Bears have at all times enchanted me. I consider grizzly bears—together with wolves—as icons of wilderness. To have the ability to see or be near a brown bear within the wild is, I feel, the closest we’ll ever get to the pure world. ©Candice Gaukel Andrews
We had been sitting quietly, the 2 of us, on a log within the forested and tall-grass wilds of Alaska’s Lake Clark Nationwide Park and Protect. Right here, alongside the Prepare dinner Inlet shoreline, are mountains, marshes, rivers, timber and lands that come collectively to make an excellent residence for bears. I used to be fascinated with this uncommon place the place human footprints are comparatively few and bear paw prints are reasonably quite a few when a big, coastal brown bear and her cub parted the blades gently swaying instantly in entrance of us and stored strolling ahead. My coronary heart started to pound with this shock look and the trajectory that inevitably led proper to our spot; however in any other case, I froze. My companion, although, was nonetheless ambulatory. However she didn’t run, scream, wave her arms or transfer shortly. She merely stood up, and collectedly and slowly walked across the bench to the again of it, the place she stood unobtrusively.
My companion that day was solely 9 years previous.
Her title is Libby Lightning Andrews, and he or she is my granddaughter. I took her together with me on Pure Habitat Adventures Alaska Bear Camp journey as a result of I wished her to style actual wilderness; to attach with one thing huge and free and pure. I wished her to know that there are nonetheless a couple of locations the place grizzly bears—one of many largest land predators in North America—can nonetheless be bears.
To get to Bear Camp, Libby and I took a 30-minute constitution flight from Homer, Alaska, throughout Prepare dinner Inlet to Chinitna Bay. The pilot needed to time our arrival with the tides to make sure that we may land on the gravelly seashore in entrance of the camp. ©Candice Gaukel Andrews
A bear camp within the tidal zone
Bears have at all times enchanted me. As a baby, bears—or any form of ursine creatures—had been my favourite stuffies. I collected the cuddly variations of them properly into school. Now, I consider grizzly bears—together with wolves—as the highest representatives of wilderness itself. To have the ability to see or be near a brown bear within the wild is, I feel, the closest we will ever get to the pure world.
I reside in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, and I typically hear the calls of coyotes at evening. Simply ft from my entrance door is a nature path that crosses over a densely wooded butte the place the coyotes reside. Typically, nevertheless, I want for one thing greater. I’ve heard rumors that within the latest previous, there have been cougars right here, in my hills. But I nonetheless yearn for that which may conjure up emotions of final wildness, deliver claws and fur to my desires, and encourage a quick heartbeat.
That’s why NatHab’s Alaska Bear Camp, adjoining to Lake Clark Nationwide Park and Protect, known as to me. The park occurs to be one of many world’s most famed bear-watching locations. Situated on the Pacific Ring of Fireplace, the place the Alaska Vary intersects the Aleutian Vary, a various and spectacular panorama of brilliant, plant-covered, alpine tundra; turquoise lakes; jagged mountains; mazelike glaciers; and scenic river valleys is created. The basic, cone-shaped, 10,016-foot Iliamna Volcano is perennially coated in snow and ice, and quite a few glaciers radiate from its summit. No roads result in the park, so entry is by boat or small plane—usually, the quintessential Alaska bush airplane, the single-engine de Havilland Beaver. The manufacturing of those flying workhorses ceased in 1967.
We flew throughout the water, gazing on the scene-stealing, 10,016-foot Iliamna Volcano, which is perennially coated in snow and ice. Quite a few glaciers radiate from its summit. ©Candice Gaukel Andrews
Bear Camp is positioned on Prepare dinner Inlet, an especially dynamic, estuarine system dominated by the tidal cycle. In response to the Nationwide Park Service, regular tidal heights can fluctuate from 18 ft at Kachemak Bay to 29 ft at Anchorage, with excessive tides over 36 ft, giving Prepare dinner Inlet a number of the largest tidal ranges on this planet. Tidal fluctuations might be regarded as a basin being full of water after which drained, carrying and depositing vitamins with every shift of the tide. These excessive tidal ranges produce robust currents that stream into the inlet, carrying organisms and saline-rich water and sediments, whereas additionally circulating vitamins and oxygen.
