The trip to Alaska in Summer of 2025 was Kellan’s “special trip” to see bears, whales, and wildlife. Our goal is to take grandchild eight or older on a special trip that matches their interests. Alaska seemed perfect for Kellan with his detailed knowledge of wildlife of all types, especially dangerous wildlife (such as in the “Tooth and Claw” podcast he enjoys).
After a direct flight to Anchorage, we planned visits to several spots in the Kenai Penisula, just south of Anchorage. The Kenai is known for spectacular scenery, salmon fishing, wildlife, indigenous history, glaciers, rivers, and mountains. We managed to craft a trip that hit all of these highlights by spending a few days in several spots around the Kenai.
Bears at Redoubt Bay Lodge
Our first excursion was to visit the Redoubt Bay Lodge just outside Lake Clark NP in hopes of seeing bears fishing for salmon. The only way to visit this remote NP is by boat or plane. So we swallowed hard and boarded an 8-seater Beaver float plane with Rusts Flying Service in Anchorage for an hour long flight along the coastline to the edge of Lake Clark NP.
With the headsets, we could ask questions of the pilot. From our 500-1,000 foot cruising altitude we could clearly see fishing and duck hunting shacks along the way.
We flew over several rivers, including the Beluga. We spotted a moose, seals, and Beluga whales.
The scenery was simply stunning!
As we circled for landing, the mountains seemed just outside the window before the pristine lake came into view.
Redoubt Bay Lodge is perched at the base of a steep hillside on the bay, with no other human habitation in sight. We enjoyed the lodge chef’s light lunch of salmon cake, salad, squash, carrot soup, and cookie while overlooking gorgeous Otter Lake. We then boarded a pontoon boat with our guide, the owner of the lodge.
We found mama bears and cubs along the shoreline almost immediately. The mamas fished for salmon while their spring cubs watched nervously from the shore.
Listen to Kellan talk about the “little babies” in the video below!
According to our guide, the mama bears fished for salmon in the same way their mamas taught them when they were cubs, including bubbles, diving, and foraging. The bears we watched seemed to use a snorkling technique to cruise along looking for fish. I just loved it when they shook their heads (like a dog) to spray off the water as shown in the video below.
All in all we watched over a dozen bears over the next couple of hours. They were weaving around the lake looking for their prized salmon, seemingly impervious to us in our small boats.
But really, they might look a little close for comfort at times in retrospect, right?
The bear above is holding up sockeye salmon, known locally as red salmon. Sockeye are unique in that they are reared in freshwater lakes and rivers as juveniles before spending the rest of their life in the ocean.
We also saw a pair of swans, some ducks, and a juvenile eagle. Interestingly, the area was set aside as a protected habitat for a certain breed of endangered swans.
We motored over to a waterfall for a portrait.
Our final stop was to a muskeg (water covered with a bouncy boggy mass of intertwined vegetation). Ralph Lauren model here!
Kellan had a great time fooling around in here while I nervously watched to make sure he did not step into one of the thinner “holes” in the muskeg.
Too soon we said goodbye to this fabulous adventure. It met up to every expectation. I just could not believe we were able to get that up close and personal to the bears and watch them in their natural environment.
Drive to Seward
The two-hour drive from Anchorage to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula is one of America’s most scenic road trips. The highway featured the dramatic shorelines of Turnagain Arm and the jutting peaks of the Chugach Mountains.
Kellan “found” these marvelous purple flowers for me at one of the magical turn offs. It turns out that Lupine flowers are a summer delight along the Alaska highway.
Wildlife Conservation Center
About 45 minutes south of Anchorage we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to see wildlife up close. Again, the background scenery showed off the animals, including this elk.
Alaska has three main types of bears – polar bears, brown bears, and black bears.
Porcupine, fox, wolf, and bald eagle.
Next up is Kenai Fjords National Park.