Haines Tour Delivers Photo Opportunity with Brown Bear
Day 23, 2024 Ultimate Alaska
Monday, July 1, 2024; Haines, Alaska
Lions and tigers and bears – oh my! OK, no lions or tigers, but today I did see a bear in the wild – a highlight of the trip so far! I’m not sure whether there is an Alaskan cruise Big Five, like on African safaris. But so far I can check off whales, sea lions, sea otters, bald eagles and now a bear. Perhaps I’m only missing a moose.
After two sea days, we pulled in this morning to the charming small town of Haines. It’s not far from Skagway, which has been a popular port for years on the 7-day Alaska cruise run. These days Skagway fills up with large ships, and perhaps Haines is the spillover. It’s a great choice and we are the only ship in town.
Eloise and Elaine joined a tour that took the 45-minute ferry to Skagway, where they boarded the historic narrow-gauge White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. It’s a wonderful journey through breathtaking scenery following the route of the Klondike Gold Rush. I was tempted to join them, but am striving to experience new adventures rather than repeat previous ones – even if the train journey was two decades ago.
Today I joined a small group of 12 on a photographic tour, which really was a wildlife sightseeing tour led by a photographer. These tours promise tips on using your camera, but mainly deliver stops at photographic locations. I’m attracted by the small-group focus, and it paid off today.
While driving from Haines to our planned destination of Chilkoot Lake, our guide heard that there was some “activity” just ahead on the two-lane highway. Another tour van had pulled over to the shoulder, and we followed. We soon saw a bit of rustling in the grasses near the road, and caught a glimpse of a brown bear digging for edible roots. Our patience paid off, and it gradually emerged on the shoulder and eventually the road.
It is our guide’s first summer leading tours in Alaska, and I think her inexperience and enthusiasm paid off for us, as she allowed us out and to the side of the van for photographs. She obviously was nervous, but we took advantage and rotated for the better views from behind the side of the van.
The bear ignored us as it ambled into the shrubbery and eventually recrossed the road and disappeared up the wooded hill.
We didn’t have much time for photographs of the picturesque lake and the mile-long river between it and the Lutak Inlet, but after our unplanned time with the bear no one was complaining.
We saw the occasional bald eagle, but they won’t come in any numbers until the salmon start to run in a few weeks.
Back in Haines, I had plenty of time to explore the downtown, about a mile from the ship pier. A number of fellow passengers joined me in eating the halibut fish and chips in the Bamboo Room, and the Hammer Museum was a huge draw.
Back at the pier, a young woman was busking with her dog sitting patiently under her electronic keyboard. I was glad to drop a donation in her hat – perhaps she was only getting in her practice hours, but good for her to find a way to make a little money while doing it. And she was quite good.
Yesterday we spent the day in Glacier Bay, a huge bay that just over two centuries ago was covered by a single glacier. The ice has retreated, even further than when I was here in 2005. We sailed deep into the bay to Marjorie and Johns Hopkins glaciers and spent an hour hovering. I didn’t see any calving (falling ice off the front of the glacier into the water), in sharp contrast to my first visit here.
Several U.S. Park Service rangers joined our ship as we entered the bay and commented throughout the day about the glaciers, the area’s history and the wildlife and sea life here. A Tlingit native spoke about the bay they claim as their spiritual homeland.
Glacier Bay is very popular among the many cruise ships here in Alaska. Each ship follows a strict schedule cruising through the various inlets to the glaciers feeding the bay. As we approached Marjorie Glacier, our sister ship Zaandam provided a perfect mirror reflection as she left.
We went on a bear watching tour in Hoonah a few years ago and the guide carried a very large caliper rifle.
Great to actually get some close-up photos of a bear without using your zoom!! That, as you said, had to be the highlight of the trip as far as seeing animals. Now, for that moose and the trip will be complete as the very best!!
Good luck seeing the moose!! They are enormous animals. I had one cross from one side of my backyard to the other when I lived in Colorado.
Actually, the photos are with my zoom.
I always enjoy your blog and photos and can’t seem to delete them after I read them so I can re-read. Looking forward to being on the Majestic Japan with you.
Love your emails. Thank you
Such wonderful pictures accompanied by interesting stories, very much enjoy your posts.
Exceptional pictures and commentary! Thank you for sharing with us.
A bear, oh my!
Tell us about the hammer museum.
I didn’t go in, Simone. My sister said it was interesting. Apparently a lot of people ship them hammers.
Love reading your blog even if I do nor comment often. I could feel your excitement of bears in the wild and re-live my excitement from 2021 when I did a day long trip from Wrangell to Anan where we saw both black bears and grizzlies.
You know what to do with a camera… don’t need “lessons” (though I understand your interest in the small group heading out to find something that might be photographical.)
Moose you’ll find in Anchorage but not Southeast, so would not be considered one of “the five” for cruise ships. You did find a nice little bear though. Since you’re including eagles I would argue for including the raven on your list…. there are certainly a large number of myths centered on them. If you want to limit your five to animals rather than birds you might consider the harbor seals.
Thanks so much for sharing,
Your photos are always very good, but these were spectacular. So lucky to see a bear up that close!