Bears Bears and More Bears at Anan July 5th!!!!

I flew to Anan Bear Observatory on July 5th with Island Wings. I hadn't seen any previous posts with bear sightings this year. July 5th was the first day of "peak" bear viewing and the bears didn't disappoint. :D

how awesome, thank you for sharing those great pics!

Great pictures.

Allan

YIPPEE! Assuming the weather cooperates (partly cloudy is the current forecast) we will be hoping for a similar experience on July 19th!

So excited to see this! We will be there in exactly 1 month and ive been worried we'll be too late in the season. I hope the bears stick around!

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Wow, these are great.

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We saw 9 bears in total-- 5 brown bears and 4 black. Only one caught a fish. They stay underwater for a long time!! There was a Park Ranger marking down which bears come out. They log each sighting and they know which bear is which.

The bears come and go a lot-- especially from the path behind the viewing decks. One bear jumped up on the gate to the top deck! Be sure to sign up in the Viewing blind area to get down closer to the bears. My husband and I signed up at different time so we could experience 2 different viewpoints.

I will post a few videos later:)

Didn't know the correct way to post videos--- but click on link and will bring you to my Youtube.

Try posting pictures w reduced file sizes. Yours take forever to load. Then when someone responds as an attachment instead of just a response, you have to wait again.

DON

These are great pictures. How close were you to the bears?

Great pics! I am hoping to do this trip next year and it may be early July like you. I would love to see some brown and black bears :D

How do you book this?

Nice! Thanks for the great pics.

We were very close at times to the bears-- maybe 5 feet away.

We booked with Island Wings well in advance---- 11 months. My favorite thing we did the whole trip!

Sounds wonderful!

Thank you for posting! We have a trip booked July 4, 2018, which is 1 day before permits are needed and because of the July 4th festivities, we've only found 1 operator who will fly that day. Hoping the bears are out early next year too! Very exciting!

Old thread, but OP if u are around beautiful shots...

I am returning to Alaska in May..after 20 years I went in late July the first time and it rained most of our cruise...we did a excursion with the ship a sea plane and bear watch...we saw dozens across a river catching salmon and shaking the fish in their mouths to see if they had eggs, if not they tossed them back, if they did they sliced them opened and ate the eggs.

This was a fun excursion and I was telling a local we met how much i enjoyed it...and with a straight face they said to me...I see bears every day, they search thru my trash cans..and ripped my plants.......their a pain..;p all relative isn't it.....

land lover- Thank you for your response. Very funny! I appreciate your feedback. I can relate with living in New York city and seeing the buildings everyday. Tourists are amazed when they see them! Your are exactly right when you say its all relative. Have a great night.

land lover- Thank you for your response. Very funny! I appreciate your feedback. I can relate with living in New York city and seeing the buildings everyday. Tourists are amazed when they see them! Your are exactly right when you say its all relative. Have a great night.

Hannah....

I live have lived in Southern California, beach girl...my whole life...but 2 of my sons went to school and lived in NYC most recently last year....so I got to see sun bathers in central park more than once...LOL...just could not relate...also they were lying out on that strip of grass near the Intrepid. still cannot grasp it...:D........ BTW have they started charging for the SIF, yet?

But back to the expense of Alaska excursions.....Even 20 years ago we paid $2-400 for excursions with about 1/8 the choices. We picked the "supposit" perfect time, when we cruised end of July and like I mentioned in the other post...terrible weather...

.We were the first helicopter in the morn to land on a Glacier, after a few minutes we were called back to base, due to inclement weather coming in.... we flew in a complete white out....no other heli excursions left for the remainder of that day. So I guess is what i am saying is it's a crap shot....

There are several reasons why I have picked Alaska during May this year..but probably the biggest deciding factor is that everyone I have talked to said what beautiful weather they have had when traveling in May......I would like to just have one sunny day to see the snow covered mountains.....and a glacier or two with a blue sky behind it.....I am not asking for much.......

So far we have purchased a sea plane flight in Juneau...and snorkeling in Ketchikan...

If you are looking at the 5th ....and it works better in your schedule or pricing is better go for it..... Wildlife and Weather is unpredictable.....and often when traveling unplanned experiences are the most memorable of all....like when going to see the bears you might see some other part of nature that you find far more interesting than the bears.

Enjoy.....

ljclay0130 - If you see this post can you share some information with me?

We will be on the Princess Island from 10am-6pm in Ketchikan.

Do you remember how quickly you were able to get off the ship?

Do you remember the "back on board time"?

We are also hoping to go to Anan but wondering if the 5 hour "tour" works with the ships time.

Thanks for any info you can pass along.