A reunion on Kodiak (English version)

09/13

The little Bush Hawk startet pretty early at 7:30 with Kyle flying me out to the lodge. We first flew west and then over Spiridon Lake to Zachar Bay. Everyone was waiting at the beach to welcome me and say good-bye to the leaving clients.

There were quite some people leaving that day and so not only the two floatplanes picked up the clients but also a Widgeon came.

I am staying in one of the nice and comfortable guestrooms with private bathroom and gas stove. The room Ian is usually staying at is much smaller and he has a wood stove for the whole house only.

After luch Ian had to go out on a bear viewing tour and I was lucky to come with him. It was Kyle again who picked us up and flew us and the two tourists to Frazer Lake.
There is a fish ladder at a small waterfall and during the salmon run people from Alska Fish & Game count the fish.
When the river is full of salmon a lot of bears come there to fish, mostly sows with their cubs.
We had already spotted some bears from the plane further down the river. So we hiked along the edge of the water through tundra. The fall colours are just so beautiful that I definitely would have enjouyed the wholet rip without seeing a single bear!

In the far distance we could make out some bears on the ridges: mothers and cubs. When we finally came to another snall river joining the Frazer we had to turn around and hike back.

But then there he was: a huge Kodiak Bear (8-9 ft), coming down the hill staring in our direction! After a while of looking concerned he sat down and you could see his fat belly wobbling.
Finally he laid down to snooze... From time to time we could her him grunt and watch him wipe his face with a paw to get rid of all the bugs that were surrounding him.
After a long wihle he got up and walked down into the water just to take a bath and probably cool down.

It was time for us to hike back to the lake. On the way we had another chance to observe a sow with her three cubs fishing for salmon in the flat water close to the waterfall.

On the flight back I saw several herds of white mountain goats on the hills below us.

My day ended soon after the excellent dinner of grilled halibut...