where are the bears?

[notlost]

we are currently in anchorage and deciding whether to go to Valdez or not. The rain has been a big factor (i know we're in alaska, but 2 weeks of steady rain is a bit tough). we are photographers and hoping to get some bear photos.
In past trips, we were fortunate to see them in valdez. has anyone recently been there? are the bears around?
also, how are the bears in Haines? How about Hyder?
is there anywhere else (besides denali) that we should go to for bears?
we won't be going to katmai or lake clark. looking for someplace to drive to.

thanks,
sue

facebook.com/stoppingtheshutter

[rubycreekted]

In 2012 about this same time or a week earlier we watched a sow and cub at the same location. Also saw bears where the Chilkoot entered the bay and by the bridge just up from there between the bay and the weir just cruising along the river bank looking for a salmon.

Ted

applegater wrote:
We are in Haines, just watched this evening a Sow Grizz and two cubs feeding at the fish wier on the Chilkoot.

[fishhogg]

When we floated the Kenai river last week, the Bears we saw smelled like cayenne pepper and Booboo made the sound of bells when he walked!

[AKsilvereagle]

applegater wrote:
We are in Haines, just watched this evening a Sow Grizz and two cubs feeding at the fish wier on the Chilkoot.

Might be the same ones that I seen last year Sept. 2015 along Chilkoot River-Lake as I stayed at the campground for three nights.

Sow had a green tag in left ear and yellow tag in the right ear.





Seen quite a bit of bear activity along Southeast Alaska in the Haines and Dyea area, as well as throughout Southern Yukon Territory last year.

[Ernest]

notlost wrote:
Hi ernest,
yes, we do remember you! we still are friends with Lee and Donna (in the 5th wheel)! are yoiu in alaska this year? if so, where. we are in valdez now (8/22) and there is little to no bear activity. planning on going to hyder, but not expecting to see any bears there, from what i have heard. it will probably be too late in the season.
thanks for reaching out and saying hi..i'll tell lee also!

We couldn't do Alaska this year to many wedding this summer. Next year we have plans to spend 3 months do in the South West so 2019 might be our next trip back.

Stay safe and on the short side of that long lens if you see any bears.

[notlost]

thanks, applegator...have there been more bears or just this family?
glad you got to see her!

[notlost]

Ernest wrote:
Hi Dom and Sue,
We ran across you guys in 2014. If I remember we helped change out that 5th wheel hitch in Haines.
Just jogging your memory but their should be a salmon run coming up. It was there the last week in August in 2014 and we a few bears then. If I remember one was called "Speedy".

Good luck and safe journeys'.

Hi ernest,
yes, we do remember you! we still are friends with Lee and Donna (in the 5th wheel)! are yoiu in alaska this year? if so, where. we are in valdez now (8/22) and there is little to no bear activity. planning on going to hyder, but not expecting to see any bears there, from what i have heard. it will probably be too late in the season.
thanks for reaching out and saying hi..i'll tell lee also!

[applegater]

We are in Haines, just watched this evening a Sow Grizz and two cubs feeding at the fish wier on the Chilkoot.

[notlost]

I was mostly interested in knowing specifically where the bears are now...we've seen them at cooper landing, hyder, on the cassiar,at the russian river and near carcross in the past.
i was hoping to get a report from someone who is in valdez or hyder NOW..

thanks

[enblethen]

Clarification!
I meant the Cassiar Highway BC 37 and then BC 37A west to Stewart.

[explorenorth]

enblethen wrote:
Stuart-Hyder highway west of Cassiar if coming back that way(black bears)

To avoid confusion, it's the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, and there is no road west of Cassiar, which is an abandoned mining town a few miles off the highway toward the north end of the highway. The bear viewing deck (usually blacks, occasionally grizzlies) is north of Hyder.

[PA12DRVR]

Fully recognizing that you're looking for somewhere to drive to:

- Have you considered a bear-seeing airplane trip from somewhere along the route of your journey? I know that Los Anchorage, Wasilla, Homer, Valdez all offer such options?
- Agree with others....look for salmon runs and viewing opportunities where you're already headed...starting to get on the downhill side of things.
- Last year I took a couple of hikes out of Cooper Landing into the National Forest (that's all the detail I remember)...and found for the first time that the paranoid signs about bears were at least partially accurate.
- If one just wants to see Ursus without it necessarily being in a wild setting, I suggest that Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage as has already been mentioned.
- FWIW, there were a couple of black bears around my cabin and they should still be within 10 miles, but they were high-tailing it out after the booming of the shots into the dirt to scare them away. Not really road accessible though... 🙂

[Ernest]

Hi Dom and Sue,
We ran across you guys in 2014. If I remember we helped change out that 5th wheel hitch in Haines.
Just jogging your memory but their should be a salmon run coming up. It was there the last week in August in 2014 and we a few bears then. If I remember one was called "Speedy".

Good luck and safe journeys'.

[rag-ftw]

Week before last there was one black bear that showed up at the hatchery on Anchor Point in Valdez a couple of evenings between 7 and 10pm. Not every day and not on any kind of schedule.

I would call the ranger Station at Hyder to check on what is going on there.

We had more luck in Denali this year than anywhere else.

If you are just wanting bear pics the one place where you can drive and you are guaranteed to get them would be the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center on the Seward Highway about a mile before the Whittier turn off. They have black and brown bears, caribou, bison, musk ox, lynx, and a three legged porcupine, plus a lot of other critters too!

Good luck and hope you get lots of good pics!

[dahkota]

We saw grizzlies last year in Valdez. Also on Kenai Pen. between Seward and Cooper Landing. And Haines, Hyder, along the Cassiar Highway...

Definitely check out where the salmon are running - that's where they will be. Check out Skilak Lake Road near Sterling (Kenai Wildlife Refuge). DH almost stepped on a grizzly cub at an overlook there...