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Lake Clark National Park and Kenai Fjords National Park Bear Viewing and Giant Icebergs 7 Days Departing From Anchorage
Few locations in Alaska can match the grandeur of this private wilderness fly-in bear viewing camp in Lake Clark National Park. Your bush plane will fly by glaciered volcanoes and land you at the edge of an "Alaskan savanna" that is so perfect for bears that it has been proclaimed a "critical bear habitat". Located on Lake Clark's coastline, the camp's location provides us with extremely consistent bear viewing from early June through the middle of September. In the early spring as the bears leave their den they feed on the succulent grasses growing in the meadow directly behind the camp. In early June the salmon begin returning to the river to spawn. With this abundant food source the bears shift focus and begin feeding on the Coho and Chum salmon directly below the our raised viewing platform. In addition to the nearly unlimited time on the bear viewing platform, available activities include clamming and beachcombing. Most of our guests, however, seem happy to spend most of their time in the presence of the incredible animals while in Alaska's most exclusive bear-viewing venue. After 3 days of bear viewing you're off to Seward, then Bear Glacier, land of giant icebergs and glaciers. You'll spend a night in Seward between trips. A water taxi ride takes you to Bear Glacier Wilderness Retreat. Bear Glacier is a sea kayaking mecca, and one of the most unique and scenic sea kayaking destinations in Kenai Fjords National Park. Take a minute to look at our Bear Glacier Photo Album and just imagine seeing this awesome place in person. A maze of giant ice bergs awaits your arrival. Sea kayaking around the icebergs is so amazing that when you get here you're going to want to stay longer. Take a minute to look at our Bear Glacier Photo Album. Besides sea kayaking there are a number of hiking destination available. There are glacier moraines to explore or you can hike up to one of the numerous waterfalls in the area. If you're real adventurous there is a valley and mountain ridges that have yet to be explored. You'll finish your tour up with an amazing scenic ride on the Alaska Railroad Seward back to Anchorage.
OVERVIEW
 Tour Type: Fly-In Bear Viewing, Wildlife Viewing, Sea Kayaking, Alaska RairoadDifficulty: Easy to Moderate Comfort: Good, Hotel Lodging, WeatherPORT Shelters (fabric cabins) Prior Experience: None Seeing a Alaska brown bear up-close in Alaska's wilderness is considered the ultimate Alaska wildlife viewing and photography experience. Add seeing glaciers and icebergs you have the ultimate Alaska experience. We call this our Bear Viewing and Giant Icebergs tour, a combination of our 3 day fly-in bear viewing trip in Lake Clark National Park and our 3 day Bear Glacier Wilderness Retreat Sea Kayaking adventure in Kenai Fjords National Park. Then we add to that a ride on the Alaska Railroad. making this one of the best Alaska adventure tours available. ITINERARY **
Day 1 - We start picking guests up at hotels around 7:00 a.m. and leave Anchorage shortly after. We travel out of Anchorage driving south along the scenic Seward Highway and then on to the Sterling Highway. The Seward Highway holds triple designations: USDA Forest Service Scenic Byway, Alaska Scenic Byway, and All-American Road. The first 50 miles is along the Turnagain Arm. With tides that can vary over 40 feet, it has the second highest tides in North America. We often see Beluga whales and Dall sheep along this section. Leaving Turnagain Arm we head up into the mountains through Turnagain Pass. Keep your eyes open for the occasional moose along the highway and to see the hanging glaciers as we travel towards Sterling. We arrive in Sterling around 11:30 and stop at the Great Alaska Adventure Lodge for a salmon lunch. After lunch we transfer to the Soldotna airport for a spectacular 40-50 minute flight to the private bear viewing camp. You will fly-in on a six passenger Cessna 207, landing on the shoreline right in front of the camp. During the flight you will pass over towering mountains, active volcanoes and huge glaciers. We often spot bears and moose from the air along the way. You're in for an action packed afternoon viewing and photographing brown bears. Your experienced guides will take you to several spectacular bear viewing points that will give you the best opportunities to get that perfect bear photograph. After a scrumptious family style dinner you might choose to return to the viewing platform to photograph and watch the bears into the evening hours or just hang around camp and relax. During the summer months