McNeil River Drawing a Permit

Pre Trip

In early January of this year, Don and I filled out the information to be put on a list to hopefully be drawn for a permit to go to the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary. On March 15 we were notified by Email that our names had been drawn and we were given the dates of July 17-July 20. It was suggested that we fly out the day before the permit started and get a flight out the day after our permit. It also recommended that we secure flights asap. We had just come off the Arizona trail so the timing was perfect. We were immediately on the phone to several of the air taxi carriers only to be told that some of the days that we requested were already full. We finally got a flight with one carrier that could take us to McNeil 2 days before our permit started and another one that would return us to Homer. First though we had to get permission from the AK Fish and Game Department. Thankfully they gave permission and our flights to and from McNeil River were secured. With the paperwork signed and our permit fee sent all we had to do was wait for our departure day of July 15. The permit fee for Alaskans was $250.00, non alaskans was 500.00. Round trip to McNeil would be around $1000.00 each.

July 14

Finally the day came for us to drive to Homer which is about a 6 hour drive from Palmer. The day was sunny, however, tomorrow the weather was not looking as good. It has been a rainy and cool weather summer and the rainy forecast didn’t surprise us. As we were driving south of Anchorage, our phone rang and it was our pilot from Kachemak Air telling us that the flight out tomorrow did not look promising. He also gave us the news that if he couldn’t take us in tomorrow he couldn’t take us period as his next days were booked. He said he would call with an update later this evening. That news gave us pause, but knowing weather can change quickly we remained upbeat that it would be a go tomorrow. As we made our way to Homer the weather continued to deteriorate. Homer was quite the end of road destination with the strip being quite busy. We were able to find a place to park for the night at the Marine park run by the city. For 30 dollars we had a parking spot with porta potties. Then the rain began and the clouds rolled in. Around 9 Jimmy, the pilot called and gave a more positive report. He had flown today and was hopeful that we might be able to make it to our destination tomorrow. He couldn’t promise anything though and would call again in the morning. With the rain pounding on the van roof and the visibility becoming less we began to have some doubts if our bear adventure was going to happen.

July 15

The rain was still falling when we awoke this morning. The visibility had improved slightly, but varied with the cloud cover. Looking at the weather forecasts, it seemed that the weather was worse to the north of us. Jimmy called at 9 and said he had gotten a weather report from the staff at McNeil and the visibility was better there. He thought that we should show up at his place at 12:15 and make a decision then. Our spirits lifted with that news. We kept watching the weather out the window and convinced ourselves that this was going to happen. When we arrived to Kachemak Air, Jimmy was waiting for us to get a weight of ourselves and gear. We were under the allowed limits and loaded the gear on to the float plane. Jimmy told us that it was looking better and he would do a route that would take us closer to the shores rather than heading directly across the bay. It would be a longer ride and with the weather wouldn’t see as much, but that news didn’t really matter as it looked like we were going to be on our way.

Jimmy checks the route and weather. He shares stories of how he got into flying. It looks like our flight is going to happen!

We are leaving Homer!

The story of this message was that a passenger had hit the window with such force that Jimmy was afraid that he would shatter the window.

The flight over lacked views, but as we approached the other side it had cleared some and we could see the bears on the McNeil River below us.

We fly over the McNeil River and can see the bears below us.

We land in the lagoon and are met by Tim one of the staff members. He help us unload our gear and put it in a wheelbarrow to take it up to the cook shed and tent sites.

All food and any scented items will be kept in the cook shed for the duration of our stay.

We are shown the tent sites and select one that fits our tent.

After getting the tent up and the sleeping bags out, we are given a tour by the staff. We are showed the boundaries, the outhouses and the sauna. The bears are given full roam outside of our boundaries. If they happen to enter one of the staff members in camp is alerted and in a calm manner convinces them to get back in their allowed area. Shortly after we have set up camp a female called Bearded Lady and her cub show up. The cub entertains us by playing with a log in front of the camp.

