Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham
Planes. Planes. Planes. Bears! Bears! Bears! The Travel This camp isn’t easy to get to, and that’s a substantial part of the appeal. I flew a commercial airliner to Anchorage. The following morning, I took a cab to Merrill Field and boarded a nine-seat Cessna … Continue readingBear Camp – Behind the Scenes
A Perfect Week with Bears in Katmai National Park, Alaska I spent most of the morning watching a brown bear lazily grazing through willows and alders on the far side of a lake in Katmai National Park. I was comfortable in my camp chair under … Continue readingA Bear’s Life (Katmai National Park)
Let Nature Heal You I awoke to word from home about yet another hiccup in one more seemingly straightforward home improvement project. I’ve been in Anchorage, Alaska, for a week. I arrived on a record-setting cold April day at the end of a record snowfall … Continue readingBlack Bears in Anchorage
It’s a happy, warm, sunny day in Seward, Alaska. August days like this are a special treat in this rainy Pacific coast town. The Trail The Lost Lake Trail in Seward traverses seven miles over 1200 feet of elevation gain to its namesake alpine lake. … Continue readingLost Lake Trail in Seward, Alaska
Too Hot for Bears We’re sitting on a dilapidated old viewing platform above the O’Malley river in Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. The views are expansive. Up the river, I can see the O’Malley Lake to my right, mountains across the valley in front of me, … Continue readingFishing Fox
A Different Culture The bears in Kodiak are different than other bears I’ve been around. Like people, various populations have their own cultures and dialects. The body language that might tell a Katmai bear to settle down would send a Kodiak brown bear running over … Continue readingKodiak Brown Bears
We’re sitting on top of a bluff overlooking the Thumb River in Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, watching and waiting for Kodiak’s famed brown bears. The slope down to the river is steep, partially vegetated, but mostly exposed dirt and rock. A wildlife trail leads down … Continue readingBold, Curious Kodiak Island Fox
“In wilderness is the preservation of the world.” – Henry David Thoreau A dark shape in the matted grass above the Thumb River catches my eye. A cross fox is rolling, feet toward the sky, scratching his back. He stood, shook, and disappeared behind a … Continue readingThe Foxes of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
I didn’t expect to find myself in the middle of spring bird migration in Anchorage in late April. But that is exactly what happened. I guess when summer only lasts three months before the snow flies again, you’d better be here when it starts. I … Continue readingSpring Bird Migration in Anchorage
Georgia has Old Car City, but Alaska has Eklutna Tailrace. Sure Old Car City has more than 4000 cars over six miles of land. Yet, Alaska has the serendipitous surprise of bits and pieces of dilapidated cars peeking out of the ground that’s reclaiming them … Continue readingOld Car City Alaska Style