Katmai Bears- Trip Report by Michael Wald

Bears of the Katmai Coast July 6- 10 , 2012

Katmai National Park in southwest Alaska has some of the biggest brown bears in Alaska, and with rich salmon streams, sedge meadows and clam beds to feed the bruins, Katmai has more bears than almost any other place in the world. People flock from around the globe to watch and photograph bears in Katmai at places like Brooks Falls and Halo Bay. But Arctic Wild takes you to the wild and quiet parts of Alaska’s parks. For the past couple years we have spent a week in July on a Pacific beach in Katmai that provides superb bear viewing, solitude, and great hiking. Each day of the trip is filled with adventure and activity but the real joy of the trip is in simply living amongst the bears.

We set up our weather-worthy camp in the flower covered sand dunes, in an area that the bears don’t often transit, but with a commanding view of the volcano, beach and river mouth. Even if we never left camp, the trip would be satisfying; at each low tide, the bears move from the meadows out onto the beach and scavenge along the tide line. On my last trip to Katmai we saw bears feeding on fish, crabs and even a beach-cast seal all within sight of our camp. When the tide rises, the bears move inland and we can watch them placidly grazing from the dunes behind camp. The vibrant colors of the wildflowers and the glacier cloaked volcanoes make a great background for photographing the bears.

Big, beautiful bears are definitely the highlight of the trip, but Katmai’s coast has so much else to offer. There is a glacier within a days’ walk of camp that you can sometimes hear cracking right from camp. There is beach combing, tide-pooling, and wildflowers galore. There are sea caves, waterfalls, smoking volcanoes, fish-filled ponds, cliffs, tide flats, and seemingly endless rolling tundra. There is no end to the exploration and hiking that we could do in the area.

If you are interested in watching bears in a safe yet truly wild environment, far from the crowds, come camp on Katmai’s coast with us for a week next summer. Read more…. or see some more pictures from our Bears of Katmai National Park trips.

A VERY SPECIAL DAY IN KAKTOVIK by Moe Witschard

This past September, after guiding my final Arctic Wild trip of the season, I found myself at the Okpilak/

Bowhead Maktak

Hulahula Delta with two friends, getting picked up from an 11 day personal trip.  We were met by our Inupiat friend Eddie, who gave us a ride in his motorboat back to his home village, Kaktovik, on Barter Island, from where we planned to fly back home the following day. As we paddled up to his boat, Eddie greeted us and excitedly told us “ I think you guys are gonna see a whale. It sounds like they got one today ! “.

The fall arctic air was cold on our faces as we motored past Bear Island, which was littered with polar bears, probably fifteen. As we pulled onto the beach in Kaktovik and got out of Eddie’s boat, we learned that it was true. A local Inupiat captain had taken a 42 foot Bowhead Whale a few hours before, and was towing it to the village.

The Inupiat have always been whalers and the people of Kaktovik are allowed to take three Bowhead Whales each whaling season, which runs from mid August to mid September, roughly. This was the third and final whale of the season. The tail of this whale was hooked up to a front loader and the carcass dragged up onto the beach. The entire village was out to meet the whale in celebration. Everyone was there. As tradition has it,  the first step is for the children of the village to take turns proudly standing on top of the whale. Following this exciting time when many, many smiles were shared and pictures were taken, the work began. After rinsing the whale, men from the village, led by the family of the captain who took the whale, get busy butchering. We watched for about 5 hours and the men were about half way done when we decided to head to bed as we were hoping to not to meet any of the polar bears that wander the village freely after dark.

The feast went well into the evening. Chunks of the deep maroon colored meat were boiled and served up with a large selection of condiments: salt, pepper, A1 steak sauce, bread and butter pickles, jalapeños, and much more. The meat was complemented by Unalit the outer two inches of the skin and blubber of the animal, which is sliced thin, boiled, and served.  I never thought I’d eat whale, but it was truly delicious !….not unlike a fine cut of elk. People wonder it it’s fishy: not true. In the days that followed, the whale was distributed to members of the village, with the captain’s family keeping some of the finer cuts.

I never thought I’d have an experience like that in the arctic. It’s all about the timing. Now I understand how activities like the regulated Bowhead whale hunt keeps a village like Kaktovik vibrant and proud.

