BEAR SIGHTING

I knew Chignik had bears. They said it on the ferry, I heard it in town…. It’s on the Alaska peninsula and brown bear are regular in this part of the world. What I didn’t know is that this area has the highest concentration of coastal brown bears. What distinguishes a brown bear from a grizzly you ask? Distance from the water. They are considered brown bears up to 50 miles from the coast and Grizzlies everywhere else. Today I got to see my first one of the trip!

One of the boat crew, David and I went out for a hike. We got off the boat about 2:30 pm. There is breakfast, chores, figuring out what everyone’s needs are for the day … so things get started when they do. We stepped off and headed for the reservoir. Chignik gets its water supply mostly from this alpine lake that sits above town nestled at the base of a few peaks. There is a big pipe that brings water to the town. The amazing thing about this pipe: parts of it are still made out of wood!  The pipe is made from wood planks or strips encircled with metal rings. When wood gets wet it swells and these metal rings keep the wood pipes from bursting. It’s ingenious really and though most of the pipe has been replaced by metal/steel there are still sections made of wood.

So David and I headed to the reservoir by way of the water pipe. There is a lengthy ladder system to climb next to the pipe. Let me say that living on a boat for the past 2 weeks makes a noticeable decline in one’s fitness. Yes – I’m doing my back exercises and staying strong but the uphill walking is a whole other ballgame!

So we hike up the ladder route – to the 4WD road to the reservoir. The salmon berry’s are thick and ripe, dripping off trees. We run into bear poop that are basically piles of seeds! They are big. There are tracks as well… in this photo that is David’s boot – he wears a size 12.

We got to the lake and took a dip in the icy water. While hanging out in the sun chatting I saw something across from us move in the sunlight. Sure enough it was a bear in the water! He was playing: spinning around a bit, shaking his head, standing on 2 legs and generally enjoying himself. So fun!  And then he got out of the water. He was BIG, even from 100 yards away and you could see his distinctive shoulder hump! Both David and I were dually impressed.

He didn’t know we were there. It wasn’t until he began loping down the side of the reservoir in our direction that we started to make lots of noise. He stopped – now aware of us – trying to get a whiff in the air to identify us. Eventually he decided to continue our direction. we quickly donned our shoes and made an exit – leave him to this beautiful pond alone.

Walking our direction!

Somebody has been eating berries!

He is curious now…trying to catch our scent

Reminds me of the Cascades

Bear tracks!