Alaska, what does that bring to your mind, besides snow? Judging from the responses at the opening of my current show in Gallery 9 its mega fauna, especially grizzly bears and moose. Glaciers and vast vistas received some attention but it was the bear photos that sold. Everyone seems to have some fascination with grizzly bears and the most common question was “How close were you to the bear when you took this photo?” Answer, “At a fairly safe distance.”

Hiking in Alaska (or anywhere with large animals) can be exhilarating and rather scary. There is something about being 3rd, 4th or 5th on the food chin that keeps your senses alert. On our second day at Exit Glacier Larry and I hiked the trail to the overlook of the glacier. In a kiosk at the trailhead there was a poster about bears, it said:

KNOW YOUR BEARS!

Black Bear  If it charges you fight back.

Brown Bear  If it charges you play dead. If it starts to eat you, fight back.

Next to this is a sign in book. While Larry signed us in I quickly noted the comments from the day before. The one that really caught my eye was we saw 8 brown bears, 2 black bears and 1 moose with calf really makes you want to hike the trail, doesnt it? Of course the key is don’t surprise them, make noise when going around turns or when you cant see very far in the distance. Some people were bear bells, which we fondly refer to as dinner bells. We bought some for our first trip to Alaska years ago and left them there. The locals told us just bang rocks together, they cant hear the bells. This trip I noted all the park personnel have quart sized containers of pepper spray not a bear bell in sight! Note to self: Hike with park personnel whenever possible!

For more photos from our recent trip to the Kenai Peninsula check out my ‘Travels with Nancy’ page on my website, http://www.nancycherryeifert.com/albums/album2/album.html

Thanks for reading.
Nancy Cherry Eifert