08/19/2026
Sorry for the very long post but there are some adventures in life that you know you will remember forever… and our time in Juneau was definitely one of them.❤️
We were incredibly fortunate to have friends who made it possible for us to experience Alaska in a way most people never get to. Heather and Ed, owners of Ward Air, along with Matt and Colette, opened the door to some truly extraordinary adventures!!
With Ed at the controls as a bush pilot, we were able to fly into remote places deep in bear country, far from roads, crowds and anything resembling a tourist trail.
Our first adventure took us to Hoonah, Alaska, where we spent most of the day sitting quietly along a riverbank, watching and waiting for the bears to appear.
We had seen a bear in the distance and had moved farther down the river to photograph it. We had left our backpacks on the riverbank behind us, completely unaware that we were about to have some very unexpected company.
While we were photographing the bear, a mama bear and her two cubs quietly appeared right behind us.
There we were… watching them, while they were watching us.
And unfortunately, our backpacks were between us and the bears, so there was absolutely no way to simply stroll back and get them.😂
Mama Bear got into Collette's backpack & made a mess but no equipment was harmed!
The cubs went to mine and for one it was apparently LOVE at first sight.🥰 There was no food, bars, drinks in it at all, just some equipment & clothes.
He sat nose-to-nose with it, then laid his head on it, rolled his little head around, and eventually settled down beside it as though he had found himself the finest bear pillow in all of Alaska.
I photographed the entire adorable encounter.
When Mama decided it was time to move along, the two cubs apparently decided my backpack should come with them. They started investigating it a little too enthusiastically, and we finally had to intervene and convince them that my backpack was, in fact, staying behind.😂
It was funny, a little nerve-wracking, and absolutely unforgettable.
And this was only the beginning of our Juneau adventures…
🐻❤️📷