Silver salmon creek

what do you guys think of silver salmon creek for a bear viewing trip,, they have an overnight trip that may be in my price range...
I love traveling and i do it often but it seems as though you always need to have about 5 grand to do the cool stuff

thanks

jeff

Hey Jeff,

You don't need 5 grand - you need a tent. :)

I've never been to Silver Salmon .. but the folks I know who've gone there like it. The ATV thing isn't my idea of good form, but that's ANILCA for ya, what can ya say.

Cheers

Carl

carl .. i will be in a tent while in alaska.. are there any places that are affordable and offer me good bear photography??? also are there any other suggestions on places to go (going to homer,seward, denali mayee faribanks) while in alaska..

thanks jeff

I think Silver Salmon Lodge is great.

There is lots to do in Seward. Exit Glacier, Lost Lake Trail, and visiting the Fjords of Kenai Fjords via tour boat or kayak.

In Denali, hiking and exploring that National Park should keep you occupied.

Homer doesn't do much for me, but there are lots of gifts shops, restaurants and the like and most visitors seem to like that stuff. There are nice tide pools, and it is a good jumping off spot for places like Halibut Cove, Seldovia or Katmai.

In Fairbanks it seems like I'm just stopping for the night on my way to other places like the Dalton Highway. There are number of shops and tourist attractions there including a paddle boat ride. There is at least one Fairbanks photographer (Jim) here on NPN who could probably add much more.

Fairbanks has a few decent photo spots (Creamer's Refuge, for example), but mostly it's a place you go through to get somewhere more photogenic. And there are some very good hiking trails in the area; see Fairbanks Hiking & Birding Guide, by Arctic Audubon for a general guide. If you can get wheels, both the Steese Highway to Eagle Summit and the Pinnell Mountain Trail and the Dalton Highway to the Brooks Range and the North Slope are excellent. If you can afford a charter flight, there's no limit to terrific destinations: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Gates of the Arctic, Yukon-Charley, and much more.

If you are interested in a guided trip, I'm a big fan of Wilderness Birding Adventures. Their trips aren't cheap but they are a lot less than $5,000.

The thing to remember is that Alaska is HUGE. It's a mistake to try and do the whole place at once. Pick a couple targets and do them well.

"The thing to remember is that Alaska is HUGE. It's a mistake to try and do the whole place at once. Pick a couple targets and do them well."

Bingo! It's easy to over-schedule a trip, reducing you to making checkmarks on an itinerary, but little time at each destination.

Hey Jeff

There are some backcountry places in Katmai or Lake Clark you could go camp and photograph bears, but I wouldn't advise or recommend that to anyone without solid experience in bear photography and camping in bear country.

Denali offers some great bear photo opps, and if you camp is pretty cheap. I think it'd be my first recommendation for someone just wanting an 'overall Alaska' trip.

It's SO hard to offer recommendations on the net here, without a lengthy conversation; for most folks, what would be MY preference wouldn't match there's at all, and that's probably true for most of us here. It really comes down to what you want to do, how you want to travel, etc, etc.

I know people, for example, who flew into Katmai for a day (really a half day, maybe 6-8 hours), flew back out, and had a great time. I'd be still unloading my camera bag in that amount of time, it wouldn't suit me at all.

I've never been a big fan of the Kenai, but then I look at Ron's photos and I keep thinking 'man, I gotta spend some more time down there'.

It really depends if your trip is a "phototrip" or a vacation with a camera. For me, a phototrip to AK, for that amount of time, would mean spending the entire time in one area - Denali, Wrangell - St. Elias National Park, Gates of the Arctic (I SO want to go to Arrigetch peaks sometime soon) the Kenai, Katmai or whatever. Other folks like to spend a few days and move on.

Cheers

Carl

I've spent some time at Silver Salmon (subbed in the Ranger Cabin). It's really a good place for bear photography, you have a lot of freedom and there are lots of bears. You see a variety of behavior and they are all around you unlike a place such as Chinitna Bay down the coast where you basically get a view of the meadow from a single point. There are lots of bear here too, but it's much harder from a photography point of view. At SS it's not uncommon to see bears wandering the beach, digging for clams, wading in the streams, or just munching on sedge. The folks running the Silver Salmon Lodge are hard to beat too. They'll keep you safe and really help you take advantage of the situation.

I wouldn't recommend a tent on the Lake Clark coast. The bears are pretty habituated to people in places like Silver Salmon, but they really are everywhere.

Hey Jeff - it was great to run into you and Jill at dinner the other night, to think we just happened to be at the same table - I hope the rest of your trip goes well!