Fishes & Mooses & Bears, Oh My! (Part II)
- bbsea123atmpl
- Aug 1, 2023
- 7 min read
Friday, July 7th, we were up early (5:30 wake up knock & coffee drop before breakfast) and out on the Kulik River by 7:15 with our guide Jenna. Jenna lives in Kodiak and is a school councilor during the school year and guides at Kulik for fun during her summers off. She had a great personality and it was a lot of fun spending time with her.
It was a drop dead gorgeous morning . . .
Up ahead in the river, Jenna spotted two bears, long before we saw them.
It was a mama & baby brown bear trying to cross the very swift Kulik River. Mama had no problem, but the baby really struggled.
After a quick shake . . .
. . . mama turned around to assess the situation . . .
(Let's get a little closer look at that bear!)
. . . then continued on her way to the riverbank.
She slipped into the grasses where the baby had gone.
Finally, they were reunited . . .
But, mama wasn't happy. For some reason, she wanted to be on the other side of the river and we had interrupted their crossing. So, they attempted to cross again.
We left them to finish their crossing in peace.
Moving on . . .
Don & Jenna -
Motoring to one of Jenna's favorite fishing spots. The river was calm, but had a very strong current.
- and the water here was as clear as it was on American Creek . . .
Guide Charlie with guests Barry O'Neill and his 10 year old grandson, Liam, cruised by.
After a tough morning of fishing, it was time to return to the Lodge for a delicious, HOT lunch!!! YAY!
Back on the river after refueling our bodies, Jenna got a call on her 2-way radio about two sibling bears wrestling in the river. By the time we got there, the fun was over and they were crossing the river.
Barry & Liam got an up close and personal view of those bears!
And just like that, they were gone.
Don & Jenna -
Nice Rainbow!
We saw a different variety of merganser than we have in Wyoming.
A little later, we spotted a cow moose along the riverbank -
- and the bugs were really bothering her!
Then, we had the spot of the trip . . . a lynx! I had never seen one before, but right here, along the river was a lynx!
It took one last look and was gone in the tall grasses.
When we returned to camp later that afternoon, Jenna told Camp Manager Bryce that we had spotted a lynx. Bryce said he had been there for 8 years and had only seen 2. Apparently, we were very lucky to have seen that one!
Spotting brown bears was easy. They were everywhere!
A merganser making waves.
While Don & Jenna were out of the boat fishing, we heard this tremendous ruckus. After a few moments, a bull moose appeared. He was swimming across the river.
And, he was in a very BIG hurry.
We think this was the reason!
That same bear continued toward us. Jenna caught this photo of Don & I and the bear. (It's at the far left of the photo, swimming in our direction.)
It continued to swim closer & closer . . .
Then stepped out of the river and shook off.
After one last look, it disappeared into the thick brush.
Don & Jenna continued to fish, and I kept my eyes open for this bear.
Some shots of Don fishing . . .
You can click on each photo to see the entire picture.
Around 4:30, we headed back to the Lodge and had so many amazing stories and photos to share with the staff and guests alike!
Saturday, we headed back to Brooks Falls for a second shot at the bears. Hopefully some salmon had made their way up the river. Chris was at the controls.
Chris had to stop short of the beach and wait while three brown bears cleared the landing area.
Once we were off of the plane, we spotted another bear walking along the trail . . .
. . . and down toward the beach.
We made our way back to Brooks Falls, and signed in on the waitlist. After what seemed like an eternity, our pager went off and we were allowed through the gate toward the Falls platform.
The bears were there, but the fish still weren't.
The mergansers were there, too.
This bear was even checking under the rocks for fish.
You really had to keep an eye out for bear activity. They were walking the same trails as we did!
Hmmmm . . . wonder how magpie would taste?
Tempers were flaring up as these two crossed paths.
No harm / no foul. They both went peacefully on their way.
Then, it was time to leave the Falls and head back toward the Lodge for our flight back to Kulik. Along the raised walkway, not far from the Lodge, we spotted a mother brown bear with two cubs.
Without fish, she was encouraging her family to graze on the grass.
Check out this little cubs nails!