In July 2011, a fun-loving group of friends hired Arctic Wild to guide them on a wild and far-flung adventure in the eastern Aleutians. We spent a week camping on a remote beach; from our base camp we explored the steep and lush mountains, walked the beaches, fished the creek and, of course, soaked in the hot springs. You can have your own Aleutian Hot Springs Adventure in July 2012.

Here is a video of the trip we took last summer.

Many of our clients sign-up for combination trips each summer. Usually they join one of our backpacking trips and segue into a canoe or rafting adventure so they can spend some more time in the arctic and cover some more ground. This June one intrepid traveler went whole hog and combined three trips for a 25 day odyssey and full immersion in the arctic wilderness. 24 nights without a sunset, 24 mornings with birdsong for an alarm clock, 25 days to experience the mystery and magic of the far north. Here is what he had to say about his summer at high latitude:

“In June of 2011 I took three Arctic Wild trips back-to-back-to-back to ensure that I could absorb the intensity and uniqueness of the Arctic. Arctic Wild did a brilliant job of managing my transitions — from a Western Arctic caribou base camp, to the lower Kongakut raft trip, and ending with the Arctic coast canoeing. The three trips were incredibly different, each with its special charms and challenges. On each I could take time to pace myself for the 25 day immersion. The experience was extraordinary and it gave me insights into the full range of the wildlife and Arctic environment, and the awesome power and beauty of the Arctic. I’m 66 and I had no trouble managing this trifecta. If you really want to EXPERIENCE the Arctic, this is the way to do it and Arctic Wild will make it work seamlessly and professionally.” Chuck Ludlam, Washington, D.C.

Our 2012 schedule is now online. We have lots of opportunities for you to immerse yourself in the arctic for a week, a month, or more.

KOBUK RIVER -TRIP REPORT

By Moe Witschard – Guide and Photographer

Moephotography.com

The floats skimmed the surface of Walker Lake as our float plane dropped us off to begin our 9 day Kobuk River expedition. I was here with 3 clients to float the upper 80 miles of the Kobuk in inflatable canoes and to fish ! The upper Kobuk River is well known for its fishery and we came well equipped with 2 rods per person.

Our first day was spent exploring and fishing around Walker Lake. We wandered downstream of the outlet to scout the portage around a 200 yd. stretch of class 4 whitewater in the upper Kobuk canyon, which we would negotiate the following day. The upper Kobuk is a fairly moderate river that is Class 1 and 2 for the most part, but in two canyon sections, it breaks from this pattern and thunders into Class 3 and 4 whitewater for short stretches, all of which can be portaged.

After spending a little over an hour carrying all our gear around the upper Kobuk canyon, the fishing began in earnest. The upper river contains an amazing grayling fishery. We stopped half a dozen times each day to fish and caught dozens of large grayling in the 15-20 in. range. Most of these were released unharmed. We always kept a few for dinner….and we ate fish every night.

As we made our way down the Kobuk, we got into a Chum Salmon run on a major tributary. They were fun to catch, but they were far enough into the spawning process, that we released each one of them. One day we were fishing in a lagoon off of the river and were surprised to come upon a mass of spawning Mountain Whitefish. These fish live after spawning to spawn again the next year. Though the grayling we had been eating every night were delicious, the Mountain Whitefish upped the culinary ante on the trip.

The fishing highpoint came on our final full day on the river. We finally got down into Sheefish country. Sheefish, also known as Inconnu or “Eskimo Tarpon” are incredible fish. They can grow to larger than 40 lbs in the Kobuk River. We fished for them unsuccessfully in 4 different spots that day before we found the “honey hole”.  I was the first one casting and on my 3^rd cast, it was game on! When my first Sheefish jumped, I felt like someone had photoshopped a giant fish onto the end of my line. When I landed it, it measured 42 in., we estimated between 30 and 35 lbs. We continued to fish the hole for an hour and quit after 10 Sheefish had been caught and released. We kept the smallest one, at 11 lbs. for dinner. We filetted it and I sautéed it butter with just a little salt and pepper so as to preserve the native flavor of the fish. We all agreed, from a culinary standpoint, it was 5 star.

If you are dreaming of a Brooks Range river trip, and moderate whitewater and fishing are your priorities, the Kobuk River fits the bill quite nicely.