Coastal Brown Bears of Alaska: Lake Clark National Park

March 23, 2018/304 Comments/in Images, News, Rambles /by Kenton Krueger

If you have a moment of free time while perusing the web, take a moment to Google “Lake Clark, Alaska,” then click “images” in the Google taskbar (located under the Google search bar at the top of the page) so the search results will display images.

Just trust us, even if you have to leave this blog post briefly to do so. We just ask that you remember to come back and continue reading!

Now, imagine yourself -and your travel partners- camped out along this miraculous coastline for three magical evenings… No computers, no phones or email or knocks on your office door from that one co-worker bringing to you yet another problem for your queue of problems to solve for the day.

Back to the imagery… Above you are jagged snow-capped mountain peaks, backdrops framing each evening’s sunset as if it were a work of art.

Perhaps it is one of our world’s finest works of art. And because you are there, YOUR own personal work of art to behold.

This spot is where we’ll camp while on Backcountry Journeys Coastal Brown Bears photographic tour, running June 16-19, as well as June 19-23, 2018.

For landscape photographers, our camp location is one of those places that will drop your jaw, leave you breathless, and potentially without space on your memory cards.

Really, don’t fail to bring more than enough memory, because this trip is about bears and where we’ll be going you’ll need as much storage space as you can muster!

While on this trip we often are able to photograph 30-40 bears in one area alone as they fish, play and wrestle. Cubs, at this time of year, are still tiny and our camp is in a prime location to view and photograph mother bears as they walk along the shoreline with their young ones. Not to mention those incredible, giant, Alaskan mountain backdrops.

We’ll spend three nights camping along the coast of beautiful Lake Clark to maximize our photography during peak lighting conditions.

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is located about 100 miles southwest of the city of Anchorage. It was established as a National Park and Preserve in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, after being named a National Monument in 1978.

The Park includes a variety of features, not found together in any other Alaskan parks. Here exists the junction of three mountain ranges, a coastline with temperate rainforests along the Cook Inlet, a plateau with alpine tundra on the west, glaciers, glacial lakes, major salmon-bearing rivers, and even two volcanoes, Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna. Mount Redoubt is an active volcano, erupting in 1989 and 2009!

No roads lead to the park and it can only be reached by boat or small aircraft – Which is exactly how we’ll get there the morning following our orientation dinner, which will take place where we’ll meet in Anchorage.

After arriving, we’ll set up basecamp and set out to spend the remainder of the trip hiking and photographing the coastal brown bears of Lake Clark! So, don’t forget to break in your hiking boots.

Camping affords us unsurpassed access to the action going on around the bay, and we’ll undoubtedly be able to capture thousands of excellent images during our adventure. Fantastic, full-frame images are possible with lenses ranging from 300mm to 400mm.

Aside from Brown Bears we may also have the opportunity to photograph other species such as moose, fox, wolf, bald eagles, sea otters and harbor seals.

The wide variety of ecosystems in the Park mean that virtually all major Alaskan animals may be seen in and around the Park. Salmon, particularity sockeye salmon, play a major role in the ecosystem. The Kvichak River is the world’s most productive watershed for sockeye salmon, and the large populations of brown bears are attracted as a result.

And we’ll be there to capture it in all its Alaskan glory!

Unlike the midnight sun that we’ll encounter in June up in Alaska – the sun will set on availability for this fantastic Alaskan getaway, so be sure to make your reservation today before it is too late! We keep our groups small so as to be able to provide plenty of one-on-one instruction, so only a few spots remain.

Kenton Krueger

Kenton Krueger has spent the past several years guiding guiding backpackers, hikers and photographers into the wild places of the American West such as Havasu Falls, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks as well as in the Grand Staircase Escalante in southern Utah. In addition to backpacking and camping, his adventures include rock climbing, exploring the slot canyons of southern Utah, mountain biking, and bagging 14ers in Colorado’s San Juan Mountain Mountain Range. Kenton is a trail runner, former pilot, newspaper photographer and writer. Kenton looks forward to utilizing his years of guiding experience, combined with his passion and experience behind the lens to provide memorable and unforgettable experiences at the wild places we will visit together.