Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Bear Bonanza in Alaska - August 27 2008

Next morning we took a detour to Hope only to see dead salmon and the still town and smell the stinking river. We then drove by Tern Lake (very beautiful) and turned towards Cooper Landing to visit the Russian River Falls. There is a trail by the river which we did not take. We did take the easier trail to the viewing platform above Russian River Falls. Russian river Falls had fishing, berry-picking and bear viewing enthusiasts along the river and trail.

While nobody we met on the trail had seen a bear, the logs indicated that some people had in the morning. With our fingers crossed, we ambled on the trail with mountain views and typical Alaskan lush greenery. As we reached the platform hikers were glued to the viewing platform watching a bear eating its second catch. Thrilled enough while at the same time hoping that she would indulge in the 'catching' act, we stay put. She did catch three more and treat herself and the smart birds unwittingly, peed strong and long and disappeared on the other side of the river. We didn't move until the bear did. Once the bear left, the salmon started jumping up the falls. We had our fill of viewing and left Russian River to Seward exhilarated. THe Kenai lake close to Russian river campground is a beautiful surreal blue. We settled into the Seward City campground and had a lovely (though timed) shower before calling it a night. We could see some otters right from our RV campsite (sans hookups - Tek trained us well)

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