There is nothing between us and the two bears. We are going to have to get used to being this close to this magnificent animal.

We are told that even though our permit doesn’t start till the 17th, several of the permitees have decided not to go to the river tomorrow and we will be able to go. There will be a briefing at 9 am to tell us the plan for the day. We are here! and ready to experience this area. Before we head to our tent, the group of bear observers return to camp. It sounds like the bears are giving quite the show. Our excitement builds.

July 16

In 1976 Larry Aumiller arrived at the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary to begin his career of managing this area. With little guidance he developed a plan to protect this area and allow a small group of individuals each year to observe one of the largest gathering of brown bears in the world. It is a lottery system where 10 individuals win a place at McNeil for a 4 day spot. Many of the practices he developed continue to be used today. The staff carry a gun, but since the start of the program, a gun has never been needed to be used.

At 9:00am we met for our briefing and Don and I were given the go ahead to join the group. The group for the day consisted of a couple from Canada who had finally got a permit after 8 tries and a group of three who work for National Geographic. They were on a special permit and were getting footage for a documentary in the future. The film makers wanted to get as much time at the Falls as possible so a leave time was set for 10:30am. Warm layers and plenty of food and water was suggested

for the outing. The walk to the river generally is a little under 2 miles. However depending on the tide, the route distance to get to and from the falls may vary. Today the tide permitted us to shorten our hike by being able to cross the lagoon. We wear hip or chest waders. Shorter people like me needed to have more than hip waders as the water came up to my thighs. There is s strong tidal current which makes for slow walking.

At the half way point, we take a break at Eagle Rock. We have arrived here by walking as a unit. One staff member leads and one staff is in the rear. There are no gaps in our line and our pace is dictated by the slowest member. When we go thru the alders, the staff let any bears know of our presence by giving a low shout of hey bear, coming thru bear.

Eagle rock. Dressing in layers is important as we don’t want to overheat. Once we arrive to the viewing site, we will be sitting for the day on a gravel pad.

We pass by several bears who are sleeping in the grass. When they hear us they raise their heads and look around, we stop and soon they put down their heads and we move on. We realize that this is going to be a bear experience like none other that we have experienced.

Finally we hear the roaring sound of the falls in the distance and can see the outline of the canyon. When we approach the place that we can see the river below us, we line up parallel to each other and take in our surroundings. Below us we see bears that are gathering at the falls for a day of fishing. Our waiting before descending to the gravel pads lets the bears know that we are here.

There are about 25 bears fishing when we arrive, the number will increase as the day goes on.

As we head down to the pad, there is an adult bear called Braveheart sleeping almost on the trail.

Braveheart checks us out. We wait till he finally stands up and walks away.

Once it appears that he is comfortable about our presence, we head to the gravel pad.

At the gravel pad we once again take a moment to stand silently and observe the bears. There is an upper and lower gravel pad. Folding chairs are kept here and shortly after arriving, we set up 10 chairs, divided between the lower and upper levels. For the remainder of the day we will be sitting in these chairs. My initial thought that sitting here for 9 hours would be a challenge. That is definitely not the case as there was non stop activity to keep one occupied. We were mostly silent as we watched the antics of the bears. The bears ate fish and we filled up on our snacks.

After some time at fishing, bears would often nap, getting themselves in a comfortable position.

Braveheart, easily identified by a wound on his shoulder is having a good fishing day.

It is drizzle sort of day today and having warm drinks in our thermos helps us to keep warm. There is also the challenge of taking photos with very expensive cameras, that is the film crews problems. (Not ours, Don has his iPhone and I have a point and shoot camera)

This is the lower gravel pad. Once us humans are on the pad the bears know that it is off limits for them

Once we leave the area it is theirs. Several times when we arrive to the pad, there are fish remains or bear scat on the pad showing that they have used it for hanging out.

The day continues with our heads scanning the river. About every hour a count of the bears is taken. The high count for the day was 41

It appears that the catching success rate is high.

