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ALASKA |
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I have had the great pleasure to have visited McNeil River on two occasions. Each provided the experience of a lifetime. The sanctuary is located about 100 miles west of Homer Alaska and during the annual salmon run McNeil River is home to the largest congregations of brown bears in the world. On my first visit we counted more than sixty bears in view at one time! There is no way to describe or convey in photographs a spectacle like that. To the right is a sunset view from Homer Alaska looking past volcanic Mt Augustine in the general direction of McNeil River. |
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Visits to the sanctuary are
on a permit basis only. Applicants are selected by the State of Alaska using
a lottery system. Only a few hundred of the thousands that apply each year
are lucky enough to be selected. The application process is described in
detail on the
Alaska Department of Fish & Game web site. Visits are for a seven
day period which includes one day for arrival and one for departure and five
days for actual viewing. You must bring tenting equipment and food supplies
as there are no amenities other than the cook cabin. You are advised to
bring an extra week's food supply in case the plane cannot return to pick
you up due to weather. My visits to McNeil began with a thrilling ride is this magnificent DeHaviland Otter which departed Beluga Lake in Homer for the one hour flight. In the background is the cook cabin at McNeil River. |
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The surroundings at "camp" McNeil are incredibly
beautiful.
The first order of business upon arrival is to set up your tent and stow your equipment. That afternoon we listened attentively to the tales of the group with the time slot ahead of us when they returned from their last visit to the falls. Listening to their tales of bear activities whetted our appetites for our first visit to the falls the next day. |
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The cook cabin at McNeil River is the focal point of activities away from the falls themselves. All food must be stored , cooked and consumed in the cabin. It serves as the gathering point for the permit holders in the evening where tales of the day's experience are swapped. The picnic table outside the cook cabin is the rendezvous point each morning for the hike to the falls. On my first night at McNeil, I was visiting with the outgoing permit holders when we watched a sow and her cub pushing on the sides of a tent like it was a beach ball! The only other structures at McNeil are the outhouse, the DAF&G cabin and a sauna. The sauna gets lots of use at the end of the day. |
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From the cook cabin it is about a two mile hike to the falls viewing area. Only ten visitors are allowed at the falls at any one time including your Department of Alaska Fish & Game guide. Hip waders are a must for wading through the mud flats on the route to the falls. Here our guide provides final instruction to the group before their first trek to the falls. "Stay on the trail and close together to give the appearance of a single large organism" she says. Most importantly, at McNeil, the bears rule. They have the right of way and we will yield it to them as long as they need it.
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It is not uncommon to encounter your first bears along the way. It is a good idea to keep one camera and lens at the ready should the opportunity arise. I carried my Canon 100-400mm IS zoom lens mounted on my EOS1v for just those opportunities when there wasn't time to unpack a camera and tripod from the backpack. Your guide will require you to stay together and will take every opportunity to instruct you on the behavior of the Alaskan brown bear during encounters along the way. |
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| No matter what you have heard before, there is nothing that can prepare you for the spectacle that awaits your first view of the falls. The scale of this image doesn't permit appreciating it, but there are more than 37 bears visible in this single image. The upper viewing "pad" is the worn spot just visible below the water in the left hand side of the image. The lower viewing pad is just below this one and level with the river. Visitors to the falls alternate between the two viewing pads. You will be admonished to keep your tripod legs on the pad or risk having a bear tangle with them as they pass in front of the pads! Your equipment will be the worse for wear. |
| The activities at the pad are endless. You will see bears fishing, fighting, nursing their cubs and just plain hanging out. When there are more than a handful of bears present at one time, you will not be able to keep track of it all and won't know where to point your camera. Photography at the falls can be very tricky. The surging water is very bright and the bears can be quite dark especially when wet. Be prepared to compensate for your exposure meter. I found at times that the excitement level was so high that I forgot all I ever knew about photography! |
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