Brown Bears in Lake Clark
Photographing Brown Bears at the Silver Salmon Creek Lodge could not be easier. Bears come to the area for the abundance of resources: sedge grass, clams and salmon later in the season. We use small carts to get close to the bears and then walk in a tight group and set up to photograph.
Our highlight this year was photographing spring cubs. Sow mothers would graze on sedges or clams while their cubs followed along and ate what ever they could fine. We loved capturing the interactions among bears, whether sow and cubs or third year "teenage bears" playing on the beach.
On the Clam Flats
Bears come in to forage on clams in the mud flats in front of our lodge. We had the lowest tides of the month during our workshop. This meant more mudflats, more clams and more bears. At one point we counted 11 bears on a small beach. We had our choice of which groupings to photograph with so many bears around.
Spring Cubs
They were cute, really cute! Our group loved watching young bears vie for their mother's attention, wrestle on logs and race up trees to explore.
Every morning when we first set out, our dedicated bear guide would radio to his colleagues and find out where the cubs were located. This was often our first destination.
Teenage Bears
Cubs usually leave their mother's company by the third year. Two of the third year cubs joined up and were inseparable: Crimp's Cub and Old Sow's Cub. We photographed them wrestling, playing in the surf and napping on the beach.
Boars
It was a great year for large male boar bears. They are recognizable by their overall large size, huge heads and almost comical bow-legged gait. We saw them grazing in the meadows, waiting in case an available sow arrived.
And yes, there were mosquitos. Suzanne was never seen without her trusty headnet!
Hatcher Pass
We ended our workshop with a day to photograph and explore the area around Anchorage. We started at our favorite location for wildflowers. the group stopped to capture iconic fireweed near the Little Susitna River.
Knik Glacier
For our final photoshoot we helicoptered out to photograph the Knik Glacier. In a landscape that was described as "like being on Mars" we had time to take in sapphire blue water runnels and miles of ice all around us.
We offer workshops in Lake Clark National Park every year because we love the photography there. We are sold out for 2023 and have a few spaces left in 2024. Read more
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Credits:
Cree Bol and Tom Bol