p.1 #1 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
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A few images from one of the most amazing hikes my wife and I have ever done.
Image heavy sorry.
After talking with a few people that live and/or had been to Alaska before, I had little hope of finding and capturing any grizzly images on my own in the Kenai peninsula of Alaska. I knew they were there but had been told to not get my hopes up as they can be difficult to find in the vast wilderness.
I did a ton of research before the trip and knew I had to target the best food source I could find that would also be prime territory for these magnificent animals. Salmon was the obvious main food source followed by numerous wild berries that were in season.
Even though we also booked an overnight via bush plane at a lodge over in the Lake Clark area, to ensure I came home with some grizzly images, (wait till you see those!) these two grizzlies will forever be the ones I'll remember the most fondly. Especially the first one you will see the most of below.
My wife and I "earned" these two grizzlies after the tough river gorge hike we put in to find them. A few trips and falls along the way but we did it. And to be honest, a bit scary hike based on the fresh bear activity/sign we were seeing all along this remote river. There were fisherman way down stream where we first went in, but after the trail ended it became simply a bear trail and we didn't see another person the entire time until we made it up to the falls. The falls area was more of an established viewing platform where the we found the last bear hanging out. There was a very well maintained trail system going right up to the falls from up top.
I give my wife a huge amount of credit for making this hike with me. It was bad enough that I wouldn't have been stupid enough to try it alone. I'm a risk taker but this environment was beyond my comfort zone and you really do need a second set of eyes scanning in all directions all the time.
Often we couldn't see more than a few feet into the thick bush. During one of these thick bush areas we had to climb up through we looked over to see a very fresh large salmon half eaten in the middle of a large area that had been flattened down by a large bear.
Once we reached the falls area there were people all over the place that came in on the paved trail up above. One thing I noticed was every man and woman had a handgun strapped to their side. All we had was our little can a bear spray.
Ok, I'll shut up now. Hope you enjoy these half as much as I did capturing them.
A photo tour of our journey along the Russian River in Alaska.
Canon EOS R5
EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
Our hike started off with a welcomed sighting of a Bald Eagle that was fishing over the river.
Salmon were everywhere.
After almost an hour hiking, we finally found our very first Grizzly bear! We followed him from a safe distance up the river for about 1.5 miles until he eventually disappeared into the bush.
p.1 #2 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Dave, the set started out with two wonderful images of an eagle but eased us in into grizzly images and boy, they are truly awesome! It is not image heavy at all, actually I would like to see more bear images - they are impressive! Thank you for sharing these images and they earned my vote!
p.1 #4 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Dave,
Wow, these are just incredible. Congratulations to you and your wife. I can't stop looking at them. What a thrill it must have been. Great job! I'm looking forward to seeing more. YGMY, (If I could vote twice I would but I hear that illegal.)
p.1 #5 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Dave, congrats on reaching your goal, I wouldn't have done that myself without a guide! Great images, I was surprised though that the first image was a very strange looking bear!
p.1 #6 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
AGeoJO wrote:
Dave, the set started out with two wonderful images of an eagle but eased us in into grizzly images and boy, they are truly awesome! It is not image heavy at all, actually I would like to see more bear images - they are impressive! Thank you for sharing these images and they earned my vote!
Joshua
Thanks Joshua! Glad you enjoyed them.
And thanks for the vote!
Dave
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randomguy wrote:
Nice series, particularly like the stare of the first eagle.
Thank you! The Eagle at the beginning of the hike was a very welcomed sight. I told my wife it was a good sign for what we were about to see.
Dave
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G.E. Smith wrote:
Dave,
Wow, these are just incredible. Congratulations to you and your wife. I can't stop looking at them. What a thrill it must have been. Great job! I'm looking forward to seeing more. YGMY, (If I could vote twice I would but I hear that illegal.)
Greg
Thanks Greg! And yes, it was certainly a thrill. Not only to see and photograph my first grizzly but also to be able to spend that much time near him/her without disturbing him/her too much, and watching him/her catching salmon.
And interesting thing I learned while watching him/her fishing. I never knew that when they put their head underwater that they are actively looking for fish with their eyes open. I always thought they were just trying to grab a fish. I observed this "snorkeling" fishing behavior numerous times by all the grizzlies on this trip and was very impressed by how almost "machine like" they are when actively hunting.
Thanks for the vote Greg!
Dave
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Bobg657 wrote:
Dave, congrats on reaching your goal, I wouldn't have done that myself without a guide! Great images, I was surprised though that the first image was a very strange looking bear!
TFS,
Bob
Thanks Bob! I've always been a DIY kinda guy and this adventure up the Russian river was no exception.
I take pride in these photo's knowing that I/we did it ourselves. But I'm not going to lie, there were a few moments after we hadn't seen anyone else for a long time, when I thought we might be in a bad situation for a couple of tourist not familiar with the area or the critters. I could feel the eyes on us several times as did my wife. She did start to freak-out on me when we saw the fresh half eaten salmon in the thick bush, but we moved on and she calmed down a little. As did I.
