MONDAY,
JULY 15:
Lions and
Tigers and Bears, Oh My!! Well, not the
first two maybe, but for sure the third!
What a magnificent experience, to get to see brown bears (grizzlies) up
close and in their natural habitat.
Pack
Creek is a small drainage area at the north end of Admiralty Island, about 40
air miles from Juneau, and one of a few managed bear-viewing sites in Alaska
managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
“Managed,” meaning they strictly limit both the number of people who are
admitted each day (you need to obtain a permit), and the circumstances under
which you can watch the bears. The
island is part of the Tongass Nat’l Forest, and the entire island is also a
national monument. Most of the island is
wilderness. Because of abundant food and
habitat (lots of sedge grass, berries, clams, and of course salmon), there is a
higher density of brown bears here on this island than anywhere else in the
world – about 1 per every square mile. Hunting
of the bears is allowed everywhere on the island except here at Pack Creek. Protection of the bears who use Pack Creek
began in the 1930’s, when the Alaskan Territorial Game Commission closed off
about 20 square miles as a bear sanctuary.
Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Forest Service selected Pack Creek as a
brown bear viewing area; a trail was built by the CCC into the tidal flats area,
as well as a tree stand along the creek (which was replaced by the current
observation tower about15 years ago).
Our adventure began when we met our
seaplane at the airport at 9:00. Flying
the 20 minutes or so over to Pack Creek was a fantastic experience in and of
itself! You get a sense of the true
vastness of this land from the air – nothing but dense forests and water for
mile after mile after mile.
Our pilot (who looked like he was barely out of high school! and from Arkansas) let us out in the Seymour Canal, into which Pack Creek drains.
We were greeted by a Ranger when we landed, who briefed us on the protocol there.
Of course, no food anywhere; they have bear-proof caches for visitors to store
their lunches, about 50 yards
away. As we were walking over there, we
had our first glimpse of a couple of bears way down the gravel spit by the
viewing area. You walk along a sand and
gravel spit from the landing site to the actual viewing area, about ¼ mile.
The first ranger had to communicate with another ranger, up at the
viewing area, to make sure that there were no bears obstructing our path, as
there’s a bend in the “trail,” and neither ranger can see around it. We were free to walk over, but told to not
stop along the way – to get to the viewing site as quickly as we could.
They gave us a hearty welcome, and quickly directed our attention to what we could see out across the sand & gravel, in the creek. There they were! An adult female, her male offspring, and another male.
Very soon, one gave us a show by nabbing a salmon!
The males were “subadults”; this is what they call
young bears who have left their mother, but are not yet sexually mature. Like pre-adolescents. Nancy told us that these 2 particular
subadult males had been “pals” as cubs; the one’s mother allowed him to play a
lot and spend time with the other male, even though he wasn’t hers, and the
“friendship” seems to have stuck!
Nancy had
all kinds of amazing stories like this one to tell about her experiences &
observations of these bears. She’s been
a ranger here for almost 20 years, I think.
In fact, she actually retired from the Forest Service, but is still
coming out here as a volunteer because she loves it so much. She can identify the bears, even ones from
one season to the next, sometimes by physical traits or markings, but more
often by characteristic individualized behavior, which is then confirmed by a
closer look at the physical marks. She emphasized how they all have distinct
“personalities,” how the sows have different mothering styles, etc.
She is
deeply attached to this place, and feels that what makes it so special –almost
mystical – is the peaceful co-existence between bears and humans. As long as the humans are predictable day
after day – standing in the same exact place, making no threatening or
surprising moves, talking quietly among themselves, not invading their space –
in other words, behaving like polite guests in their home, the bears are comfortable with us. They definitely know we are there, but just
regard us with the mutual respect which we give them. In fact, Nancy shared with us that more than
once, the sows with young cubs have used her as a “babysitter”; they actually
bring their cubs to her area while they go off berry-hunting or fishing. They perceive that their cubs are safer with
her than left alone to possible predators when
the moms can’t attend to them. Amazing!!
