You have to go to bear school before they let you into Katmai National Park and here's the reason why. Grizzly bears, some as big as nine feet tall, roam the same grounds the guests do.

These giant brown bears, two of whom are seen above, were first called grisley bears by the explorers Lewis and Clark. Whether this referred to their grizzled, or golden, hair or to their fear inspiring appearance no one knows. The naturalist George Ord classified them formally in 1815, giving grizzlies the Latin name of U. horribilis.

The schooling at Katmai occurs in a small auditorium next to the welcome center just off the beach where your float plane lands. No roads or trains can get you their. You have to fly in. Our plane landed within feet of where these two bears were playing just an hour later.

We heard them splashing before we saw them. We had just walked to the main lodge after finishing our class and were standing outside the lodge less than 100 feet from the beach. When we looked over, we saw these bears frolicking in the water just a few feet offshore. A ranger stood between us and the bears ignored us but, still, my heart beat quickened as I walked closer to kneel down and take these pictures.

Our classroom was in a one story log structure not unlike the one above, which hosted the outfitter for the park and stood right across from the main lodge. Our training was all about how to react and carry yourself if you walk near a wild bear in the park. No running is the first rule. When prey run, predators chase and you do not want to act like prey. Stay together and talk while you walk so you do not surprise a bear. Give them the right of way and stand tall as they pass.

There are two gated walkways that lead to the famous Katmai Falls where grizzlies congregate during salmon spawning season. First gate, just 50 feet from the lodge, puts you on a walkway that leads over a small pond.

The bear shown above was sharing the pond with a few fishermen, seen casting in the distance. The two tussling below were playing on a rise in the middle of the lake a few feet away from the walkway.

If you look down and closely into the water from this raised platform, you can see why the normally solitary grizzlies are in the park in large numbers. Salmon in a mind boggling abundance, there for the taking.

After you cross the pond and exit the gated pathway you walk more than a mile on a path, shared with grizzlies, through the woods. Another gated path awaits you when you approach the falls. All along the open path, there is evidence of the bears - shredded bark on standing trees, matted long grass where they have rested, and matted paths cut through the grass.

This is not the ordinary park viewing experience with great distances separating you from predators who might view you as a tasty morsel. Yes, we would view many bears from the raised platforms near the famous Katmai Falls but we would  have to walk where they walked to get there.

And, as you will see in our next posting, even the raised platforms were close enough to feel intimate with the bears, The image below, of a grizzly fishing less than 30 yards away on the top of the falls, will give you a preview of just how wild and close the experience was. No long lens was needed to capture this image. A 100 mm portrait lens was all that was needed.

There they are and they were everywhere up and down the beach at Fox Island. Jellies large and larger, stranded on shore and floating in the water. They were there when we arrived and still there when we departed a couple of days later.

Overcast skies followed us as we ventured from our overnight stay in Anchorage to the harbor at Seward and then onto to Fox Island in the middle of the Kenai Fjords National Park. Our route took us past Turnagain Arm, where Captain Cook traveled in 1778 and part of the larger Cook Inlet. While there, we spied several beluga whales on the water's surface during a stop over. You can see a few visitors watching below.

From there it was onto Seward and it's harbor to catch a boat to Fox Island, where we would relax and explore the nearby fjords. Our journey into Seward also took us past the Turnagain Arm Pit Barbecue (no I did not make that up) and this mural at the edge of town.

Cool overcast weather meant we were bundled up for our trip by boat to Fox Island. The harbor in Seward presented this interesting vista with the docks and boats framed against the area's mountains. What you cannot see in this image is a large cruise ship docked and the massive cargo handling equipment further up the harbor.

We did not ride on a boat like the one below, although it does paint a picture of a life lived on the Alaskan waters. Neither did we see any humpback whales like the one celebrated in the metal outline that sits outside the National Parks office in Seward. They were uncharacteristically not in the harbor.

Our short boat excursion to the island was not without wildlife sightings, however. This elderly otter (his white face gives away his relative age) floated quietly past us as we headed out. While there is nothing to hint at his size in the image, our guide estimated his length at between six and seven feet. Not a small creature at all.

The island we visited was remote, accessible only by boat and hosting maybe a dozen cabins. We were the last visitors for the season.

The weather cleared when we arrived and stayed nice long enough for us to kayak in the calm waters. Evenings included dinner in a lodge that sported a million dollar view of of Resurrection Bay and the adjacent fjords.

Rain and cooler temperatures were the order of our last day there. A trip was also planned by boat into the National Park, with the hope of spotting whales. Some  wind added to the adventure as high waves and possibly higher waves were included in the trip.

I opted out and had a leisurely morning on land while my intrepid wife ventured forth on the small 'Minnow-like' boat pictured below. And, yes, I did hum the tune to Gilligan's Island as the adventurous hiked down the beach through the wind and rain to board the ship.

No one appreciated my humor and when the boat returned early, I headed out in the rain with an umbrella to meet Frances. She was soaked but beaming. While the trip was a rough one in tempestuous seas, it was rewarding as well. A large pod of Orcas had been spotted midpoint in the trip.

The next morning we headed back to Seward in the 'Minnow' in overcast skies. Our next stop is the Alaska Sealife Center before an overnight in Anchorage. Then, we are on to King Salmon, our launching spot for Katmai National Park and more grizzly bears than you can imagine.

Here is a preview of what lies ahead.

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