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 p.1 #3 · Alaska Cruise/where to find Bears | |
Couple of options here in Juneau. Starting in July and running through October Steep creek out at the Mendenhall glacier has black bears feeding on sockeye salmon and later on coho salmon. All can be seen from a safe overhead walk way. You will not get the wild experience as that there will be a lot of other tourist with you on the walk way. It is fairly cheep to get out there as well. It is about 12 miles from the ships out to the glacier. If no bears are present while you are out there, the glacier provides ample photo opportunities.
For more money, probably the equivalent to Anan creek price you can fly out of Juneau on a float plane to Admiralty Island to Pack Creek. This is world class brown bear viewing and is guided by the forest service. Admiralty island has the densest brown bear population in the world. A short search on the web of pack creek will get you info on this destination.
I see you mentioned Icy Straight Point. There are several guided tours in Hoonah that you can go on that will drive you around on the logging roads which access several fish streams and bear viewing opportunities. Admiralty, Chichikof and Baronof islands are infested with brown bear and Hoonah will be your cheapest option. Again Google Hoonah bear viewing and you will see several options.
A little side note, I was born and raised in Wrangell and I use to go down to Anan before it became the big tourist destination and 90 percent of the time you will be seeing black bear there. Brown bears were not that common at the lower falls where everybody is channeled to now. Anan has the largest pink salmon run in Alaska and it is an experience to see so many salmon in a creek that they actually push each other out of the water. There was an upper pond that we use to go into but it was spooky at best. That is where we would go to see the brownies.
I now live in Juneau and work for a helicopter tour company who fly tourist up to the Juneau Icefield. On our days off we take the helicopters out to fish remote streams and really, bears will be on any fish creek in the second half of the summer. Hoonah will be your best bet for brown bears and for a cheap price.
It rains a lot here. Up to 200 inches a year in some places. Its a rain forest. Protect your camera equipment. Also if you go on a glacier flight, which I heavily recommend, you will want a cir-polarizer. It will cut the glare on the ice but it also allows you to cut the glare on the inside of the aircraft windows. Makes or breaks a flight seeing trip. Sorry about the long winded reply. I just love it up here and love to share. Cheers and have a good trip. Ron
P.S. Hope you have a clear day when you go into Tracy Arm. It is perhaps to most spectacular place in the US for landscape photography. Its like Yosemite on steroids.
Check out my web page on photos of the area.
http://www.pbase.com/tazman0895
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Seen trips out of Wrangell for half what leaving from the cruise ports cost but unfortunately it's too far out of the way. So hoping for another option.