Sadly a week or so before we visited Hope AK a local was killed by a grizzly when he was out clearing some wood on his property. From what we were told by the locals, he was a very experienced woodsman and did have a weapon with him. His dog came home but he didn't. His wife knew right away something bad had happened and called all their friends to help look for him. She was the one that found him. Just horrible.
p.1 #7 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Dave,
what an adventure and I must say brave of your wife and you, and might I say, a tad risky.
But unbelievable pictures. I am surprised that you were able to walk around with a 500 mm lense.
More power to you. A big vote from me
p.1 #8 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Great set of bear images!
What an adventure.
I like a lot of these shots but I particularly like the bear with his snout and eyes in the water looking at the salmon. Very unusual shot.
YGMV.
p.1 #9 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Your first 14 are fantastic ! I don't care for the last 4 where I assume you were on a platform looking down but the rest make up for it. Very nice work !
Gary
p.1 #11 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Great images1 You and your wife really deserve lots of points for bravery in your encounters with bears with no other humans around! That sounds really scary. Good thing they were in a pleasant mood. Voted.
p.1 #15 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Dave, I've long admired your work, but this fabulous series is simply over the top. I did some hiking along the Russian River near Kenai during my 2004 visit. I wasn't looking for bears, and thankfully none was looking for me. However, walking constantly in waist-deep brush in bear country with nothing more defensive than bells and bear spray was a little intimidating. Occasional fresh scat (when I could even see the ground) only added to the drama. I can only imagine the tingles you and your wife experienced actually encountering bears in those conditions. Glad it all went well and you got photos for a lifetime.
p.1 #17 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
kdacharya wrote:
Dave,
what an adventure and I must say brave of your wife and you, and might I say, a tad risky.
But unbelievable pictures. I am surprised that you were able to walk around with a 500 mm lense.
More power to you. A big vote from me
Thanks KD! It was fun lugging that beast up and down that river bottom. Ok, not really but I managed.
Thanks for the vote!
Dave
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dclark wrote:
Great set of bear images!
What an adventure.
I like a lot of these shots but I particularly like the bear with his snout and eyes in the water looking at the salmon. Very unusual shot.
YGMV.
Dave
Thank you Dave! You are not alone in your choice of images. I've had a few others pick the snorkeling image as well. I wasn't sure if I should have included it in this set to be honest but I'm glad I did.
Thanks for the vote!
Dave
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sum1sgrampa wrote:
Your first 14 are fantastic ! I don't care for the last 4 where I assume you were on a platform looking down but the rest make up for it. Very nice work !
Gary
Thanks Gary! I was not thrilled with the vantage point I had on those last four images either, but it did help get the snorkeling image as well as the chillin-out day spa shot. Standing at the falls looking down on this bear was nowhere near as rewarding as the fist bear we followed. But I'm not complaining one bit.
Dave
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Fred Amico wrote:
Quite the story behind these images, Dave, and a marvelous set of images they are!
Thanks Fred! Glad you enjoyed them.
Dave
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dallvr wrote:
Great images1 You and your wife really deserve lots of points for bravery in your encounters with bears with no other humans around! That sounds really scary. Good thing they were in a pleasant mood. Voted.
Thank you! I think there is a fine line between "bravery" and stupidity. I think I fall into the latter category more.
Thanks for the vote!
Dave
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SpeedyB wrote:
Dave, much respect for you and your wife. Congrats on a beautiful series!
Thank you!
Dave
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RobAmy wrote:
Congrats
Thanks Rob!
Dave
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kmunroe wrote:
very nice set Dave
Thanks Kenny! Glad you enjoyed them.
Dave
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stanparker wrote:
Dave, I've long admired your work, but this fabulous series is simply over the top. I did some hiking along the Russian River near Kenai during my 2004 visit. I wasn't looking for bears, and thankfully none was looking for me. However, walking constantly in waist-deep brush in bear country with nothing more defensive than bells and bear spray was a little intimidating. Occasional fresh scat (when I could even see the ground) only added to the drama. I can only imagine the tingles you and your wife experienced actually encountering bears in those conditions. Glad it all went well and you got photos for a lifetime. ...Show more →
Thank you very much Stan. You are far to kind and I appreciate your kind words. I'm very happy you enjoyed viewing these images. Nice to know I was able to give you a breif flashback to your own Russian river adventure. I told my wife if I lived anywhere near there, I'd be on that river every chance I got. It was magical in a raw sense.
Dave
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morris wrote:
Your images are a delight to view Dave.
p.1 #18 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Dave, glad you got the R5 to use on your awesome Alaska trip. I know you and your wife will have great memories of the experience. Very nice work and enjoyed seeing them all.
Don
p.1 #19 · A journey along the Russian river in Alaska
Beautiful shots! But where were the fishermen? At the confluence of the Kenai and Russian river I saw them lined up as far as the eye could see. But that was a few years ago.