After doing a stint at fishing, resting and watching is always an option.

The bears are shedding out which makes for bald spots on their skin.

Braveheart has a unique fishing technique. he wades out to the river and sits down facing downstream. As the water pours over his back it forms a eddy in front of him. as the chum swim up stream, they take a pause in the formed eddy. It is at this point Braveheart reaches down and grabs them.

Beth, the manger tells us that he learned this technique from another bear. It seems to be a good method, but none of the other bears use it.

Most of the bears wait patiently in the falls for fish to pass by and grab them when they bump their legs.

There have been some minor fighting over fish and fishing spots, but only one that occurred that caused an obvious injury. Chops, the name given to the dominant bear of the group decided that another bear was invading his territory. The bear, called Holden, put up some resistance, but when Chops took a nasty bite out of his back he retreated.

After the fight Holden retreated to nurse his wound and his ego.

Over the next couple of days we will be observing other fishing skills. Some of the bears have their special places and after catching and eating their fish they return to the same location.

After sitting and watching for almost 9 hours, it is time to head back to camp. The rain is still falling and we have been wearing our heavy rain gear. Most of us decide to wear it back to camp to try to keep dry. The temperature has fallen so we are more concerned about keeping dry than overheating.

One thing that dictates our return time is the tide schedule. If we want to shorten our hike back we need to time it when the tide heights won’t be above our thighs. We stayed longer today to hit the tides just right. We get back to camp about 10:30, eat a quick dinner and learn that 3 more people have arrived to start their permit tomorrow. One is from Fairbanks and the others from Anchorage. They have all been here and are in their tents. We quickly find our tent and soon are in our sleeping bags listening to the wind and the rain pelt out tent. Falling asleep we try to process our first day of bear viewing.

July 17

The briefing time for the days activity starts at 9. The film crew want to get as much filming time as possible so the departure time is set at 10:30. Eating breakfast, preparing snacks and lunch and assembling the gear for the day fills the time. The sun is out and and we are ready to go see bears. We are joined by the 3 folks that arrived last night. Doug from Fairbanks had been here in the 80’s. He is now in his late 70’s and wanted to see the bears once again, Kelly and Kevin from Anchorage are excited to do a repeat trip. Once you get a permit, one can not apply for the following year.

There is a small pond behind the camp and the Iris is in full bloom. the staff tells us that when the Iris bloom the Chum will start their run up the river. Last year was a week run, but it did correspond with the bloom of the Iris. This year the Chum seems to be much stronger and the Iris is in full bloom. It is a later bloom and corresponds with a later Chum run.

We say good-by to the people that are heading back to Homer.( Later we learned that their flight to n Homer had been canceled. They were flying back to Canada and were on a time schedule. Fortunately one of the other participants that was leaving had a flight coming in. He lived in Palmer and was able to give them his flight and schedule a flight for the next day.) Flights in and out of McNeil can be unpredictable with weather and other events (think earthquakes) so one is told to bring along extra food if your stay is extended.

The tides are in our favor as we wade to the other side

The packs of the film crew are quite heavy. The iPhone not so much. We arrive to the site about noon and do the same procedure as yesterday. Braveheart is once again on the trail so we wait for him to slowly lumber off.

Early indications are that we are going to have another day of great bear viewing.

There are more bears in the rapids than yesterday at this time and more are coming up the river and down the surrounding hills.

Notice the bellies on these bears. We noticed them enlarging over the time we were here. Some bears were catching between 7 to 10 fish that we observed. At an average size of 10 pounds…that is a lot of fish!

As we look down river to check out the approaching bears. one large male walks slowly by our pad.

The film crew are also getting some good and close up shots.

There biggest decision is which way to aim the cameras

And what to record

The log is right below the gravel pad.

Right below the lower gravel pad Lax and her two cubs show up. Most of the bears at the falls are male. The staff think that the cubs with Lax are around 3 1/2 which is the upper limits for the cubs to be kicked out from Mom.

