Thursday August 12, Chilcoot Lake, Haines, AK

All I wanted to see when I came to Alaska was BEARS…..and here in Haines we have seen more big grizzlies than I could have ever wished for, along with their cubs. We weren’t aware that it is a great spot to see them so it came as a surprise, and evidently by September there are even more in the area.

Driving out from camp this more, no more than 50 metres from our site we had to stop as a mum and her 2 cubs sauntered across the road and up into the woods.

Then this afternoon we stopped before the weir and watched the bear catch a salmon then walk onto the road and feed it to her cubs.

We came back to our site and Ian got his fishing rod and I got the tripod and we walked down to the lake and while Ian fished, I buddied up with several other photographers (all with Canon gear and big grey lenses!!) and we sat and waited and it wasn’t long before another mum appeared on a log beside the other side of the river, followed by her triplets. They disappeared into the bushes and before long the word came out that she had appeared a bit further down the river. So off we went, mind you we had a park ranger with us so felt quite comfortable, and we saw the triplets on the other side of the river, but mum had swum across to our side and just beneath us we watched as she caught a salmon and proceeded to tear it apart and eat it. The sun was on her and the adrenalin was running as I knew the photos were going to be great. She then caught another and swam back with it in her mouth and disappeared into the bushes to feed the family. Wow, just fantastic. What a way to end the day.

We had a really cruisey day in town and spent ages down in the boat harbour talking to boaties and fishermen. I decided that after 11 weeks my hair needed cutting, have been ‘pruning’ the front myself but it has got to the stage of being unmanageable, so made an appointment for tomorrow. We also booked a ferry for 8.30 tomorrow evening to take us across to Skagway, an hours journey by boat but will cut out several days driving.

Haines is a really neat place, it has a small town feel to it, and not tourist orientated, be hope it stays that way.