# Alaska Trip Bear/I'm a wilderness girl now!



## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

Well, I'm officially a wilderness girl now, so I thought I'd share a pic from my Alaska trip last month. 
This isn't great quality, but it's the only one that I have handy that is resized:biggrin1:


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## snfager (Sep 29, 2006)

WOW, that is a great bear picture. We just returned from 6 weeks in Alaska/Canada and none of my bear pictures are that good. Were you that close or were you using a telephoto lens?

Sharon


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Great picture! Not sure I'd want to be there up close and personal but love to see them.


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

Sharon, 
We were with a guide and we were really that close. No telephoto lens.  She was probably 15 feet from me. That was our first day there and I have to say I was SCARED! lol


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## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Dawna, what a great shot! And they look like they're posing for you! What precious baby cubs!


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

I have some CUTE cubs pics...don't encourage me...I'll keep posting them. HA
It was a totally awe inspiring trip.


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

LOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!!


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Dawna said:


> Sharon,
> We were with a guide and we were really that close. No telephoto lens.  She was probably 15 feet from me. That was our first day there and I have to say I was SCARED! lol


I'm jealous I 'd love to have been there! No telephoto lens :jaw:
What lens did you have on the trip and for that photo? Canon???


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

I had my Nikon D80...and the lens that came with...i'm not even sure what that is 30- something or other? And seriously...that pics is bad...it's not sharp at all..i was shaking I think. haha


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

P.S....I did have a longer lens with me...that I used some days...but then it croaked...so luckily most of the time we were that close. The only thing I could have gotten better shots of with a long lens were some wolf pups...I still got pics...but not good ones...


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## whitBmom (Nov 27, 2006)

Great pic! Amazing how close of a picture that is!


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Dawna said:


> P.S....I did have a longer lens with me...that I used some days...but then it croaked...so luckily most of the time we were that close. The only thing I could have gotten better shots of with a long lens were some wolf pups...I still got pics...but not good ones...


another Nikon fan and that picture looks good to me!:biggrin1:


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Post away Dawna, we would love to see more. Cute widdle bears.


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

That is a fabulous picture Dawna! A real wilderness girl!!!
Did you get together with Melissa or was it a seperate trip?:boink: Do tell of your adventures!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Yes, do post your photos! I will enjoy them vicariously through you. As I have NO desire to get up that close and personal to a mama bear and her babies. I am a total wuss when it comes to mama bears!! By the way, I thought it was a great photo!


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## Administrator (Aug 5, 2010)

Wow that is a fantastic shot. So um, did the bears see you guys?


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

Julie, it was a trip 'because' of Melissa..she's totally to blame...but no, she didn't go with me...she IS GOING with me on the next one...maybe a Polar Bear trip...we'll see...

Yep, Yung...they did see us...the Mom came over closer, flopped over on her back and started nursing both those cubs...can't even describe it...


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Love the picture and they do look like their posing for you!!!!!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

That is SOOO very cool! I want to go on a wilderness bear sight seeing trip, that has to just be a blast. 

It is going on my want to do list! Awesome picture, I'd frame it..
Kara


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

Kara, it should be on the top of your list!!! Amazing!


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

Sounds like a great trip Dawna.:thumb:
I think being an adventurer with Melissa would be a fun experience in and of itself....and to see the bears (polar or otherwise)would just be a bonus!


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Hey, I know that bear! I think that's the one who poked a hole in our kitchen window screen and stole our bag of marshmellows. Glad to see it's happy and with family now.

Great pic Dawna!!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Melissa and Dawna,
Where do you go to do this? Is there like a popular destination spot for this, or just rent a cabin in the woods and go explore?
My kids would totally dig it and so would I. Cool stuff!!


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

Well, Melissa and I both went so some of the same areas of the Katmai coastal wilderness..Melissa also went to an area called Brooks close to there..You can camp at Brooks..
You pretty much either have to do a day trip fly-in via float plane from Kodiak...or there are a FEW people running 'bear boats' in that area. They are basically converted crabbing or fishing vessels that you stay on and then go out on smaller boats 'skiffs' during the day that take you back and forth to the coast to see the bears. 
It's a pretty strenuous trip if you stay out there because you are doing a LOT of hiking/walking in hip waders, through rivers/streams, tall grassy, rocks..etc. You basically spend 8 hours a day doing that. If you do a day trip...they fly you in..you walk around for the day and see the bears, take pics, etc. So either way you get to see the bears, it just depends on which is a better fit for what you actually want to do.
p.s.
it's over 100 miles to the nearest road, fyi


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Oh wow! I think I would be more of a fly in type of person rather than a hike 12 miles kind of person, but either way it sounds fun. I am seriously going to look into this for a family trip, it'd be something really neat everyone would remember...I mean, how can you forget seeing a bear like the ones in your picture? 

As long as there is wifi and a starbucks, I'm good. ound:...