This water causes streams to rise, and tidal channels to kind. Because the tide modifications, vitamins settle and turn into trapped among the many crops. The blending of marine and terrestrial vitamins creates extremely productive and adaptable salt marshes alongside the coast, which draw hungry bears.
Libby and I journeyed with our fellow vacationers to Bear Camp by way of a 30-minute constitution flight from Homer, Alaska. The pilot timed our arrival with the tides to make sure we may land on the seashore. Buckling inflatable life jackets round our waists, we climbed into the small Beaver airplane, pulled on our headphones and flew throughout the water, gazing at Iliamna Volcano’s clouds, vents and glaciers, earlier than touchdown on the gravelly seashore in entrance of the camp. Behind the camp is a kind of salt marshes stuffed with sedges.
As a result of we observe protocols of conduct at Bear Camp, the bears by no means have cause to turn into alarmed round us. The bears see us as simply one other characteristic of the panorama, one thing to stroll previous with out concern. ©Candice Gaukel Andrews
Social etiquette in a bear society
In reality, brown bears, like most bears anyplace, pose little menace to accountable people. However my palpitating coronary heart within the presence of the oncoming bears wasn’t utterly out of line. Within the state of Alaska between 2000 and 2017, there have been 68 hospitalizations and 10 fatalities as a result of bear assaults. To place these numbers into context, nevertheless, throughout the identical interval in Alaska, the bear assault hospitalizations (which numbered 68) had been considerably much less widespread than dog-bite hospitalizations (467), bicycle-accident hospitalizations (1,825) and motor-vehicle-accident hospitalizations (8,283).
As a result of the bears in Lake Clark Nationwide Park and Protect should fish in proximity to at least one one other, they’ve realized to tolerate the presence of different animals. This potential and the plentiful meals make them comparatively nonchalant about sightseeing people.
NatHab guides, after all, know how you can maintain guests protected in bear nation: stroll in a cluster, not in a line; let the bears select whether or not to get nearer to us reasonably than vice versa; by no means enable a number of viewing teams to “wall off” a bear; and by no means eat meals exterior of designated consuming areas. If these protocols are adopted, the bears by no means have cause to turn into alarmed or conditioned to human meals. In essence, we’re seen as simply one other characteristic of the panorama, one thing to stroll previous—typically very intently—with out concern.
I couldn’t see this expertise by Libby’s eyes. I solely noticed it—and her—by mine. And for me, being among the many bears was a non secular journey that allow me glimpse the true, wild, pure world. I hope Libby felt a number of the similar issues. ©Travis John Andrews
And though your first impulse when being so near wild bears may be to get away as quick as you may, you shortly alter. The bear and her cub who gave the impression to be on an inescapable path that ran into Libby and me received inside two ft of us, plopped down within the grass and, after a couple of playful swats of their paws, started to nap, as if this was all completely regular.
A unprecedented expertise in an distinctive place
I want I may say to you what’s often mentioned when speaking about touring with kids, resembling “I noticed the world by a baby’s eyes” or “I used to be in a position to get in contact with my very own childlike awe.” However I didn’t see this expertise by Libby’s eyes. I may solely see it—and her—by mine. And for me, being among the many bears felt like a non secular journey that allow me briefly glimpse the pure, true, wild world. I hope Libby felt a little bit of the identical sensation.
What I can say is that now I do know that Libby doesn’t must think about a snowcapped volcano that rises greater than 10,000 ft. She doesn’t must envision a world the place bears and other people respect each other or what it will really feel prefer to be accepted—even only for a short while—right into a bear society. She doesn’t must fantasize that there’s a spot someplace the place the bear “others” nonetheless have room to be wild bears.
I consider that Libby now is aware of in her soul that there are nonetheless a couple of, uncommon locations on this world the place bears can nonetheless be bears. That’s as a result of she’s been to one in every of them. ©Candice Gaukel Andrews
She doesn’t must think about any of that, as a result of she now is aware of that these items exist.
She is aware of, as a result of she’s been there.
Right here’s to discovering your true locations and pure habitats,
Sweet
