Excerpts from the BT Journal

Excerpts from the Vol. 13.2, Issue 1 BT Journal

B News – The Greatest Grizzly Bear Viewing in the World

Wildlife photographers are in part dreamers; it’s what keeps us, me, moving forward. It’s November 2007 and I’m on the internet. No surprise. I’m on the Alaska Dept of Fish & Game (ADF&G) website going through the permit pages. I find what I’m looking for but it’s too early to apply. I put a note on my calendar for the first day permits are being accepted so I’m one of the first (which really doesn’t matter). That day came and I put in for a permit for Sharon, Jake and me, paid the fees and clicked submit, with my fingers crossed (that doesn’t help either). Time goes on and I forget that I filled out the permit or even the reason why I did. It wasn’t the first time I’d gone through the process and surely won’t be the last.

Four months later and I’m going through my emails and there’s one from my good friend at Adobe, John, with the subject: Congrats! I figured something cool was coming for CS4 for me (then unknown to the public) so I didn’t instantly open it up. After taking care of all the new emails from folks first, I opened John’s email and at first, it made no sense to me. I read it a second time and this time, the message was clear. But I couldn’t figure out how John knew what he knew so to the internet I went. I pulled up the ADF&G website and there it was, the list of lottery winners and our three names were on it. We hadn’t won any money, no, something much, much better. After applying for the permit 13 times in 20 years, we had finally won a permit to visit McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. With only three months notice (and oh man, did those three months crawl by) we were gearing up to go to what is justly called the best grizzly bear viewing in the world.

The plane splashes down after darting through the mountain pass that was closing in on us. The turbo prop was winding down as we coasted across the lagoon. Our eyes were wide open, taking in every sight, making out every detail and looking at our home for the next week. It was a typical gray, drizzly, drab summer Alaska day. But even with that weather, Sharon, Jake & I were beaming enough to burn off those skies because we had arrived at McNeil. Just a week prior to our coming was in doubt. Just that morning while suiting up in King Salmon and getting in the plane it was in question let alone the cloud ceiling letting us skirt through the Alaskan Mtns to arrive at the coast. All of that was now in the past because we had arrived at McNeil River and what lay before us now is a land from Gulliver’s Travels.

This is not just another story about photographing grizzly bears. This is not just another place to photograph grizzly bears. This is the story about the place. McNeil River is an experience like none we have ever experienced with the grizzly bears just being a part of that experience. I’m at a loss for words right this moment to express the feeling that’s inside me, knowing that those bears exist in this place, not just safe and sound, but going about survival as they always have. You see, McNeil River is there for one reason and one reason only, the preservation of the world the bears call home. We’re just visitors and let me tell you, you’ve never been the guest of a finer spectacle in nature!

If you’re a really good reader of details, you’ve probably picked up on a couple of important facts already: Greatest grizzly bear locale in the world, Applied 13 times in 20 years before winning a spot, Three months notice. And if you’re really good, you’re thinking something like, “Wow, Moose is telling us how to apply for a permit, that same permit he is applying for that if we win might mean Moose might not win.” This experience is greater than any one person or group of persons, this is an experience that can and will change your life! This is how YOU can do it! .

Putting Your Mark on the Dotted Line

The adventure begins with applying for the permit for the lottery. You want to head to the McNeil River webpage on the Alaska Dept of Fish & Game site first. Using Google, type in McNeil River and it’s the first link to come up (it’s a huge URL or I’d have it here). You need to read because you’ve got to know what you’re getting yourself into. The photo at the top of the webpage should get you all worked up as it appears as if you are literally standing on top of the bears and the falls. Well, you are!

