Lake Clark Brown Bear Fun!

One of the great things about going to Lake Clark National Park to photograph brown bears, is that most years we photograph so many different bears and situations that the days blend together. It is hard to explain just how many opportunities we get and how much we shoot if you haven’t been before. Each day provides ample opportunities and is so much fun! This year was another one of those years and provided some great moments!

As many times as I have been to Lake Clark, I still get just as excited each year when flying in! The whole trip is an amazing experience and one I look forward to each year! Upon landing on the beach, we are often greeted by bears nearby and that gets the group really excited to be there! Our very first time out in the field also got the trip off to a great start. We were fortunate to find a mother and 2 new cubs, spring cubs, in the meadow eating grass. After a while, a couple of bears came out of the woods nearby and the mom did not like that. She decided to run away from the bears, and came pretty close to the group as she was running away. What a way to start off the trip by seeing nature play out right in front of us and up close!

Everyone wants to see cubs, and I don’t blame them as they are so much fun to watch and photograph. Many years this area has cubs, and this year the mom with 2 spring cubs was around daily and so much fun when we did find them and get to photograph them. The cubs were new to the area when we got there, and I could tell they were still learning about their new world. Seeing them change from the time we got there to when we left was a very neat experience for my group to witness first hand. There is nothing like being in nature and seeing it play out right before you own eyes!

We obviously photographed the mom and cubs a lot, but there were plenty of other bears around too. One morning, at first light, we found 3 bears in the same area. They were just milling around at first, and seemed like it may be a slow morning, but then they started to play. It was so fun watching them play and chase, and then play some more. And seeing how the 3 bears interacted with each other and would want to join in on the playing at times, and then sit and rest at times was fun. When the tide would go out, numerous bears would go out to clam, and seeing that behavior is fun to watch because each bear has a different technique of how they catch and eat the clams.

There honestly were too many encounters we had with the mom and cubs to recount them all, and that was an awesome feeling! Each day we were seeing and photographing them. The cubs got more playful as we were there, and it never gets old watching cubs play. Being in the wild with bears being able to truly be wild is an experience everyone should have! It is always sad when the trip is over and we have to leave and go back to the hustle and bustle of life, but the memories and photos we got on this trip, and honestly every Lake Clark trip, are what make it so great and keep me going back each year!