If you haven’t been to Wrangell, in southeast Alaska, you may want to cash in some Alaska Airlines miles and make the trip next week.
It’s the first annual “Bearfest”, starting July 21. Bears are everywhere, but there’s a GOB of blacks and browns at Anan Creek, about 30 miles from Wrangell. I love these photos by Ivan Simonek! Take a jetboat from Wrangell with Alaska Waters. From there, hike an easy half-mile boardwalk trail along the shores of Anan Lagoon before coming to the Observatory. Built by the Forest Service, managers of the Tongass, this viewing stand ensures a relatively safe and comfortable place from which visitors can view bears. Black bears, especially during the summer’s salmon run (late June through August), are the main attraction; but brown bears, bald eagles and other seabirds and mammals may be seen there, as well.
Stay close to your guide. He or she is the one with the sawed-off shotgun. HA!
BEARFEST is a five-day celebration that will include everything from a bear symposium and bear-viewing related workshops, to fun events for the entire family, to the annual Alaska Airlines Golf Tournament at Wrangell’s USGA rated golf course, Muskeg Meadows.
While you’re in Wrangell, go on a jetboat ride up the Stikine River or over to the LeConte Glacier. Check with Alaska Waters online, or visit them in the lobby of the Stikine Inn.
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