You need to next navigate to the Apply to Visit page and give it a click. This brings up the Application Process, but before reading this page, click on the Lottery Rules because this is the heart of where you start the process. The first thing you read is that a max of 10 viewing permits are allotted for each day. This is the max at the viewing pad on the river but reading further, you’ll see that there are “stand by” permits, which are called Camp Stand-by Permits. Skipping down a few more regs and you’ll see what you need to plan if you win a four day permit for the falls, recommendations that you fly in a day before your permit begins and the day after it ends and, plan for possible weather, tide delays. Timing is everything! ……..

There has never been an experience like this, ever!

The flight path was pretty much a straight shot over Brooks Falls, through the pass and into the McNeil River drainage with landing in McNeil Cove. We skimmed across the surface of the Naknek River after we taxied from Katmai Air. We were pointing east as we climbed to meet the Alaskan Range. As we were going up the clouds were coming down. The flight was a little over an hour in length, at fifty minutes into the flight we were kissing the mountains and the ceiling was nearly on the deck. Our pilot started to squirt through the canyons; later we found out he was looking for a clearing in the pass so we could drop down to the coast. The flight was great as far as we were concerned as we weaved and dodged the clouds coming out exactly where we were supposed to and descended down to the coast. The next thing we knew, the pilot was telling us we were over the head waters of the McNeil River.

Our noses instantly were pressed against the window as we descended, following the river to the coast. Then we saw our first griz, wandering down the slope. As we kept going down the river, we saw another griz here and there. The pilot said we were at the falls, we looked down and all we saw was the water. No worry. We made one pass over the camp and before we knew it we were landing on the water of McNeil Cove. Flights are timed to take advantage of the high tide and we hit it just right so we could essentially pull right up to the camp. With the tonnage we had to carry, that was a good thing. We stepped out of the plane, into the waters of the cove and out from under the wing to meet us were the biologists who had come down to help take a load up to the camp. Who was one of the folks meeting us and helping with the gear, none other than Larry Aumiller. Larry is the biologist who has not only looked over the reserves for the last decades and wrote the great book The Way of the Grizzly (a must read before going to McNeil). Larry retired a couple of years back so his just “being” there for a couple of weeks was a huge thrill. He is a really great guy with killer stories!

The clouds that we just skirted through were now starting to threaten so camp had to get set up and gear secured quickly. After camp was up it was orientation time. All the permittees met at the Cook Shack where Tom, our guide/biologist laid out the lay of the land. Everything from using the supplied cook stoves, fetching and dealing with water, the outhouses and most importantly, living with the bears and the bear viewing were all discussed. It took over an hour there was so much to cover and understand. It’s July 4th and daylight was still mighty bright after dinner and when I finally was able to get off my ankle. Getting the hip boots off was a helluva challenge but going horizontal and getting my foot up felt awfully darn good. It had started to rain but even with the bright sky and soft pitter patter of the rain, I couldn’t fall asleep, just too darn excited for the next day to come.

We had a blustery night and we woke up to wetness and cold. During the night we had a grizzly come through camp and was perhaps 5-7 feet from our tent when it started to munch on greens. I woke up Sharon and said there’s a griz just outside our tent. She said something like, “that’s really neat” and went right back to sleep. So did I. There is a briefing each morning to tell you what’s what for that day and today it was at 09:35. We cooked up a scrumptious hot breakfast of Scrambled Eggs & Bacon (courtesy of Mtn House), got our gear assembled and waited for the word. We found out at our briefing we’d be leaving shortly. Because of the high tide we’d be taking the long route around Mikfik Creek. Since we were the first to the falls for the season, we’d be carrying the folding chairs with us that are used by all visitors to the falls during the season and secured away each night at the falls. We also learned that because of the timing of the tides, we wouldn’t be able to make it back by foot even using the high tide Mikfik trail, so the “navy” would be picking us up. The “navy” is an old net tender boat they have at McNeil just for such a need. There are supposedly two weeks during the season they need it, this was one of them. With my right ankle still swollen and already not happy being in hip boots, having three miles of this day’s walk removed was a good thing.

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B News – The Greatest Grizzly Bear Viewing in the World