So, for about 3 hours, we watched
different bears go about their daily activities, interspersed with Nancy’s
narrative. We watched them fish, 
be alert with curiosity,
run and chase,
and indulge in lots of play, especially between
two sibling yearling cubs
Sometimes it was hard to believe we were really witnessing
this in the wild, and it wasn’t some Disney creation!
An added
bonus for us was a gentleman who was with the tour group, on board as a
naturalist. We discovered that he was
the author of a book on bear attacks, written many years ago, which we had seen
on our whale-watching tour back in Gustavus!
A copy was lying on a table in the boat, and we both purused it after
we’d left the whales. He’s recognized as
a leading authority on bear behavior!
But what a humble and gracious man – he always deferred to Nancy, but
would gladly answer any questions she asked of him, or add comments to her
observations if she asked him to. Again
– what are the chances that we would have seen his book less than a week ago,
and then happen to be at Pack Creek the same day he was there!
Took a break to eat lunch. Walked back to where our lunches were stored,
and enjoyed them on the sand and rocks. At
all times under the protective eye of the Ranger on duty there. The temperature felt just right. It was a perfect day for bear-viewing – warm,
but not too hot and not too sunny. If
too hot and sunny, the bears tend to just stay in the cool woods.
After
lunch, we decided to take a hike up to the observation tower. Nancy encouraged us to do this, but warned us
that there probably wouldn’t be any bears there – if there were, it would just
be a bonus. She said that she encourages
folks to go there, just to observe the salmon up close, and to enjoy the walk
through an iconic old growth rain forest. So off we went on the 1-mile trail with those
thoughts.
I climbed
up the stairs to the observation tower first, and as soon as I got to the top
and caught my breath, and looked around, I couldn’t believe it – right down
smack in front of me, a big lone bear sitting in the stream! Not further than 25 yards down! I quietly, but excitedly, motioned for Bill
to quickly climb up, and to have his camera ready!
Within 15 minutes or so, we saw a fish swim right towards her, and just knew she was going to capture it. She did! An incredible few moments to see that unfold before our eyes!
She went into the woods to eat her catch, then
sauntered out again. Made a few more
attempts to catch some more fish, but not as successful this time. Eventually she moved off into the woods and
we lost her. For a while.
A
while later, we heard some breaking of branches right below us, and saw the
tops of big bushes shake. We were
utterly still and silent as we waited for her to emerge from the forest below
us. And there her head appeared. I have to say – there was something almost
mystical or ethereal about that. Just the most basic elements of sound - a
sharp branch breaking, an occasional eagle cry overhead, the gentle rippling of
the creek, and the rustling of the shrubs as the bear shook them for berries. Just standing still, taking that in,
anticipating her big shaggy brown head
appearing amongst the green.
but either got bored or discouraged, and disappeared
into the woods on the other side of the creek bank. By this time, Nancy had come up with a few of
the tour group. Nancy recognized this
bear as a nearly 30-year old female who had broken one of her hind legs a
couple of years ago. It had healed, but
there was a noticeable mis-alignment in that led. Well, we wouldn’t have seen
it, but Nancy pointed it out.
Time to
head back down the trail to catch our plane.
What an incredible day! Who are
we, to be privileged to experience these
things??!
We are
soooooo glad we decided to do this, despite the expense. And to do it the way we did. Without a packaged tour, which would have
more than doubled the price. Plus, we
got to stay longer than a tour would have – til 6:00, which was the latest the
plane could come pick us up. And, we had
complete flexibility to eat lunch when we wanted, and to go the observation
tower as we wished. I had a sense that
even the rangers were cheering us on, that we were doing this completely on our
own. The first ranger, who greeted us,
asked us how long we were staying, and when we responded til 6:00, he
exclaimed, “Awesome! I see way too many
people who come all the way out here and only stay 3 hours or so, cuz they want
to get back in time to go to the T-shirt shop.
Or else they’re with a tour which only allows them a few hours.” He was also totally impressed that we were
RV’ing our way through Alaska, and were already in our 8th
week. He exclaimed, “No way!! Wow – you’re really doing it right!”
About to land back in Juneau after an unbelievable day!
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