Exploring Ugashik National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

We found these caribou antlers along our nature walk at Wide Bay.

Streaks of clouds were all the broke the blue of the sky on this beautiful day in Alaska.

Imuya Bay and Wide Bay are two bays on the outer coast of the Ugashik National Wildlife Refuge. This is where we explored today. Being way out on the Alaskan Peninsula means that this coastline is about as wild as it can get. We didn't see anyone else all day, and the only footprints on shore were from us or bears. And we did see bears. Even if we don't see bears, I am thinking that they are out there seeing us. This case was proven when we first landed.

Imuya Bay was the landing of choice in the morning, just because of the wind direction and the forecasted change for the afternoon. I took a group of hard charger hikers to shore and we immediately set out for some high ground to get a better vantage. The hillsides were covered in wildflowers, making the entire area look like a painting. Sandy beaches and mudflats were uncovered by the low tide, giving us ample space to connect the nearby islets. It was while we were walking down one of these islets that a bear comes charging out from behind some rocks in front of us. However, its not charging at us, it is racing across the mud... and never stops until it disappears up and over the big sand dunes... right where we are going to walk.

I'm still not sure if it was us that scared the bear in the first place, but we didn't see it until he was already in full flight. Perhaps there was another bear on the island with us that we were also unaware of. That is the beauty of this part of Alaska. We followed the bear tracks across the mud flats and up and over the dune. We paused at the top and scanned with binoculars, eventually spotting our bear way up the mountainside. Something really spooked it. We continued inland from there, following the river and is ebbed and flowed through the valley. We ended up covering about 4 miles, through untouched beautiful Alaskan wild lands.

In the afternoon, the winds changed just as predicted. So our plan worked to perfection. We moved the boat around the corner to the north, into a spot called Wide Bay. In this treeless area we were able to send out a hard charger mountain climb, a flower meadow nature walk, and a skiff tour. The skiff tour scored big, seeing 9 different bears. Lots of moms with cubs. One of the moms took off swimming from an island to the mainland. We watched as a tiny baby cub caught a ride on moms back the whole way. It resembled all those pictures of loon chicks riding on mom's back. They made it to the shore and did a big shake, just like a wet shaggy dog, then continued on up the mountain from there.

Here in the Ugashik Naional Wildlife Refuge, every landing is an adventure.

A golden crowned sparrow delighted our birding enthusiast onboard.

"What is on that swimming bear's back?", asked one of the guests. I peered through my camera lens and said, "Its a baby bear!"

Shaking off after a long swim.

Drying off on the beach of Wide Bay.

One of the guest took this fun photo of me.

Caribou antlers on the cliff with the Safari Explorer beyond in beautiful Wide Bay.

Looking down the slot.

Laying down in a cliff filled with wildflowers, taking in the waters of Ugashik National Wildlife Refuge as our skiff zips by.

Wild geranium, purple mountain heath, and lupine, paint the hillside in beautiful colors. July is a great time to be here in this part of Alaska.

Close up of lupine, one of my favorite wildflowers to walk amongst.

Lilly, our dishwasher onboard, joined me for the hike. We stopped to smell the flowers as much as we could.

I always enjoy finding these US Geological markers.

This was near the beginning of our Wide Bay hike. The land was folded up through some plate tectonic action.

Purple mountain heath in full bloom.

After landing on the beach, there was a bit of a scramble getting to the top of the plateau. It was a challenging climb for some of the guests, but they all made it. I never had a doubt.

Our hike included a short scramble uphill.

Beautiful conditions here at Wide Bay.

My best guess was an otter skull, found along the beach here at Wide Bay.

This mostly intact skeleton really freaked out the guests, until I told them that this is what bear skeletons look like. Much longer hind legs than you think they would have.

Hanging on the beach after getting dropped off at Wide Bay.

Our long hike along the river at Imuya Bay was very picturesque.

A river runs through it, at Imuya Bay.

There were a few challenges along the way. Or 'bonding opportunities' as I call them.

It is wildflower season here in the Alaskan Peninsula.

A wild iris hiding in the tall grass along one of our hikes.

Along the banks of the never-ending river at Imuya Bay. It feels like you could walk this river for miles...and that is just what we did.

We passed many bear tracks, but these were the first wolf tracks I saw here.

Beautiful wild iris.

Hiking over the dune, hot on the trail of the brown bear we saw just a few minutes before.

These prints were left by the bear that sprinted out from our landing area.

This shipwreck was totally exposed at low tide, so we were able to walk around it and really check it out. It looks like it has been here for a quite a while, but looks like an old fishing or working boat.

This was one of the islands in Imuya Bay that was connected to the mainland by the low tide, so we climbed up to the top for some beautiful views before heading inland.

Hiking up the island at low tide.

Wildflowers, painting the hillside purple.

As always, keep getting out there and keep posting!

• Dai Mar