Turquoise Lake, Alaska, United States

5eccarv 5:00 PM Jul 8, 2014

Lake Clark Bear Viewing
This tour was to meet 2 of our requirements on our visit to Alaska. First, to take off in a float plane and, second, to see bears in their natural habitat. The plane took off from Lake Hood near Anchorage and flew along the Cook Inlet and into the Chigmit Mountains. As we approached the Lake, we were stunned by the brilliant turquoise colouring of the water. We landed and were escorted into a building which was the cook house and dining hall. Here, we were given a brief outline of the day's events, provided with rain coats and led to an open sided boat. There were only 6 of us plus the guide so the event was quite pleasurable: except for the rain and cold wind. We entered a small cove and saw a pontoon/shed which, our guide informed us, was where the fishing people cleaned their catch before returning to the camp. We came to a stop a few yards from the pontoon and, before long, a mother brown bear and 2 cubs came wandering into the area and started swimming out to the pontoon. The mother, we were told, was one of the few that actually dived underwater to forage for food and was in the process of teaching the cubs to do the same. After cleaning and filleting their fish, the fishing people would throw the remainder of the carcass into the water. These carcasses were what the bears were diving for. At all times, we were no more than 20 yards from the bears, who were completely indifferent to our presence. We stayed watching the bears for nearly an hour and enjoyed their activities. The only sad point was that I had forgotten the battery for my main camera, we had not brought our video camera and only had our small digital which soon ran out of battery while using the video component. We moved on from the bears and entered another part of the lake where we skirted along the shoreline and got to see several bears roaming around. We got back to the cabin to dry off and warm up; had a magnificent baked salmon lunch and then took another short cruise to another part of the lake. Here we saw a few more bears and bald eagles but mostly a number of salmon that had finished their spawning and were in their last throes. Back to the cabin for another short break and then on again to the first spot we had visited. This time, their were a few fishing people on the pontoon cleaning their catches. Mother bear and cubs were sitting on the far bank, about 60 yards away, patiently waiting for their next meal. Mother bear was very restrained and just sat in one spot. The cubs varied from hiding behind her to venturing towards the water, though they never entered it. We were here for about 30 minutes just watching and giving small curses to the people for taking so long to clean their fish. The one stroke of good fortune was when I realised I had my iphone with me and was able to take quite a few ling range shots. We eventually returned to the cabin to await our return flight. The area has about 8 or 10 cabins which mainly cater for fishing excursions. They are all quite modern and well appointed. The camp area is surrounded by an electric fence to ward off any stray bears. The return flight took us by a slightly different route which gave us a different look to the inlet. In all of our adventures in Alaska, this was one of two that we considered our favourites.

5ljtraveler_11 5:00 PM Oct 13, 2017

Bears Galore!
Lake Clark National Park is a beautiful, remote place. No way to drive into the park so you have to take a float plane. Lake Clark itself is absolutely stunning - and yes, it is a phenomenal turquoise color. We were there specifically for bear viewing and were not disappointed. We got on a small catamaran and cruised the lake looking for bears. We saw tons of bears fishing for salmon - including moms and babies. We not only saw the prolific brown bears but were treated to black bears as well. We had a nice break and lunch at the Redoubt Mountain Lodge. As others have noted, this is a remote place that you have to want to go to but the reward is this incredible experience of a remote, naturally beautiful place in Alaska