The bear dynamics changes when the mom and cubs set up their fishing place. Lax is very protective of her cubs and the large males give her a wide berth and let her have the fishing hole.

The female cub on the right is interested in fishing, however the male cub is interested in resting his chin on Mom or sister.

Here is another chin resting photo.. As the days progressed the female cub had several successful fishing forays, but the male not so much. He did enjoy eating the fish.

At times the upper falls had quite the gathering of bears.

As did the lower falls. The lower falls seemed to have more of the middle aged bears.

It as interesting to see how close they fished. It reminded me of combat fishing in Alaska. When a bear grabbed a fish, he would just back up and head to shore to devour it.

It was also interesting to watch the different ways the bears would take their fish to eat them. Some would head up a hill to eat. This would avoid another bear trying to steal it. Some would eat their fish in the shallows.

The younger bears always took breaks to play. One interesting combo was an older bear that seemed to tolerate and enjoy playing with younger bears. This was unusual behavior as most older bears would quickly put a younger bear in its place if they got too close.

I called the bear on the right Uncle! He liked playing with the younger bears.

The film crew really wanted to fly a drone over the river, but Beth the manager thought that would be too obtrusive so they figured out a way to do it with a piece of equipment that they carried out.

Finally in order for us to do a reasonable crossing of the lagoon, it was time to retreat.

The tide was out and there were bears clamming in front of us. Most of the bears are females with cubs.

The images of bears were strong in our thoughts as we headed back for another quick dinner and thoughts of getting to bed ASAP..

Total bear count today was 54!

July 18

Last night we finally got to our tent around midnight. Between the adrenaline rush of seeing bears and late nights, my body is tired. This is the last day of the film crew being with us and it sounds like tomorrow our time at the pads will be shorter.

We were up by 8 and had breakfast before the briefing. Once again the film crew requests to leave by 10:30 and we all agree. Several more participants have joined. They are in our block, but due to flight challenges they were not able to make it out to start their block yesterday. Don and I feel fortunate that we not only made it on our scheduled day but got a bonus day of viewing bears.

The morning is beautiful and instead of loading up with extra layers we will be loading up with plenty of water. With some extra time on our hands, Don decides to take some photos of the camp.

There are two outhouses. One needs to bring their own toilet paper.

Very clean and serves a purpose.

The walls are covered with great comics about the bears.

We liked this one.

There are three cabins for staff and a cache for food that the staff uses.

The larger building is the cook shed where all cooking is done. There are 6 propane burners and heavy duty pots and pans that were purchased by the Friends of McNeil. Attached to the cook shed is a deck, that gives a great view of the lagoon and area in front of the camp. To the far left is a sauna which is heated up by one of the staff that stays in camp before the participants return.

If it weren’t for the bears that were waiting to be watched, it would be a good day to relax in camp. One has the option to stay and several folks did just that. Don and I wanted to take the advantage of watching the bears. Everyday has been different.

With new people in line we start our uniform hike to the falls.

It is the first day that we can see the tops of the mountains that are in front of the camp.

For once Braveheart was not waiting for us so after pausing at the top for our minute of telling the bears we are here we could proceed to the gravel pads.

The bears were out in force eliminating some of the fish.

Looking down the McNeil River.

While some bears were intent on fishing, some of the younger bears decided that playing was also a effective use of time.

Notice the two bears in the front playing.

The bears played in the water before finally making it to shore where where the play continued.

This is one of my favorite shots of bears just having fun.

There were bears everywhere and where to point the camera for the best shot was a challenge.

Each bear had its own technique for fishing and where to eat the fish they caught. This bear would stand below this rock and then when he caught one he would just use the rock like a table. Notice how he has stripped off the skin. When the fish were just beginning to be eaten, the whole fish would be devoured. Later though the skin would be stripped, the eggs eaten and the scraps left for other bears or sea gulls.

After eating it was time to wash the hands.

