Thank you to Henry Bin Uyu Hidayat, Statendam’s human resources clerk, for another fun post about his recent adventure with a bear in Alaska.

I did this drive with Yono the controller, but the stories are from a different view.

“Bears, where are you?” three of us screamed wildly, after a very long time searching. We found nothing but then …

The road trip by rental car drove slowly, from the pier to the state national park, we keep on eye on each side to hopefully find a bear.

Scrambling to find the bear in a beautiful oceanside setting along the way couldn’t stop us from taking hundreds of pictures. Mountains, flying bald eagles, a very clear river decorated by jumping salmon and fisherman. It’s a beautiful live painting. Finally we were in Hanging Glacier; it is a magical view from Red Lodge where we stop by to take a break.

“During salmon season, bears often fish in the creek. We should be cautions when using a trail beside water,” said Jess, the guide.

In the next couple of minutes we return to Chilkoot Lake.

Our eyes are stunned when we see there’s a nice fish viewing bridge and a walkway with platforms where we can view fisherman. Fishing in Alaska is allowed from the creek mouth to a specially marked cable. Fishing is closed during the night. As always on an Alaskan trip, we need to check regulations before fishing and get a State of Alaska fishing license.

“Speak calmly, the bear can sound really mad, but don’t run,” said the fisherman, when a brown bear suddenly reached the river.

We paused, did not move at all. All we could do was wait. My heart pounded so fast, I had mixed feelings of excited and scared. I couldn’t believe that our eyes were only 3 meters from the bears, it was close enough for the bear to attack us.

Once she walked to catch the fish, then we found a safe distance and took out our cameras.

This was a real adventure, seeing a bear catch salmon in their habitat at a very close distance. Totally wildlife experienced for a lifetime.

Although the photo looks ferocious, I would say the grizzly was playing and having a great time while wandering the creek.