Lake Clark National Park (da bears)

I wanted to grab your attention and post a picture first, but now I have to backtrack a little…

We left out of Anchor Point launch area on a half day bear viewing tour by boat over to Lake Clark National Park (about 40 miles across Cook Inlet, taking 1 1/2 - 2 [bumpy] hours each way). A fascinating launching method used here is by tractors -

(note the bald eagle watching on the beach)

Before we left, we donned chest waders and waterproof boots for our landing:

As we approached shore, trying to keep our boots on through the sucking mud, we watched a sow with 2 spring cubs (meaning 6 months old or less) -

They looked like they were all legs -

Bear butt!

As we walked along the beach, we came up on this boar, which was focused on digging for clams, and not at all concerned by us…

…and even let us get on his best side for optimal lighting. ;)

Out in the meadow…

…we watched a sow and her year old triplets graze on the sedge grass (apparently quite nutritious for them) -

She then proceeded to walk down to the beach to go clamming. This video was shot by Steve on his cellphone, with little zooming (they really were right in front of us about 15 yds away):

Yes, these are wild grizzlies.

We sat and watched these guys tussle for quite awhile -

The female in the background wasn’t too impressed -

At one point they looked like they were dancing:

All this activity has made me tired. Time to take a nap.