These pictures are from my first trip to Alaska back in ‘21. We were hiking to a glacier when we spotted some activity in the distance as we came up over a hill. Knowing where we were, we stopped in our tracks and backed up a little. We’d found a mama bear and her cubs. She had treed the cubs to chase off a porcupine, which was quite a sight. I grabbed the strongest lense in my camera bag and laid on my stomach at the crest of the hill and captured some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken. It looks like I’m a LOT closer to these bears than I am. The lense and camera are just that good.
She’s just chased off the porcupine and is making sure it kept going.
Then she returned to the tree to pull her cubs back down.
I’m not sure if the cub saw us or if this was just a super lucky shot.
Although the glacier was gorgeous, it was almost anticlimactic after this.
Amazing! Great shots. Can't wait to visit Alaska myself. I've seen bears but only from my vehicle, or the hospital. There was a black outside the hospital window in my birthing room when I had my son. It was so cool.
@moonlightlullaby Is this the guy that puts on a suit that he thinks is Grizzly proof, and walks right up to one? I don't think I ever laughed harder. I get a kick out of people that purposely do stupid things and regret it after, if they survive. I don't remember if this guy lives at the end?
@JamesBugman He didn't wear a suit at all. Just hung out with them, gave them names, talked to them. Many responded well to him even though he was all kinds of silly.... However, the bears he'd made friends with over the years, hibernated early, and that also meant him being alone until his friend picked him up by plane on a much later scheduled day. By then, another group of bears entered the area he always visited and ate him. He always said not to harm any bear should he go missing or be found dead, as he was in their territory.
What a cool experience and these are amazing photos! I used to live in Alaska and I absolutely love it! I have plans to get back there by at least by next summer. I am hoping to stay about 30 days when I finally make it back. Thanks for posting these.
@LadyBronte Since you lived there, I’m guessing you’ve traveled the Alaska Marine Highway. We took the ferry from Bellingham, Washington up to Juneau and then brought back a month later. I absolutely loved everything about traveling that way. It was so bare bones, and the scenery was amazing. We just sat on the deck outside for three days drinking coffee and all the scenery we could. I also loved that the cooks were all old navy cooks, because those dudes could sling it.
@beermeplease Black bears aren’t typically aggressive like brown bears. We made sure we were way off in the distance and that she had clear ways out. We had bear spray as a precaution, but you always want that to be the last resort.
@BamPow true...i once lived in bear and cougar country...i was surprised we as kids were allowed to play in their "hood" unsupervised...but that was back then...i'm a city folk now. well, we still have coyotes and 'coons....that's why my kitty stays inside
@BiasForAction My daughter lived in Alaska for years and in Colorado in the foothills of the Rockies before that. She and her boyfriend are environmental and wildlife biology majors. She even did field research in the Anchorage area, so we had a couple of experts with us. Plus, we’d all done enough hiking in the Rockies that we knew what to do and more importantly what not to do. We gave her and the cubs all the time they needed and a wide birth to do it.
@SinlessOnslaught We actually had talked through this scenario before our first hike that trip and had bear spray as a last resort. We’re in their home when we hike in those areas and need to respect that always. You can encounter a bear anywhere, though. We’ve even had them walk by us on the streets of downtown Juneau.
Our guide spotted a bear within 15 yards of us. She kept speaking to the bear telling it we are not there to use it, etc. the other guide out two rounds until the shotgun he carried.
@AthrillatheHunt I’ve been up there in the summer, spring, and winter. We spent the holidays there, and on New Year’s Eve, the northern lights completely domed the entire area. That was remarkable.
@Mardrae She was more concerned with the porcupine and then getting her cubs out of the tree, and we were quite a good distance and behind a knob on the trail. Had we kept walking up on her and the cubs, we could have had trouble and would have deserved it.