Several bears used the technique of standing on shore and then running into the water to do a belly flop in hopes of stunning the fish. Can’t say that this was most productive, but they seemed to have fun trying.

Often when one could see a run of fish in the water, several bears would jump in at once.

The weather was quite the contrast compared to the first day where it was cold and rainy. Today we were grateful to be on the lower pad to get some shade.

One of the bears who liked to hang out on the middle rock was called Clamps. He would fish some and occasionally get a fish. He more often though would beg for fish.

Clamps. The first couple of days he mostly begged. When another bear would get a fish, and go to the middle rock to eat it. Clamp would approach the bear almost on his belly with one of his paws out stretched as if to grab the fish. He seemed to have as much success begging as he did fishing.

After several hours of fishing this bear was ready for a rest. It seemed that the sea gull was encouraging the bear to head out and then share some food with the gull.

One bear that has shown up for several days is Gaucha. She is about 5 and has the reputation of standing her ground. There weren’t many females fishing except for the mother bears and their cubs. Apparently during mating season she had courted many of the larger males. It was always fun to see her heading down to the river.

Gaucha, she was fairly east to identify with her size and light colored fur.

And then there was Gooby bear. This was the first time that he had come to the falls without his mom and it was a huge learning curve. (I am sure he will have another name later, but this is the one given to him for now.)

Gooby liked to hang out next to the pad. He knew that most of the older bears left it alone so he felt safer next to the humans than the larger bears. When he attempted to go fishing and an older bear approached he quickly came running to the pad. Several times he was scolded by the staff to watch the boundary.

Another bear that he gave a wide berth to was the mother bear with cubs. Like we said there was no dull moments at the Falls.

We had an option of staying till 9 with the film crew or head back at 7 to camp. After several long days of getting back after 10 we all gave a thumbs up to head back to camp.

We wave good by when we get to the top of the hill.

There was a new staff member today called Greg. He had spent the last thirteen years working in bear management at Denali National Park. It was interesting to listen to the differences between these coastal bears and interior bears. In Denali, a bear that was closer than 300 yards to him was too close.

Greg and Nick stayed with the film crew and Tim hiked back with us. The bear count today was close to 47.

We were back at camp by 9 and were able to rinse off in the sauna. We even got to bed before midnight!. Another night of bear dreams.

July 19

It is a normal brief time at 9 and we learn that the film crew will be leaving today and the departure for the falls will occur at 11:00. It has been fun learning about the life of the film crew. Two of the members are from Bristol, England and one is from the Pacific North West. The Director of the film making process is Bertie Gregory. He is 29 years old and has been making nature films for the last 7 plus years. He is currently working for National Geographic and making a series of films for the Disney Plus channel. The series that premiered last year was called . Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory. This year the show is called Animals up close.

Bertie Gregory at work

The person in charge of the auditory is Spencer from the Pacific Northwest.

They will be heading to Antartica in March to film a show about Leopard Seals and Penquins.

When we told them that we had sailed to Antartica severals years ago on a small sailboat. They were curious about the name of the boat and then we discovered that they had chartered the boat that we had used. We showed them photos and gave some input of what to expect. That was a fun connection!

The last person on the film crew was Ryan from Bristol, England.. He was the technical guy and was in charge of the gear to make sure it was running properly. He also carried a lot of the gear that was used for filming. Alas I have no photo of Ryan.

Bertie was on his was to San Diego to promote his new series. When we told him that our son Ryan and his partner Beth lived there, he said that he would invite them to the promotional party. We were able to send Ryan a text message by our inreach and he and Beth attended the party. Small World!

By 11:00 we were packed and ready to hike to the falls. The tide was a little higher so hiking thru the lagoon was a bit more challenging. This may be the last day for walking thru the lagoon. It sounds like tomorrow we will be taking the longer route. The good news is that the boat will pick us up around 6.

It is beginning to feel like a great routine of spending the day watching bears. In the beginning of this adventure I felt like this was going to be a once in a life time experience, but now Don nor I are not too sure. I have a feeling that we will be putting our name in for a drawing once again in a couple of years.

