Dates September 10–15, 2005
Leaders John Shaw and Len Rue, Jr.
Fee $2,795 from Anchorage, Alaska
Deposit $300
Limit 18
Terms and Conditions

The Brown Bears of Katmai remains one of the most popular of our summer Alaska trips. We also offer an increasingly sought-after opportunity to photograph these magnificent animals in the splendor of fall.

Katmai National Park has become world renowned as the place to go to see and photograph brown bears. These large variants of the grizzly bear (found mainly in the interior) have been protected within the park for generations and, with proper "people management" by the National Park Service, have grown accustomed to the human presence. This allows the opportunity to photograph them without significant influence on their behavior.

The midsummer salmon run that draws Katmai's bears to the Brooks River Falls finishes by early August. The bears that have gorged themselves during the previous few weeks move back into the surrounding countryside for a change of diet, feasting instead on ground squirrels, roots, tubers and berries. But in late August and early September, the bears are utilizing the feeder streams and the nearby oxbow pools to catch salmon—now bright red at the height of their breeding cycle—in a last effort to fatten up before winter.

Even if you have been to Katmai in the midsummer season, you can photograph your favorite bears now transformed with thicker fur in preparation for winter. We'll stay at Brooks Lodge as we do on our summer trip. It’s a wonderful time of year to visit the park.

This tour may be taken in conjunction with our Denali National Park in Autumn tour and will give you a great overview of Alaska before it "shuts down for the season."


Day 1
We meet in our Anchorage hotel lobby at 6:30 PM for orientation and dinner. (D)

Day 2
We fly to King Salmon and then to Brooks Camp, our base in Katmai National Park. After a talk about bear safety, we begin our encounters with the wilderness. (BLD)

Days 3–4
Our days are spent in serious pursuit of photography with fishing bears as our primary goal. We are able to get quite close to these massive carnivores (they are habituated to humans in the park), but will maintain a reasonably safe distance. Most are seen singly or in pairs, and we may be fortunate enough to see a mother and cubs or some very large males. In fall the bears, having abandoned the falls, are more widely distributed along the lower Brooks River and have thicker, more luxuriant coats. The salmon are also a bright red—echoing the fall color changes that have taken place in the surrounding vegetation. Informal discussions about capturing dramatic action and solving exposure problems will be held at the lodge and out in the field. (BLD)

Day 5
After a final morning of bear photography, we return to Anchorage via King Salmon. (BLD)

Day 6
Participants may depart at any time today.

Please note: Cabins at Brooks Lodge must be booked as multiple-occupancy only. Participants will be housed with members of their own gender and couples will be requested to separate, unless two couples traveling together request accommodations in the same cabin.


Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, Inc. P.O. Box 655, Vashon Island, Washington USA 98070
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