And mama's!
Our flight back to Kulik was uneventful and after dinner, we made it an early night.
At 7:20 am Sunday morning, it was a beautiful day as we waited to board our floatplane on our way to do some salmon fishing!
Our plane . . .
Connor was the pilot -
Don & Charlie, our guide, were sitting in the back.
The view on our way to the Kvichak River . . .
Our boat was anchored along the river bank as we arrived -
After unloading our gear and provisions, Connor headed back to the pilots' controls and he was off on to another location to shuttle more guests to other locations!
Making our way to the mouth of the river. It was SO cold and the wind was howling. The closer we got to the mouth of the river, the colder it felt!
Charlie pulled the boat over and anchored along the river bank. All of the sudden it wasn't so cold. Once out of the boat, Don started catching salmon immediately!
Hard to tell who's more proud, Charlie or Don!
I did my fair share of fishing, too.
Now, that's a beast!
I look so perfectly natural . . . and I don't usually fish!
These guys were so slippery, I had a hard time holding on to them. This one got a little close and personal . . . and, he slimed me! Yes, I did wash my jacket as soon as we got back to Wyoming!
Our limit - 5 fish each. Charlie kept the best ones for our collection.
Having our limit didn't stop us. No way! We kept on fishing! We had all morning to fish and that's exactly what we did. We kept Charlie busy running back and forth between the two of us unhooking and releasing fish we couldn't keep. At times, we both had fish on, but Charlie never wavered. He kept running back and forth, removing the fish from our lines. And, we kept catching them!
After lunch, Charlie got busy filleting them, on the bank of the river.
All told, once they were trimmed and cleaned up, we had 40 pounds of fresh salmon to bring home with us! Charlie kept the bellies. He said he knew someone that liked them. We think maybe that was Charlie! Anyway, he had worked hard and had those fish filleted in 31 minutes flat. He deserved the bellies!
A Bonaparte's gull and lots of other seagulls helped with the clean up! And, they made quick work of what was left!
Flying back from Kvichak River.
The next morning, Don decided to fish the Kulik River & Lake again. I was delighted, because this is where we saw all of the amazing wildlife. What a difference a day makes. It was FREEZING cold and the wind howled! Don's guide, Ben, was a tall drink of water and could see the fish pretty well from his vantage point. Even so, the fishing was hard. The wind affected casting and the fish were playing hard to get. That didn't slow Don down one bit! He kept trying.
I was soooo cold! I was wearing 3 pair of socks, 3 pair of pants under my waders, 4 tops under 2 jackets, a gator and a knit hat under my hood and I still couldn't get warm. But, I hung in there. Just waiting for something to photograph!
Finally! A mallard hen with chicks.
After a very long morning, we went in for lunch and I opted to stay at the cabin when the guys went back out to fish that afternoon. I showered, layered up and climbed into bed with two wool blankets over the covers. I just couldn't get warm. That's where Don found me when he returned from his final day of fishing. He convinced me to go to dinner at the Lodge later that evening, since it was our last night there. But, I was back in bed as soon as we returned to our cabin, still trying to get warm.
July 11th, was moving day. We were up early because breakfast ended each morning at 7:00! We took our time packing because our flight back to Anchorage was at 1:00. We had lunch with a small group of folks and soon they called us for our flight. We took a van up to the runway, watching for a bear they had spotted on their cameras earlier in the day. Unfortunately, the bear had moved on.
One last look at the Lodge where we had made some new friends, enjoyed some delicious meals and shared some wonderful stories.
Waiting for the next group of visitors to deplane so that we could hop on board for our flight back to Anchorage -
From up above, you can see the runway we used to take off from Kulik -
One last look at the property as we flew by -
That evening, back in Anchorage -
It was another trip of a lifetime. But, I think we've been there and done that. They do have several webcams at Brooks Falls that I visit regularly and have seen that the salmon finally did make it to the Falls and the bears were rewarded for their patience.
Hope you enjoyed our trip. It's nice to visit, but its ALWAYS great to get back to Moose Point Lodge!
Take care & have a fabulous week.
Love, Barbara
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