It is another beautiful day at the falls. We have been told that bears show up later and getting there too early means less bears to observe.

We take a moment to admire the field of Iris.

And then it is back to the Falls to be impressed with fishing bears.

Gooby bear tries to see how close he can come to us without being yelled at. The next photo shows the return of the sow and two cubs who enjoy fishing below us.

Once the sow and cubs take up position, Gooby bear will no longer walk in front of us.

We are all excited when Gooby bear gets his first fish. This has been a big learning week for him.

Fishing and sleeping is the main activity for today.

Rocky, an older bear likes to sleep near the pad.

First he walks by and checks out the ground then it is time to sleep.

He sleeps for quite a while resting his claws by his face.

Meanwhile a bear is patiently waiting for a Chum to swim up the rock. I assumed that Chum jump, but was quickly told that no, Chum don’t jump, reds do. Oh well so what for that iconic photo of a fish being grabbed by a bear in mid air.

The next shots were the best I could do as I and the bear patiently waited for an unsuspecting fish.

Finally one appears swimming up the falls.

There is no hesitation as the bear goes after the fish!

One satisfied bear and one dead fish. So goes the cycle of life.

It is an early departure, but after having several late nights in a row, we are ready to return to camp. There also is the boat treat, that won’t happen if we wait longer. ( the tide has to be the right depth, wail to long and we will be walking.) Back to camp for dinner before 8 and to bed by 10. It has been another great day at the River. Not to mention the bears that we see hiking back and near the camp.

July 20

Three people in our block left, but two more arrived that will start their permit tomorrow. Since there is room for them, they can come with us to watch bears. As we introduce ourselves we discover that we have a good friend. It is so fun to make connections!

We learn at our briefing at 9 that the tides are too high for us to cross so we will be walking the long way to the Falls. The day is cool, so the longer walk should keep us warm.

We will be crossing Misfit creek. Earlier in the year this is where the bears come to eat sedge and dig for clams. In June one sees bears, but not like we have seen the last four days. It is a rather long walk with lots of mud. Soon though we are around the lagoon and heading back to where we will meet the trail that goes to Eagle Rock.

We pass underneath a bluff and see a small bear sleeping above us on a small ledge.

The bear checks us out and then returns to sleeping.

This is the morning of bears as we have to wait for several bears to pass us close by.

They don’t seem to mind us being here and we wait quietly for them to pass.

There are several bears in the grass as we take a break at Eagle Rock.

Nick and Tim are the staff leading us to the falls today. Nick has spent many years working at Brooks Camp and even though it is his first year here, he recognizes a lot of bears and can explain their various characteristics. Tim has spent the last 7 years working at the Alaskan Zoo. We have learned a lot from them and appreciate their calmness around the bears.

Finally we get to the Falls and do our usual pause and let the bears know we are here.

There is a slight problem though.

Lax and her cubs are using the gravel pad. The human rule is that unless we are on the pad, it is fair game for the bears. We are hoping that they will move shortly, but then they decide to take a nap. We wait patiently for about 20 minutes before they decide to head down to their fishing hole.

Bears are everywhere as they head down to the water.

As you look behind and to the side there is so much movement.

Well sorta, Rocky has taken up residence again beside the pad as he falls into a deep sleep.

Chilly day!

The bear bellies seem to grow by the day.

This bear had belly drag. This is make fat time and the bears are making the most of it. Last year was a low run and the maximum bear count was around 25. We have seen double that since we arrived.

Sleeping is always good.

This bear looked like he was into yoga

The serenity of the morning was broken when Chops arrived on the scene. He lumbers down the hill and bears begin to scatter.

There are about 4 bears on the rock including little Gooby bear. He senses danger and immediately flees however he trips and goes sliding on his shoulder. At least he is not in danger from the wrath of Chops. One bear who hasn’t fled the scene fast enough is reprimanded by Chops.

