Can anyone give me opinoins about a bear-viewing trip? I'm looking into an overnight Silver Salmon Creek Lodge adventure (1 night). Seems like it'd be absolutely amazing, but rather pricey. Worth it? Also - what about safety? I admit I'm hesitant about being nearly face to face with wild animals. But I don't want to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime experience due to fears. Thanks.

I ended up face-to-face with a grizzly bear while hiking in the Tetons and would rather not do that again. Bring bear spray and good luck!

I don't think you need to be overly worried about about safety at Silver Salmon Creek. You will have a guide with you while bear viewing and they have a good reputation (24 years under the same ownership) and will teach you bear behavior. I will be visiting them at the end of May for an overnight. I was a little apprehensive also but after emailing back and forth with the owner, I'm looking forward to the trip. As far as cost wise, considering you get 3 meals included and a nights lodging, I calculated the overnight to be worth the money. Besides, with the overnight you can do some additional bear viewing the next morning before flying out. This is only 1 of 2 lodges within Lake Clark National Park so you'll get an experience not shared by many.

C smith,

If you are going to be in Homer I would consider a one day flaot plane trip to Katmai NP. There are several outfitters that fly out of Homer. We used Emerald Air and there are a few others as well.
Its pricey, but it was teh highlight of our trip. My wife, who is not as outdoorsy as I am, could not stop talking about our experience. We saw many brown bears including cubs and I never felt threatened.

C Smith,

You are correct not to want to miss out on this bear viewing. You won't be exactly face to face, but could be pretty close.

I have stayed at the other Lake Clark Bear accommodation and saw many bears. You should have a wonderful time there.

The trip out of Homer is very worthwhile too. I haven't used Emerald Air because they do only day trips, but they have an excellent reputation. I've used Hallo Bay Wilderness Camp which does day trips, and longer trips of almost any length. I saw more bears in Lake Clark in one panoramic view, but the bears were much closer (not that far off from face to face) in Hallo Bay, out of Homer.

There is also Brooks Lodge where the bears take advantage of the salmon run and grab them from the water as the fish try to jump up the falls.

Safety is fine at any of these locations. Do what your guides/rangers say. At Brooks you are not accompanied by a guide but spend most of the time on elevated platforms or walkways.

None of these bear encounters come cheap but they will provide you an experience of a lifetime unless you decide you have to go back. Then you turn into a bear nut.

Thanks for the opinoins and info. We did book the overnight Silver Salmon Creek Lodge (Lake Clark), and REALLY excited about it.

Centralpa, I'd love to hear about your experience there after you go in May...

c smith

I will be in Alaska from May 24th thru June 10th with the overnight at Silver Salmon on May 30th. I'll try to post a message from Homer a couple of days after my Silver Salmon visit.

centralpa,
Thanks! We'll be in AK June 8-15 (not nearly long enough, but we're leaving our son (5) and daughter (3) home with grandma and don't want to be away too long)- the bear trip June 10. I thought i read somewhere they have internet right there at Silver Salmon - I'm hoping to email a few bear pics back home to the kids. Have a great trip!

c smith

The overnight at Silver Salmon was great. Everything from the flight over, David, his wife Joanne and entire staff were wonderful. We saw a total of 6 bears while there but we were the first guests of the season and the bears were just starting to come down from the hills. The sows weren't bringing the cubs down yet, but you should be there about the right time for that. The closest we were was about 150 feet from a 3 year old that was eating grass. It wasn't too concerned with us and just mosied off after about 15 minutes. We also watched a wolverine with binoculars for about 10 minutes and got some footage of it on video (sightings are rare). Did some halibut fishing also. The food was delicious and the lodge set out nicely. I definitely would say it was the highlight of my trip so far. I plan to go back again and hopefully stay longer. You will have a great time. Make sure you take rain gear. We have had rain pretty much every day but bought light weight pants and jackets at Dicks Sporting Goods in Pennsylvania before we left (half price for about $50). Also, layers work best i.e. t-shirt, sweatshirt or sweater, fleece, and waterproof jacket. Happy travels.

c_smith

pls report once back !!

we had a fabulous bearviewing day trip with Bald Mountain from Homer 2 years ago (Emerald Air had cancelled the previous day due to wether conditions).
Next time I would like to overnight somewhere and can't wait to read your experience !!

have a wonderful trip and... may I suggest you to also take a camcorder with you !!
Pics are great but bears interacting with each other will remain in our mind and VIDEOs forever !!

Hello all,
We had the BEST week in Alaksa! It by far exceeded expectations, which is saying a lot. Silver Salmon Creek Lodge and the bear viewing was the highlight (despite the many really cool things we did). We saw 12 bears, some of which we were able to approach to 75 feet. One bear actually crossed the slough within 30 feet of where we were standing! Thank goodness for our guide Dawn for me to hide behind. I'm really glad we did the overnight rather than the day trip, because in the evening after dinner we saw 6 bears interacting with eachother (as opposed to the single bears we'd seen eating during the day, though that was amazing too). I felt like we were videoing an episode of National Geographic or something. We didn't see any cubs, but it was mating season and we got to witness a potential cub in the making.

We took over 300 pictures and nearly an hour of video. If I could figure out how to post a picture I'd put up the one with the bear walking close past us.

Everything about SSCL exceeded expectations. The lodge itself is beautiful, everyone there is great, and the food was the best we had all week. Can't say enough great things about it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for your input and centralpa I'm glad you had a great experience too!

Oh I forgot - we lucked out had perfect weather. Sunny, in the mid-50's, not a cloud in sight. My husband and I unexpectedly ended up with sunburned faces.

C Smith

You can post pictures on a site called www.webshots.com OR www.photobucket.com and then post a link to your "album" here on this forum. That way you can share your pictures with the folks that frequent here and you can also send the link via e-mail to friends and family.

I look forward to seeing your pictures hopefully.

Jfmkem