Brown Bear

Alaska has eight national parks. Three of them like Lake Clark National Park are quite isolated because of the lack of access roads and public transportation systems. The only way to reach any of the three is either chartering a small airplane or renting a boat. Here the three remain little touched by the "outside world" in its unique natural setting.

Lake Clark

Lake Clark National Park is located near the body of water for which it is named on the Alaska Peninsula. The Halen River connects Lake Clark with Lake Iliamna that is south of it and adjoins the Katmai National Preserve. The Kvirchak River eventually flows from Lake Iliamna into the Pacific Ocean. Each year between July and August salmon return from the ocean to spawn even in Lake Clark. Katmai National Park has become well known for Brown Bears gathering along rivers to catch salmon. Anchorage is northeast of Lake Clark approximately 180 miles away. The town closest to the park is Ellsworth.

No commercial air flights are available from Anchorage to Ellsworth. So I reserved a seat on the plane that flies once a day between Anchorage and Iliamna. The small village of Iliamna has one lodge and one "bed and breakfast" facility. Its economy depends mainly on providing services to visitors, namely, hunters and fishermen. Here I chartered a boat trip with my guide Will to take me to the Lake Clark National Park. He also guides fishermen staying at the lodge. Our boat trip took more than two hours.

Melting glacier waters flow southward to Lake Clark. Eventually, the blue-green waters reach the Pacific Ocean. When the returning salmon come, they go northward. At places where the Halen River narrows as it flows between the two lakes, fishery specialists count the number of returning salmon. With manual counters in their hand, they tabulate the fish whose numbers reach hundreds of millions. This is an enormous job. Some years ago salmon numbers decreased sharply. Thanks to the work and protection of the specialists, however, the number of salmon is now nearing its earlier peak.

Brown Bear

I arrived at Lake Clark, which has no ranger station. Nor did I see any sign identifying the site as a park. Before saying goodbye to Will, I asked him to identify the best spot for viewing natural scenes in the park area. There was no answer. I left the boat and, suddenly, I felt lonely as he left, saying: "I'll be back in two days. Good luck!" Now I was alone in bear country. Wherever one goes here, a bear may be nearby. It was too late to change my decision to come here by myself. Although wanting to avoid encounters with bears, I had to risk them in order to complete my plan for visiting all fifty-six national parks in the United States.

After setting up my tent on the site assigned to campers, I walked around the area and saw evidences of visiting bears. They had left footprints as well as droppings everywhere. Will had told me that bears caught salmon at a nearby tributary of the river, but he could not confirm with certainty the distance to their fishing site because he had never camped here. Another bit of advice on bear behavior had come from a professional hunter at the lodge in Iliamna. He had heard that I planned to camp alone and so he asked me whether I carried a gun. Many fishermen had carried guns besides fishing rods. My only "weapon" was a spray can that would probably not be enough to ward off a bear. But, then, I was only a photographer and didn't want to confront a bear with a gun.

My next tasks were to prepare for visits by bears. I hung my food supplies on a tree branch rather than keeping them in my tent where they would be more accessible to bears. Next I gathered fallen branches to use as firewood. The riverfront has lots of bushes that provide firewood. It is also a path used by bears that had left signs of their latest salmon feasts. Although sighting no bears, I though that probably they sensed my presence.

After quickly eating my dinner, I started a fire with the wood and prepared for the first night. Fortunately, Alaskan summer nights are short. The sun sets after 10 p.m. and rises at 5 a.m. in the morning. All would be fine, I thought, if one managed to survive such a short night. I tried my best to move my sleeping bag closer to the fire and tried to stay awake. However drowsiness overwhelmed my tired body and before dawn I collapsed in deep sleep.

The next day was fine. Life permitted me to indulge myself. It gave me freedom from prying eyes to bathe nude in the river. Afterwards I washed clothes and hung them to dry on a tree branch. Then I took a nap until a Bald Eagle awakened me as it swooped down to catch a salmon and a Ground Squirrel came to greet us. Alaska's peaceful summer was kind to both people and animals. But when the night came again, my loneliness returned. I burned more firewood than on my first night.

I owed my survival to well-behaved Brown Bears. The bears in the park reminded me of a book that had described them as wild but not carnivorous animals. These animals unlike hungry polar bears do not go into an "attack mode" when they first meet human beings. My encounters with them make me think the book is correct in judging bear behavior. Bears are like humans each fears the other and tries to avoid violent encounters.

Brown Bear

On the last morning in camp, I went to my bathroom in the bush as usual way with a shovel. Something had changed. My buried underground rest room was gone. Nothing remained. Bears had removed the contents much to my surprise and eaten them presumably like Eskimo dogs who, according to a story, do the same when traveling in extremely cold weather. After recovering from my initial shock, I burst laughing loudly.

I hastened to fold my tent and pack my things while waiting for Will to pick me up. My tense two-day camping encounter was almost over. It reminded me how limited a human being is in dealing with nature. But the bear gave me a lifetime of memories that will not soon be forgotten.

(Bears were photographed in Katmai National Park)

Lake Clark National Park
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