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

_Thumperlove;350545]Oh wow! I think I would be more of a fly in type of person rather than a hike 12 miles kind of person, but either way it sounds fun. I am seriously going to look into this for a family trip, it'd be something really neat everyone would remember...I mean, how can you forget seeing a bear like the ones in your picture?

As long as there is wifi and a starbucks, I'm good. ound:...[/QUOTE
[/B]_[/I]

You can't forget it, Kara. It was something I can't even explain. Melissa warned me it was gonna be something that stays with you forever, but you can't describe it to someone else. Awesomeness.

I saw groups of people that did the fly in trips and they were getting the same photo ops as we did...they just mainly stayed out closer to the water and didn't do so much trekking. 

No phone, no wi-fi for a whole week and I made it!!

There are several float plane companies that will do the day trips out and back. There are also some wheeled planes that will land on the beach. DON'T DO THAT....the guides say landing a wheel plane there is dangerous, no one would even do it until recently. You are flying over water a LOT and um, float planes float, wheeled planes do not.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Dawna said:


> _Thumperlove;350545]Oh wow! I think I would be more of a fly in type of person rather than a hike 12 miles kind of person, but either way it sounds fun. I am seriously going to look into this for a family trip, it'd be something really neat everyone would remember...I mean, how can you forget seeing a bear like the ones in your picture?
> 
> As long as there is wifi and a starbucks, I'm good. ound:...[/QUOTE
> [/B]_[/I]
> ...


Very good advice!!  There are 9 of us, so we could probably charter one pretty easily, I'm guessing Gucci couldn't come? We usually take her on vacation and keep her with us if we can or leave her at the rental house/cabin..It'd be fun to rent a cabin and see these beach bum surfer kids of mine in the woods! LOL IT would be cool just because it is sooo far out our daily life, I guess is a good way to put it, we are so far removed from that stuff living in West Texas and Virginia Beach  
Kara


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

It would be a long flight for her out there and back...it's about 8 hours from DFW to Anchorage, then another hour to Kodiak...

There are a lot of areas that do bear tours...so you might find a shorter flight to some of those places..? They even do them at Yellowstone..so that's an option...just different scenery..


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

Kara check out Brooks lodge. They have cabins and the bears walk by your cabins, you don't have to walk as far if you don't want to. Plus they have good meals and a bar.  It would be good for a family.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Thanks guys! We did talk about Yellowstone once, we should explore that, I'll look into the Brooks lodge.. I want to take them out of the element, expand paradigms and all that, not to mention, I know stuff like this is so much better in RL than it is in pictures, although..I'd have to face my fear of owls..eek.:laugh:


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## Melissa Miller (Aug 2, 2006)

Fear of OWLS??? Can you elaborate?


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

We have a Barn owl that has now made a home in the woods behind my house it's got a round face I haven't been able to get a pic. But the horned ones scare me too.


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

I have to live my boring life through you guys..but it sure sounds like a wonderful trip!


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Okay, the owl thing...

It started when I was about 20 and lived in Oak Harbor, Washington and there was the OWL, this big owl with scary bright eyes that would look in my window every night (he/she would perch right in front of the window) and hoot and howl all night and it just creeped me out to the extent that I was afraid to go outside late at night because of the owl and I would even have dreams (nightmares!) that entailed this owl stalking me.

I don't know why this bird stalked me and I may never know, but the whole owl stalking thing was just.......scary. 

I officially sound like a lunatic, now. ound:

Hasn't everyone been stalked by a feathered friend?


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

You don't sound like a lunatic.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

I thought there would be more pictures by now Dawna!


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## Lilly'sMom (Jan 28, 2010)

I have a co-worker who is afraid of owls after seeing a movie about alien abductions where owls play a significant role. Maybe the movie writer had been stalked by an owl too.


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Thumperlove said:


> Okay, the owl thing...
> 
> It started when I was about 20 and lived in Oak Harbor, Washington and there was the OWL, this big owl with scary bright eyes that would look in my window every night (he/she would perch right in front of the window) and hoot and howl all night and it just creeped me out to the extent that I was afraid to go outside late at night because of the owl and I would even have dreams (nightmares!) that entailed this owl stalking me.
> 
> ...


Maybe it was a handsome young prince, trapped in the body of an owl by a wicked witch, just waiting for the kiss of a beautiful young princess to free him??  Not trying to make light of your fear (I have a thing about bats), but that popped into my head when I was reading that!


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

Missy....I keep meaning to put more up....fell asleep at 9:30 last night...that's my only excuse. HA


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

You know, in retrospect, maybe the owl could see himself in the mirror and was hooo-ing at what he thought was another owl ignoring his advances??? ound:

BUT.....I will say that real life owls are kinda scary looking compared to the cutesy little drawings and owl art out there, they look nothing like that..

Kara


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

*Baby Bears!*

Here you go, Missy


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

OH MY LORDY!!!! what cute "little" babes. I have never seen pictures of baby bears the lighter color of the one the right.


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## Dawna (Aug 3, 2006)

He was really light, Missy...i'm not a very good photog, so I couldn't get him to show as light as he actually was without totally washing him out..


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