The rain was still falling when we awoke this morning. The visibility had improved slightly, but varied with the cloud cover. Looking at the weather forecasts, it seemed that the weather was worse to the north of us. Jimmy called at 9 and said he had gotten a weather report from the staff at McNeil and the visibility was better there. He thought that we should show up at his place at 12:15 and make a decision then. Our spirits lifted with that news. We kept watching the weather out the window and convinced ourselves that this was going to happen. When we arrived to Kachemak Air, Jimmy was waiting for us to get a weight of ourselves and gear. We were under the allowed limits and loaded the gear on to the float plane. Jimmy told us that it was looking better and he would do a route that would take us closer to the shores rather than heading directly across the bay. It would be a longer ride and with the weather wouldn’t see as much, but that news didn’t really matter as it looked like we were going to be on our way.
Jimmy checks the route and weather. He shares stories of how he got into flying. It looks like our flight is going to happen!
We are leaving Homer!
The story of this message was that a passenger had hit the window with such force that Jimmy was afraid that he would shatter the window.
The flight over lacked views, but as we approached the other side it had cleared some and we could see the bears on the McNeil River below us.
We fly over the McNeil River and can see the bears below us.
We land in the lagoon and are met by Tim one of the staff members. He help us unload our gear and put it in a wheelbarrow to take it up to the cook shed and tent sites.
All food and any scented items will be kept in the cook shed for the duration of our stay.
We are shown the tent sites and select one that fits our tent.
After getting the tent up and the sleeping bags out, we are given a tour by the staff. We are showed the boundaries, the outhouses and the sauna. The bears are given full roam outside of our boundaries. If they happen to enter one of the staff members in camp is alerted and in a calm manner convinces them to get back in their allowed area. Shortly after we have set up camp a female called Bearded Lady and her cub show up. The cub entertains us by playing with a log in front of the camp.
There is nothing between us and the two bears. We are going to have to get used to being this close to this magnificent animal.
We are told that even though our permit doesn’t start till the 17th, several of the permitees have decided not to go to the river tomorrow and we will be able to go. There will be a briefing at 9 am to tell us the plan for the day. We are here! and ready to experience this area. Before we head to our tent, the group of bear observers return to camp. It sounds like the bears are giving quite the show. Our excitement builds.