With Chops superiority noticed by the other bears, he heads off to his favorite fishing hole. Unfortunately a bear is already there but no worries for Chops, as soon as he jumps into the water to claim his spot, the other bear is seen swimming rapidly away.

It didn’t take long for Chops to reappear with a fish.

Clamps the beggar bear was waiting for Chops to hopefully share some scraps. Some days Chops tolerated Clamps, but not today and a stand off occurred.

We were surprised that Clamps didn’t run and Chops didn’t take him down like he had bitten Holden the first day we were here.

Soon Chops returned to fishing and Clamps waited to beg. Ah the life of bears.

This was a friendly interaction.

and then it was time to say good-by to this amazing place.

We met the boat and even then we had to wait for a bear to swim by us!

The theme for this trip was bears, bears and more bears.

Spending 5 days observing bears in their natural habitat was more than we ever could have imagined.

The sauna is going to feel great tonight as well as knowing that we can have a leisurely breakfast and then start packing up for our flight back to Homer tomorrow.

July 21

It is our last day in camp.While we were viewing the bears at the Falls yesterday, there were 7 new people that arrived for the next block of permits. That means that with the 3 who were able to go with us yesterday as there was room. There will be no room for us today. We will miss not seeing the bears at the falls, but there is enough bear activity at the camp to keep us entertained. Plus it is going to be a nice day to relax and pack up before our returning flight to Homer at 5:30.

New tents are added to the campsite, adding color to the green vegetation.

At the 9:00 briefing Beth, the manager, welcomes the new participants and then tells Don and I plus Kelly and Kevin who are also flying out today that Tim and Greg are planning a coastal walk. We are welcome to join them at 11:00 to check out this new environment.

First though it is time to say good-by to Beth. She has spent over the last 13 years (I think ) being an assistant and then becoming manager for the State Game Sanctuary. It is obvious how much she loves this place and the bears that live here. We came because of the bears, but the staff has enhanced our experience here in a major way.

Beth and Don

We meet Tim and Greg at 11:00 and head out to the coast for our walk. Tides here can range between 16-22 feet so Tim tells us that we need to back and around a certain point called the Pinch Point before the tide floods back in. The morning is filled with moisture so photos are not easy to take.

We crane our necks upward to check out the high cliffs that we walk by. The shores are quite rocky and we look for fossilized wood in some of the rocks. This is quite the different environment than the walk to the falls thru the alders.

Finally the fog burns off and we have lunch beneath cormorants that are nesting high above us.

Tim tells us that when he has done walks here before he has seen bears on the beach. We eat our lunch and wonder how the rocks behind us were formed or did they fall from above or?

We watch our footing as we head back to camp.

Back at camp we finish packing up and watch the bears that are grazing near camp or digging for clams out front. There is a sow with small spring cubs. She will be waiting for a year or two before she takes them to the Falls.

Our plane is scheduled to arrive at 5:30 and will meet us at the end of the spit. We load up our gear in the wheel barrows and head there,

Then close to the scheduled time we hear then see our float plane.

Looks like it is going to be a beautiful day for flying.

We load our gear and are soon off to head back to Homer. This time unlike when we flew over we should be able to check out some of the terrain.

This shows some of the coast that we walked this morning. The tide is up making some parts that we walked inaccessible.

We fly past Augustine, a volcano that has been one of the most active volcanoes in this area. The last eruption was in 2006. It was the 5th major eruption in 75 years. Today there are no signs of activity.

With the weather being clear and calm, we have a direct flight to Homer. We can see fishing boats below us enjoying the calm seas. Soon we are landing on Beluga lake where air taxis dock their planes. We unload, pack our gear into our van and head North after eating pizza and ice cream on the spit. After the calm of McNeil river there is too much human activity to want us to stay longer in Homer.

What we have observed at McNeil, is taking us awhile to process. Being able to watch one of the largest protected populations of Brown Bears is a magical experience. We are so thankful that there was foresight to protect this area and the bears that live there.