.

The mile and a half journey back to camp (above) by myself was a bit freaky. As taught by rangers, when in bear country it is important to make sure they are not surprised by you. Thus the title of the post, “Hey Bear!!!!” It really doesn’t matter what you say. If they are aware that you are human, they are more likely to stay away. You can also avoid surprising them (a very good thing). I spoke to them loudly, “Hey Bear! What’s up, bear! You are not interested in me. You just want to do bear things.” And so on…

HEY BEAR!!!!!!!

MTC

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Lake Telaquana is about 20 miles north or Port Alsworth. At left is Telequana Mountain. The lake was as smooth as glass which made for amazing reflections.