One of the main reasons for visiting the Alaskan wilderness are the ample opportunities to see many different types of wildlife in their natural habitats. Before leaving for my trip, I had developed of a mental list of animals I'd hoped to see in the wild, and since I was planning a bus tour into Denali National Park, I thought I'd have a pretty good chance of seeing some bears, moose, and caribou. I also expected to see some wildlife during my journeys on the Alaska Railroad, especially in some of the very unpopulated areas the railroad serves. However, I never imagined my closest encounter with the wild animals of Alaska would happen in a relatively crowded place with lots of people around.
After arriving at my hotel in Anchorage shortly after midnight the night before, I got up about 7:30 a.m. and hit the Seward Highway heading south out of the city by 9:00 a.m. My goal was to go all the way to Seward and then be back in Anchorage before midnight. Along the way I was planning stops at Girdwood, Portage, Hope, and the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. I also hoped to do a little hiking on one of the many trails in the Chugach National Forest. I was excited to find a group of dall sheep feeding high on some rocky cliffs overlooking Turnagain Arm between Anchorage and Girdwood, my first wildlife spotting of the trip. Finally, after taking about six hours to make the 120 mile trip to Seward, I arrived at Exit Glacier. Little did I know I was about to come almost face to face with a mother black bear and her two cubs.
After paying the $5 entrance fee and parking the rental car, I started off down the half-mile trail from the parking lot and ranger's station to the glacier. The first half of the trail is a paved sidewalk and there were at least 30-40 people walking along the path toward and away from the glacier. I paused briefly at a kiosk at the start of the trail to read some signs and posters, including one warning of bears and moose near the trails and the glacier. After reading the kiosk, I continued my trek toward Exit Glacier. After a few seconds of walking, I became aware of something moving through the thick brush off to my right side. I paused shortly, pondering "what is that in the bushes?" and then continued. Then I heard the noises again, and this time they were closer. I paused again, next to a park bench. Some guys heading back toward the parking lot heard it too and stopped. One of them said "Is that a moose back there?" Just then I became aware of a dark object moving through the bushes toward me. It was still impossible to tell what it was, but I knew it was walking toward the path. Then I heard a low "grunt" from the animal and said to the two guys standing next to me "I think we need to move away. Whatever it is is coming out of the bushes." I took about three steps backwards, toward the glacier, and they started walking slowly back toward the parking lot. And then a black bear emerged from the bushes and stopped on the sidewalk, right next to the bench, stopping in exactly the same place I had just been standing. I was maybe ten feet from the bear at this point. Some kids walking back toward the parking lot who had just passed the bench saw the bear and took off running. While saying "OH MY GOD IT'S A BEAR!" I continued to walk slowly backwards, keeping an eye on the animal. A park ranger a few feet ahead leading a guided nature walk became aware of what was going on and stopped her group to turn around and evaluate the situation. In a calm voice she asked all of us to continue to slowly walk away from the bear, but not to run, and to watch our step so that nobody tripped and fell. She radioed back to the ranger station at the parking lot requesting a ranger there stop visitors from going down the trail until the bear moved on. After getting another ten feet or so away from the bear I thought "I need to photograph this" and quickly reached for my camera. I paused to snap a picture and continued to move back when a cub scampered out of the bushes and stopped next to its mother. The ranger continued requesting everyone to slowly move back from the bears. Then a second cub came out. Now there were the three bears, standing in the middle of the trail, with people a safe distance on either side of them. The bears stood there and looked at the people for a few seconds, and then the mother, followed by her two cubs, continued across the path, heading back into the bushes on the opposite side of the path from which they'd come.
After it was over, I was left with a feeling of total disbelief. "Did that really just happen?" I kept thinking. Yes, it really did. Less than a minute before I had been within ten feet of a wild black bear. I suddenly became aware of the natural fear reaction my body had gone into -- my forehead and neck were sweating, my heart was racing, and my stomach felt like it had jumped into my throat. Amazingly while it was happening I was too stunned I was actually seeing this, and concerned with trying to snap pictures, to realize that this was a pretty frightening experience. I don't think I had ever been so close to a large wild animal in its habitat in my life before. And, for the first time ever, I had seen a bear live and in person that was not in a zoo. What an experience for my first afternoon in Alaska!
The rest of my week in Alaska was filled with more wildlife sightings, including numerous brown bears and cubs, caribou, and a rare black wolf in Denali; and a moose with a calf and several wild trumpeter swans, including a family with five chicks, while traveling on the Alaska Railroad. But none of these experiences came close to the shock and amazement of my close encounter with the black bears of Kenai Fjords National Park.