Alaska has almost 24 hours of daylight so you will have almost unlimited time for viewing bears. Day 2 - After breakfast we head out again with the guides to see if we can find some playful bears to watch and photograph. After lunch enjoy more bear viewing time. After a hardy dinner go back out for a short hike to see if there are any bears nearby that want to pose for a photograph. Day 3 - After breakfast more bear viewing time, lunch then an afternoon flight back to Soldotna and a shuttle to Tern Lake Rest Area meeting the shuttle to Seward. Overnight in Seward. Hotel lodging in Seward is included. Meals while in Seward are not included. Day 4 - In Seward breakfast on your own. Meet the water taxi boat for a scenic boat ride to Bear Glacier Wilderness Retreat. Arriving at Bear Glacier our guides will outfit you with a dry suit life and jacket. We will also provide a dry bag for your camera if needed to help keep your camera dry between shots. After a short kayaking instructions from our guides we will head out to explore Bear Glacier icebergs. After a family style dinner you can choose to go out for another short paddle or just hang around camp and relax. Day 5 - Full day sea kayaking. Today we paddle up to the face of Bear Glacier and stop for a shore-side lunch on the glacier moraine and short walk to explore the moraine. We'll explore the maze of icebergs on way back. We'll keep and eye open for seals laying on the ice as we paddle. After dinner, take an evening hike, or go paddling go beachcombing. Day 6 - After breakfast take the water taxi back to Seward. Overnight in Seward, hotel lodging included. Day 7 - Free day in Seward. Or optional add on Whale Watching Day Cruise departing at 11:30 AM. Seward activities you may want to consider include a walking tour of Seward to visit the many shops, a harbor and sea wall wall, Guided Ice Climbing Adventure, or visit the Seward museum. Ask our travel host about making arrangements for these special side excursions. Seward has many coffee houses and restaurants to choose from for lunch (on your own). You can also visit the Alaska SeaLife Center. The Alaska SeaLife Center is a non-profit marine science facility. The center's research facilities and naturalistic exhibits immerse visitors in the dynamic marine ecosystems of Alaska and provide opportunities to watch animals in naturalistic habitats as well as research settings. Seward is a small community and everything is within walking distance. From your Seward hotel you can easily walk to the small boat harbor, downtown and the SeaLife Center. At 6:00 PM board the Alaska Railroad Train. Riding first class on the Gold Star dome car you'll have a spectacular scenic train ride back to Anchorage. You'll arrive back in Anchorage around 10:15 PM.
MAPS
Katmai and Lake Clark Maps RELATED LINKS AND NATURAL HISTORY Katmai National Park History & Culture Katmai National Park Katmai, Alaska Volcano Observatory Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Katmai, Oregon State University Katmai Video, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes SUGGESTED ALASKA READING LIST Administrative History of Katmai and Aniakchak NPS Units, Alaska (online book) by Frank B. Norris Witness Firsthand Accounts of the Largest Volcanic Eruption in the Twentieth Century NPS ebook PDF File Katmai National Park and Preserve, AK - Trails Illustrated Map by National Geographic Map Making History: Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Life on the Alaska Peninsula  by Patricia PartnowLooking Both Ways: Heritage & Identity of the Alutiiq People by Aron Crowell Bears: A Year in the Life by Matthias Breiter Guide to the Birds of Alaska  by Robert H. ArmstrongWild Flowers of the Yukon, Alaska  by John G. S. TrelawnyComing into the Country by John McPhee Travels in Alaska by John Muir  Did You Know? Did you know that Denali or Mt. McKinley, located within Denali National Park and Preserve, is the highest mountain on the North American continent? Measured from the 2,000 foot lowlands to its snowy summit at 20,320 feet, the mountain’s vertical relief of 18,000 feet is greater than that of Mount Everest.
Limitations of liability: Although every precaution is taken to safeguard you and your belongings, our adventure trips involve inherent risks and dangers which are beyond our control and Backcountry Safaris shall assume no responsibility for personal injuries or deaths and loss of personal property. Due to the nature of the activities, a condition of your participation is that you will read and sign the acknowledgment and Release of Liability before the tour begins. A copy of the text is available on request. |
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