One for #ThrowbackThursday captured one year ago today in what was the single most amazing wildlife viewing experience I have ever had.

My wife and I were spending two weeks RVing in Alaska exploring from Denali down to Homer and everything in between. As the trip was nearing an end, we took a float plane into Katmai National Park and Preserve, a vast, largely untouched wilderness.

Hiking along the river, we saw dozens of brown bears that day. They largely ignored us human interlopers and remained focused on the potential feast in the water before them – salmon.

The techniques the bears used varied. Some would simply stand in the water and wait for the fish to come to them. Others, like this beautiful one, were more active, running in the shallows while watching for the bright, red fish and then running full speed toward their target.

It was simply amazing to see and an experience I will never forget.

Spending time in brown bear territory of course has its risks. However, the bears in this area of Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska generally just ignore the human fishermen and photographers.

They are far more interested in the salmon than us bipedal creatures. We saw dozens of bears, most didn’t even cast us a glance.

Our guide explained that the ones to be most wary of were the young ones. They will have not been on their own for long, are inherently curious and have not quite learned the rules of the road in dealing with humans.

These two fit that description. They were coming up the river toward us and showed no inclination to keep a healthy distance. Our guide told us to be prepared to back up should the pair continue to approach and, of course, we didn’t need to be told twice.

Thankfully, after stopping a bit close and sniffing the air, they decided we weren’t worth their interest and moved on. A fun but slightly disconcerting encounter. 😉

One more for Mothers Day. Taken last July in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

This brown bear sow and her three cubs were working their way down the river. She would eventually stash them in some tall grass then go fishing where she proved her prowess as the provider for the little ones.

Try as we might, we never could get a decent shot of her with the three of them but it was a thrill to see them. She was large and in charge and definitely ready to protect her cubs if need be. Those little ones, well, they definitely were cute although here they were pretty soaked having just swam across the river.

The fish were running away and I can’t say I blame them as I would too with 1,000+ pounds of hairy beast chasing after me. 🙂

This particular boar put on a nice show for us in Katmai National Park and Preserve this past summer, largely because he just wasn’t that good at fishing. It took him multiple attempts to catch one giving us a bunch of photo ops of him running through the waters of the river chasing the salmon.

More than that, it gave us a great appreciation of the size and power of these creatures. Just absolutely impressive.

One thing I don’t do often enough is take “environment shots” – pictures that show not only the wildlife that I am photographing but also the environment in which they are living. I tend to want to zoom or crop in, get the close in view which does tend to add drama. However, in doing so it doesn’t convey an entire scene or give perspective.

When we were in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, the bears were of course the highlight but there was no escaping the beauty of that alpine tundra that they call home. It was breathtaking. I did manage to grab a few shots that give you an idea of the terrain and the beauty, including this one.

The size of the salmon in Alaska were pretty impressive. They of course paled in comparison to their predator, the coastal brown bear.

We watched bears with varying levels of skill at catching the fish with some being very efficient, others still needing some work with their technique. This bear was among the better at catching its prey and, if you look in the background, that didn’t go unnoticed by a neighboring bear.

Just after this image was taken, the bear in the back came running after the lead bear, hoping to steal its meal. Both took off running through the brush and out of sight unfortunately but we could hear the sounds of a dispute over rights to the fish. Would have loved to have gotten pics of them settling their disagreement!

What happens when a 1,000 pound brown bear belly flops into a school of salmon? Sometimes it will come up with one in its jaws but almost every time it sends some of the fish flying through the air.

Brown bears use a number of different techniques to catch their meals. If they are someplace like the infamous Brooks Falls, they can simply stand or sit and wait for the fish to jump out of the water as they swim upstream. In flatter terrain like this river, the bears have to take a much more active approach and each has varying levels of success.

While we saw some bears do little more than lunge with their head into the water to grab a fish, this particular bear took the “all in” approach. It would run and do a total belly flop into the water. It of course makes a tremendous splash and all you see is water and fish flying.

The action was pretty fun to see – even if you didn’t actually see the bear.

During our visit to Katmai National Park & Preserve this past summer, the action was fast and furious oftentimes. There were times, however, when things settled down and we and the brown bears took it easy.

Such was the case with this good looking one. It had caught a few fish and, with its stomach full, pulled up a spot in the river and relaxed. It was well aware of us but unthreatened and seemed to be as fascinated with watching us just as we were with watching it.

The bear was gorgeous but I was keenly aware of what an impressive animal it was. It was probably pushing close to 800lbs so its sheer size was an attention-getter and those claws, well, they served as a reminder of the deadly potential of these creatures.

These triplets were following along with their mom while she was fishing Moraine Creek in National Park Service Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

The sow would go into the river to catch her meals and the three would dutifully stay ashore and wait for her to return. Normally they were wise and stayed hidden in the grass but a few times we got a good look at them.

They were so darned cute but I never could get all three to look at me at once and they always seemed to be on the wrong side of the light. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to be able to see cubs of the year.