How do you fit into the Alaska enough is a simple question! There you are…alone. No, I’m not talking about alone. I’m talking about alone. Backpacking in Alaska is like walking into a tribal performance art. Today, there are a lot of tourists who spend a lot of money to see first hand, the real Alaska. I’m not just talking about wild bears and moose. I’m talking about theially unobserved Alaska creatures–tribes, Chinook salmon, wolves, moose, rainbow trout, caribou, and bears (Black, Brown, grizzly, grey, and black).
It is a great way to get some decent food for not very much money. Alaskan fishing vacations can be…unprepared.
” Sounds like you got yourself a nice seat in the back seat of a truck. Nice try, kid. ”
Watching a wolf pelting down a trail in the middle of the night is pretty cool in a grizzly way. But drivers aren’t allowed to allow themselves to be overtired. So the first thing you do is hold up your arms and sing loudly. “FUERA!!!!” (F–k you.)
That’s right. We’re going to have a nice long day tomorrow. Please enjoy the wildlife.
Hey, remember to have a great attitude. It’s not the Ritz, so don’t tell any lies. Lies will get you killed. “KNEES!!!” will get you smelled like a horse.
The second most frequently asked question comes from young children. ” Winnah!! ” Have you had enough Winnah?” No, you haven’t. We don’t drive as far as GPS or some other devices that are cursory maps of today. But tomorrow you’ll be driving a lot. And the roads in Alaska aren’t paved, so you will go for a really long ride.
An example?
Say you’re at the Grand Canyon. 10:00am. You’ve got a two hour, 15 minute drive to the South Rim. It’s starting to get warm so put on the shorts or the shirt and jump in. The new improved roads are fantastic and it’s totally worth the hour and a half drive.
And you see a bear and run the other direction. The bear follows you. Now you’re really worried. Stop. Turn around. Go back. Yes, you’re bleeding the grease out of your jeans. But the bear sees you. Runs away. And now you’re really worried.
So how do you handle this situation?
Let’s see if we can’t reason why this might happen.
Most bears are cavity nomads. They have no territoriality and will wander as far as thirty kilometers without apparent craving to stay on a particular spot.
Bears stop and smell. They are attracted to the smell of food. If you’re having a nice time, they can keep away from you long enough.
Bears are sensitive to Rothschild Pressure. The lower pressure you create, the longer you can go without creating a trace.
There is a type of bear called the Alaskan Black Bears that are a subspecies of brown/grizzly bears. None of the bear species live in or visit Alaska. So, honestly, “bear watching” is not management practice but a hobby for those lucky enough to see brown bears in the wild.
I am choosing the Alaskan Black Bear as the answer to your concern because I know how to handle one.
I turned around at a bear stop sign and started to shine my flashlight in their eyes. I could tell you that the bear was trying to figure out what it was. Finally, I just said quietly… “I don’t have a bear”, and kept walking. After all, I am not trying to impress her.
As I was walking away, I had a glimpse of the bear mother and the cub. The mother was standing there shivering and upset. The cub was hanging to the left side of the mother and was apparently trying to calm her down.
I made my way along the boardwalk to the other side of the island where the Nisswa Lodge is located. The fresh water fish pond is a short walk from the Nisswa lodge. I don’t go to the Nisswa Lodge but have walked past it a few times on the way to the lodge. There was a set of stairs going down to the marina. I decided to stop for a swim and use the stairs to see if I could access the marina further along the walk.
As I was walking by the stairs, I saw a large marina ahead and I froze. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a large boat come out into the water.