Alaska Bear Viewing 2 and 3 Day Trips 08/27/08

Few locations in Alaska can match the grandeur of this private wilderness fly-in bear viewing camp in Lake Clark National Park. Your bush plane will fly by glaciered volcanoes and land you at the edge of an "Alaskan savanna" that is so perfect for bears that it has been proclaimed a "critical bear habitat".

In the early spring, when the female bears and their young are most vulnerable, they leave their dens to feed on the succulent grasses growing in the meadow directly behind the camp. As the young cubs mature and the salmon begin returning, the bears shift focus and begin to feed upon the Coho and chums directly below the raised viewing platform. This provides us with extremely consistent viewing from early June through the middle of September.

The private bear viewing camp is limited to 12 guests per night and was named "Best Bush Camp in North America" by Outside Magazine. The camp boasts comfortable high-tech "weather-port" custom tent-cabins, complete with two twin beds, linens, propane heat and lights.

In camp, wonderful family style meals are prepared by your guides and feature fresh seafood, meats and pastas, along with wine and beverages.

Knowledgeable attentive guides will teach you the ins and outs of staying in bear country, and at the same time share with you the knowledge that can only be gleaned from actually living with brown bears. In addition to the nearly unlimited time on the bear viewing platform, available activities include clamming and beachcombing. Most of our guests, however, seem happy to spend most of their time in the presence of the incredible animals while in Alaska's most exclusive bear-viewing venue.

ITINERARY
Day 1 — We start picking guest up at hotels around 7:00 a.m. and leave Anchorage shortly after. We travel out of Anchorage driving south along the scenic Seward Highway and then on to the Sterling Highway.

The Seward Highway holds triple designations: USDA Forest Service Scenic Byway, Alaska Scenic Byway, and All-American Road. The first 50 miles is along the Turnagain Arm. With tides that can vary over 40 feet, it has the second highest tides in North America. We often see Beluga whales and Dall sheep along this section. Leaving Turnagain Arm we head up into the mountains through Turnagain Pass. Keep your eyes open for the occasional moose along the highway and to see the hanging glaciers as we travel towards Sterling. We arrive in Sterling around 11:30 and stop at Great Alaska Adventure Lodge for a salmon lunch.

After lunch we transfer to the Soldotna airport for a spectacular 40-50 minute flight to the private bear viewing camp. You will fly-in on a six passenger Cessna 207, landing on the shoreline right in front of the camp. During the flight you will pass over towering mountains, active volcanoes and huge glaciers. We often spot bears and moose from the air along the way.

You're in for an action packed afternoon viewing and photographing brown bears. Your experienced guides will take you to several spectacular bear viewing points that will give you the best opportunities to get that perfect bear photograph.

After a scrumptious family style dinner you might choose to return to the viewing platform to photograph and watch the bears into the evening hours or just hang around camp and relax. During the summer months Alaska has almost 24 hours of daylight so you will have an almost unlimited time for viewing bears.

Day 2 — After breakfast we head out again with the guides to see if we can find some playful bears to watch and photograph. After lunch if you're staying for 2 days you'll catch the afternoon flight back Soldotna and then back to Anchorage. If you're staying on for 3 days, enjoy more bear viewing time and another hardy dinner; then back out for a short hike to see if there are any bears near by that want to pose for a photograph.

Day 3 — The three day trip gives you a little extra time to get an intimate connection with the bears and to get that once in lifetime bear photo.

After breakfast more bear viewing time, lunch then an afternoon flight back to Soldotna and Anchorage. Arrive back in Anchorage around 6:00 p.m.

Bear viewing fly-in two day adventure from Anchorage – Cost $895
Bear viewing fly-in three day adventure from Anchorage – Cost $1195
Prices are subject to change without notice.

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