Silver Salmon Creek Lodge in Lake Clark National Park

After disembarking the M/V Discovery and overnighting in Anchorage, we flew out the next morning for an hour flight on a de Havilland Beaver (a standard Alaska bush pilot workhorse since 1947) to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, located on the shore of Lake Clark National Park across the Cook Inlet from the Kenai Peninsula. We landed right on the beach at low tide and were fetched by our lodge guide pulling a couple of wagons behind an ATV. From there, we were guided to see the star attraction, the wild grizzly bears! These bears have never been hunted, do not see many humans in this vast wilderness, and therefore do not view humans as a threat. They can be safely approached in a group without disturbing them, and we had many priceless encounters with sows and their cubs! We also got a special boat tour to nearby Duck Island, whee we saw hundreds of Common Murres and Horned Puffins floating on the water, apparently driven off the island by a bald eagle. As we drifted toward them from upwind, we got many opportunities for flight photos as they would take off toward our boat. We also got some great looks at the bald eagle flying into a rocky ledge surrounded by wildflowers. The highlight of our 3 day stay was getting to witness and photograph a bear clamming at low tide. These bears have learned how to find buried clams, dig them up, and open the shells with their huge claws. We had to hike out a couple hundred yards across the mud flats to get close to the action, because that’s where the clams are. With two high tides and two low tides a day, and with a maximum tidal range of up to 27 feet, there wasn’t a lot of time when we or the bears could get out to the clam beds, but we managed to catch one at just the right time! Remarkable behavior to see and photograph!