Today is the big day and the pinnacle of our trip - we are flying to see the bears in
Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, in the Lake Clark National Park.
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| Silver Salmon Creek Lodge |
After leaving our Soldotna apartment we headed towards the
The Moose is Loose for breakfast - coffee and pastries to go. Then we drove to the Soldotna airport and
parked near the office of
Natron Air, who will be flying us across the Cook
Inlet to SSCL. The flight has weight limits so we re-packed our belongings so
that we take with us only what's needed for 2-3 nights – the rest would stay at
the trunk of our car.
In the office we were greeted and weighed by the
co-owner Janet. The weather was cloudy but apparently fine for flying. After a
short wait Dave the pilot-owner arrived from his earlier flights, bringing with
him excited travelers coming back from other Lake Clark bear viewing locations.
We boarded the plane and took off. I was very nervous since it was my first
small plane flight, but the 40 minutes flight was very smooth and I managed to
calm myself. My wife once again, sat in the front by the pilot, and had
a blast!
Finally
we arrived and landed on the beach where the SSCL guides and ATV were waiting for
us, together with the guests who were about to depart back the same plane. Already
on approach to landing we saw from above bears on the beach – promising start!
On the way to lodge on the ATV platform, we saw two bears approaching us in the
meadow, but when they were noticed they turned back and disappeared into the
high grass. We joked that this was our welcome party… the ATV took us to our
cabin where we left our luggage, and then to the main lodge for meeting with
Dave, our guide for the next 2 days. We changed to knee-boots (provided by the
lodge), climbed on the ATV platform, and without further ado – off we went, looking for bears.
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Look I'm Dancing!
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| Beach Stroll |
It’s
hard to describe Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, as words would not do justice to
this place. To say they provide great bear viewing experience would be a gross
understatement. People and bears actually share the same territory and habitat,
so in a way you are living
with the bears, and not just viewing them.
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| Waiting ? |
We saw
bears on the beach, in the river, in the meadow, and within the lodge itself,
sometimes few meters from our cabin.
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| On the Beach |
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| In the Meadows |
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| In the River |
We saw them clamming, fishing (or at least
try to), foraging, swimming, looking for berries, or just goofing around.
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| Grazing |
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Swimming
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Fishing
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| Foraging |
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| Playful Siblings |
During our stay in SSCL we saw 2 mothers with their young cubs (one with three and one with two), a pair of 'juveniles'
(3rd year siblings which were already kicked-out by their mom, but still stick
together) and their separate mom. We were told the males come down to the beach
for the mating season in June, the rest of the season they are higher in the
mountain.
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Mother with 3
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Mother with 2
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The Juveniles
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The
day agenda at the lodge is mostly dictated by two factors – the bears
whereabouts, and the tide schedule. On every possible opportunity your guide would
take you to look for bears. The guides all communicate via radio and notify
each other where the bears can be currently seen. But sometimes you will
simply encounter bears on the way, which would greatly increase the surprise
and excitement.
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| Man and Bear |
And sometimes bears simply roam into the lodge area, in which
case you may find yourself much closer to them than ever originally intended!
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| Bears In the Lodge! |
It
is fascinating to see how casually the guides and lodge stuff treat the bears and
don’t make a fuss about their presence – no fences, no limitations on carrying
food, etc. It is important to mention that the bears at SSCL are wild animals
and are not domesticated or controlled in any way, but they are habituated to
the presence of people and have learnt since birth to not see them as neither a
potential prey nor as a threat. Still, the guides will always make sure you
behave around bears with caution and respect and not endanger yourself or
others in any way.
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| Too Close ? |
In
our time at the lodge we got to watch the same bears on multiple occasions from
a short distance and we got to care greatly for these magnificent creatures.
On our second day we witnessed a tense and emotional ‘bear drama’ – the mother of
three was separated from two of her cubs who were scared off by other, larger
bears. For hours, the staff and guests watched with growing concern as the two
family halves roamed the area looking for each other, but they kept
missing each other, to our growing frustration.
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| Mom + 1, looking for 2 more |
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| Maybe they're on the beach ? |
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| Almost Together ... |
By evening time the
guides and host started to comment about the separated cubs chances of survival
if they don’t unite soon with their mother. Luckily, on the following morning,
we got to witness the 3 cubs and their mother united again, few meters from our
cabin, and we were all happy and greatly relieved.
During
high tide hours, access to the bear viewing areas is very limited, and the
staff offered alternative adventures for passing the time. On our first day,
they arranged a boat sail along the shore, to a large rookery hosting thousands
of puffins and other sea birds.
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Boat Trip
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Puffin Rookery
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| Puffin Rock |
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| The Lodge Boat |
On the second day, we were taken on a smaller
boat to a ‘Booze Cruise’ – a vastly exaggerated term to a rather tame sailing
up one of the local creeks, accompanied by a case of beer. Other guests were
offered to canoe or kayak in a nearby lake. These activities were all good fun
and offered some break from the bear viewing routine.
In addition to the bears (and the separate puffin trips), there are plenty of birds in the area. We were able to see Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, and Harlequin Ducks.
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Bald Eagle |
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Golden Eagle and it's Prey
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| Harkequin Ducks in the Creek |
The
Silver Salmon Creek Lodge itself is managed and operated in a very smooth and
professional manner. David and Joanna
the hosts, their family, and the staff all do a great job and everything about
the lodge is top notch, from the personal booking process, the help with your
preparation (they send detailed personalized instructions and suggestions on
how to arrive, what to bring and what to expect), the travel arrangements, the
lodging, the food, the logistics, the guides, and the hospitality. The cabins
are simple but comfortable and cozy. 3 meals are served family-style in the
dining room near the open kitchen where you can see the chef and his aids
laboring on the meal, Food is ample, delicious and of excellent quality. Meals
around the joint dining tables are fun, many guests are seasoned travelers and
there are a lot of interesting stories about other adventures and interesting
places. One of the guides is keeping a stock of professional photography
equipment and rents it to interested guests for reasonable rates. This way as
was able to photograph the bears using a professional telephoto lens without
the need to purchase it for $2000. I included few additional photos on the next blog post.
Overall
we spent 48 hours in SSCL and enjoyed it immensely. For us it was the perfect
amount of time – on the first day you are a bit overwhelmed, and on the second
day you learn to appreciate the subtleties and truly be immersed in the
experience. And then on the 3rd day you leave before things get a bit stale or
repetitive. We also were very lucky with the weather - when we arrived it was a
bit cloudy. but shortly after the sky cleared and we enjoyed blue sky and plenty
of sun throughout most of our stay. In fact in our 2 days in SSCL we had the
best weather of all of our Alaska vacation! We even got a bit sun-burnt since,
as of the other guest put it, ‘the one thing I didn’t think I would need in
Alaska is Sun Screen!’
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