We spent over three weeks in Alaska with a focus on photographing Coastal Brown Bears as they fished for salmon. The trip was in two parts, the first in Katmai and the second in Silver Salmon Creek further north along the coast of Alaska. We departed from Homer and flew by float plane to Kukak Bay in Katmai National Park. We spent the following eight days staying on the Ursus on a NatHab trip. Each day we headed into one of the several bays along the coast where bears had congregated to fish on the salmon that were heading to their spawning grounds. We were guided by the outstanding Drew Hamilton, ably assisted by Teresa Whipple, and we saw many, many bears of all ages - a fantastic trip. Thanks especially to Drew but also Teresa, Joan, Bill, John Whittier and Alex for looking after us so well. We returned to Homer before driving to Anchorage and joining a Natures Images tour led by Danny Green and Edwin Katz. From Anchorage we flew to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge for seven nights, heading to the estuary each day to search for bears. There are fewer bears here than in the bays of Katmai, but we certainly had quality sightings. As the coast here faces east it was a perfect place for trying to photograph bears as the sun rose, and we were able to do this on three mornings. A star was a yearling cub which we immediately named Goofball due to his constant naughty and silly behaviour. Silver Salmon Creek Lodge was a delightful base and thanks to David, Joanne and Ollie for looking after us so well. The combination of bear viewing at these two locations was excellent and we had many memorable encounters.

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