I’m just back from an adventure that took me from Juneau up into the Yukon. This was my first trip to Alaska. I’ll have to go back, I didn’t get to see all of it. What got me to finally get around to going was a chance to photograph the steam locomotive on the White Pass & Yukon Railway out of Skagway. Since the 1970s, I’ve been tracking down the remaining operating steam locomotives. WP&Y has been on my list for years. I’ll have a post about that when I get through editing the pix.
Watching the grizzly bears in the salmon streams has been another dream. I was able to take four days on my way to Skagway to stop in the Chilkoot Valley to watch the bears along the Chilkoot River. Chilkoot is described as ‘the poor man’s bear tour’ as it is much less expensive than getting to Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park. Katmai is where the bears in the Fat Bear Week come from. Chilkoot’s bears aren’t as big or as numerous as Katmai’s but I managed to see at least 24 individuals while I was there.
The bears in the Chilkoot Valley are brown bears. They’re the same species as grizzlies but biologists make a distinction between grizzlies that live inland and brown bears that live in the coastal region. Brown bears have access to additional sources of food – like salmon – that the inland bears don’t. Inland grizzlies live on plants, roots, grubs, and insects.
The summer season was winding down as I arrived in Haines. Hotels and restaurants were shuttering for the winter. With a web search, I got lucky and found the Hotel Halsingland. The hotel has combined two of the houses built for officer’s quarters at Fort Seward back in the early 1900’s. The interiors have been beautifully maintained as best they can after adding electric and plumbing. The proprietor was even kind enough to dig out a socket wrench to let me tighten up an errant tripod.
The ferry from Juneau dropped me in Haines in a steady drizzle with heavy, low clouds. Except when the rain turned to a downpour, that was what I got – until the very last morning I was in town.
The Chilkoot River in Haines, Alaska, on the driest and brightest day of my visit.
The river hosts three species of salmon, sockeye (aka red salmon), pink (aka humpy salmon) and silver (aka coho) salmon. And the valley is home to a number of bears. While I was there the females, or ‘sows,’ were the ones out during the day. Late evening and early morning found the males, or ‘boars’, along the river. Sows with cubs avoid the boars, boars will kill cubs of other bears.
The bears are in hyperphagia – the period at the end of the summer where they need to fatten up to survive without eating through the winter.
The star of the show was a female bear with four cubs born this year. Liters of four are extremely rare for bears. The Alaska Fish and Game Department knows her as ‘Bear 925.’ Locals call her Lulu. She seemed on a regular schedule, appearing about dawn to feed for a couple hours before retreating back into the forest, presumably to nurse and rest. She’d reappear between 10:00 and 10:30 for another meal, heading back into the forest about noon. Then about 2:00 to 2:30 she’d return for another meal before heading back into the forest. Late afternoon, she’d reappear to get a meal, departing at dusk, presumably to avoid the boars.
There were other families I saw regularly. One mother with three second-year cubs, and at least three mothers with first- and second-year twins.
On to the bears… Fair warning, there are photos of bears eating fish where we see the insides of the fish on the outside of the fish…..
Meet Bear 925, Lulu to her friends, and one of her cubs.
Lulu’s cubs didn’t seem thrilled with the water. They’d follow her through it, but weren’t big on wading or swimming to fish.
The mothers would bring fish to the cubs along the river. Between deliveries, the cubs would sort through the piles of used fish along the banks. Salmon provide so many nutrients that the forests along salmon streams have faster and denser growth than along streams that don’t host salmon. And, they make the area stink of dead fish.
Lulu watching for fish in shallow water. The runt of Lulu’s litter.
Lulu grabbing what looks like a coho salmon.
One of Lulu’s larger cubs.
Lulu. The economy of Eastern Alaska seems to consist primarily of emptying tourist’s wallets. The locals are very efficient at this. To this end, there are several companies that offer tours to passengers on the visiting cruise ships. They’d arrive in groups from six to about 40. I was very surprised at how close they got to the bears. I figured I could outrun at least one of the tourists in the group and kept not far behind them. I’m sure the bears knew exactly where we were, but they seemed to accept people as the price of the fish.
Lulu enjoying a fresh salmon.
An unwise salmon jumping in front of Lulu. That would be the last mistake that fish made.
Lulu going after the salmon…. Lulu starting in on the fish….
and Lulu finishing the salmon.
Meanwhile, back on shore, two of Lulu’s cubs were having a tug-of-war over an old fish.
Lulu crossing the river. A good good time to use a long lens.
One of Lulu’s cubs following her across.
This cub took a longer, but drier, route.
One of Lulu’s cubs with a salmon. I missed how he? acquired it. Best guess is the salmon died after spawning and was floating downstream where the cub grabbed it.
This is a second sow. She has three second-year cubs. Her cubs were foraging for their own fish. She would still catch and provide fish for them. She also ate her share.
One of the triplets sorting through the leftovers along the bank.
A second cub fishing for himself.
The third cub with a catch.
After seeing that her cubs all had fish and having a couple herself, mom plunked herself down on her butt to rest.
One of the cubs going back for seconds. The white collar is common on young brown bears, often appearing in their first year and fading out in their third.
Mom finished her rest and went back to work.
Grappling with a salmon. Some fish are worth chasing.
The afternoon of my second day, Lulu took her cubs to the other side of the river. Since they seemed reluctant to swim, she made the obvious choice and marched across the road bridge to the other side.
Lulu kept to her schedule. No matter the species, you can recognize ‘KNOCK IT OFF!’ from mom.
Lulu and her family.
Another mother with twins. And an attitude about photographers.
Her cubs were checking the leftovers on the shore while she went fishing.
One of her cubs made an unsuccessful pounce after a fish.
Another attempt to catch a fish.
Sometime overnight, Lulu brought her family back on the near side of the river. Looks like a good spot for a family picnic. One of the cubs wandered off to do some exploring.
And to taunt the photographer.
Lulu’s cubs split up and she went downstream. This cub lost track of mom and stood up to look for her while he called. He soon figured out where everyone had gone and went to join them.
Lulu and her family reconvened for another meal.
The leftovers onshore weren’t to Lulu’s liking and she went back to fishing.
One of Lulu’s cubs ventured into the water. When he came out, he shook like a dog.
Another shot of Lulu.
Lulu watching for salmon. The gulls were a constant presence along with lots of other waterfowl. I didn’t get many photos of them. It seemed unwise to be crouching near the bear’s food along the water’s edge – where the running water made it next to impossible to hear – while there were hungry bears about.
There were a couple dozen eagles by the river, mostly too far away for good photos. One of Lulu’s cubs watching to see which way the family was headed.
Back on the far side of the river, one of the triplets settled in for a meal. The gulls gathered waiting for scraps.
And with time to catch the ferry out of town running low, one last shot of Lulu’s family heading back up into the forest. Sort of the ursine version of the Abbey Road Album cover?
There are still several thousand images I have yet to go through. I’ll get the steam engine posted in several days and probably a post of scenery – mostly from the ferry as we went up the Lynn Canal between Juneau and Skagway.
I still have copies of my 2026 calendar. They’re available online here. If you’re around West Newbury, I’ve got a supply in my car.
