By Bear Guide, Kim Kirby
The second full moon of the year, the Black Bear moon, is a special time. It signifies the birth of bear cubs in their dens. It will be another five months before I get to see them, when Seawind Aviation starts flying trips into Traitor’s Cove, and I have the absolute pleasure of guiding visitors on the adventure of a lifetime.
Bear cubs and mums will leave the den when temperatures rise and food becomes more abundant. However, just because the bears are out roaming the country, we still need to wait until July when the salmon start moving upstream and get slowed down at a pinch point in the river. “Will the bears be there?” is the question on everyone’s mind and is asked repeatedly by visitors the minute they meet us off the ship. The better question is: “Are the salmon here?”
Seaplane to Traitor’s Cove
Anticipation runs high. Our seaplane lifts off from the busy waterfront, passing in front of the cruise ships, parked four in a row. We climb up and look down on the jumbo screen playing in front of the pool, and soon, downtown, the houses and busy waterway fade as we turn towards the distant mountains and head into the wilderness.
All too soon, we are banking and descending into a remote bay. The water seems to lift, and the landing is so smooth that it’s hard to tell that we are down. Within minutes, the pilot is hopping out of the seaplane and tying us up to the dock. And then we watch as he powers up and departs in an almighty roar, the sound echoing around the bay.
Our trips cater to small groups to and as the plane disappears and the silence returns, it is sobering to feel the vastness of the land and how small we really are in comparison. The next leg of the trip requires a short drive following the estuary and climbing up to the trailhead. And then we start out to find what we came for, heading down a gentle trail weaving through the old-growth trees of the Tongass National Forest towards the viewing platform. In the background, we can hear the water tumbling down the falls. I start to sing out, ‘Hey, bear!’ I don’t want a surprise meeting on the path.
Bear viewing platform
The trail ends at a wooden deck perched above the stream, and we all peer over together. Beneath us, the falls tumble and surge with white foam across the black rocks held in the shadow of the hillside. “Where are the bears?” We look into the dark pools of water held in a back eddy, and there, beneath the surface, hardly visible at first, until you train your eye to look beneath the surface, is a school of fish facing upstream, waiting.
These are the first returns of the season. They are the same salmon that hatched in the gravel four years ago. Their journey has taken them far out into the Pacific, and now an internal clock has triggered them to return and spawn in the very place they left as fingerlings. They are almost home. Just a short mile more in fresh water to the outlet of the lake. But there’s another hurdle before them, not just the waterfall that slows them down and forces them to school up and then leap from pool to pool to reach the stream above.
We see the bushes moving, the tops shaking and tracing a hidden path through the undergrowth, and silently, a bear pops out along the shoreline. He pauses and looks across the stream, his large head with two stubby ears moving side to side. Quietly then, without disturbing the water, he places his large paws on the rocks and moves beneath the falls. He sweeps his paws through the pools on either side of the rock, and there, in a flash, a salmon surges forward, leaping out of the pool. The bear’s teeth snap shut on air…and the wait for the next fish begins.
Time stands still. This is what we came for. We are all quietly willing him to catch a fish. A shadow passes over the water, and we hear the wind moving through wings as a bald eagle lands on a branch across from us. If the bear is successful, there will be food to share. Lower down, seagulls wait. The return of the fish is a wilderness buffet.
There’s an excited whisper:” Look, look, look,” and there, on a blown-down tree trunk lying alongside the water, a bear is moving, and in a straight line behind her follow three tiny black cubs, this year’s young.
Time melts. Someone turns with tears in their eyes. We are quiet, witnessing one of the miracles of a wilderness moment in Alaska.
Our favorite excursion while visiting Alaska!
“Excellent experience watching the bears feed on salmon, highly recommend! Very professional outfit, from booking with Lesley months prior, to the seaplane flights, and our guide on the island was great. By far our favorite excursion while we were in Alaska for twelve days in August.” ~ Jay
An experience that is well worth the money.
“The float plane ride over land and sea was breathtaking. Then once we gracefully landed, we were ushered into a rainforest blanketed with all colors of green. Not 5 minutes into our adventure, we saw a very large Sow, only 10 feet away… thrilling in itself, but it was nothing compared to the view at the fish ladder! We lost track of how many bears we saw! At least 10? With recurring action scenes of mamma bears with cubs, big male bears, and juveniles, all catching and eating their abundant salmon. Overhead, a bald eagle came in for a landing to eat his fair share. Truly a blessing!” ~ Harvey
