Harris Family: Valdez- Last camping trip of the year!

Our first labor day in AK we went to Valdez with friends and we wanted to make a tradition of it. Last year we went to Vegas for an early anniversary getaway so we decided to go to Valdez again this year, since I'm sure in order to make a tradition of it you have to go more than once. We had so much fun our first year there that I was nervous that maybe it was just a good year for weather, fishing and bear viewing so I was a little nervous but we weren't disappointed. The first day of fishing was a bummer... we caught nothing. But then Jeff got in a groove and caught 3 or 4 the next day (only fished a few hours) and the last day he caught 3 in an hour... we were sad we had to leave cuz he was just getting in a rhythm. Fishing in AK is different every where you go so it takes time to get the swing of things, learn the tides, whether to use a treble hook, bait or single hook. I forgot how much bigger silvers are than reds.... they are big suckers... so much that Jeff had hooked probably the biggest silver ever for him and I couldn't net it cuz it was too big for our net (and then it got away... needless to say Jeff was pretty upset with me and all I could do was smile, say sorry and walk away to give him space to cool off) In all we came home with 7-8 Silvers.

And then there is the bear viewing... the reason I love Valdez. Our first year there we say a handful of black bears and 3-4 grizzlies. Well this year we left seeing 27 or so black bears (we lost count there were so many, and some may have been repeats from previous days) and by day 4 I was getting depressed I hadn't seen my grizzlies. I think last time we were lucky to see the same grizzle 3 days in a row along the banks but now that we look back he was injured (had a hook in his paw) so i'm sure it was had to climb up the trees and into the forest. We drove around everywhere looking up and down streams at high and low tide, just waiting for some grizzlies to come out. Our last night there I wanted to drive down to the other side of the bay one last time (Jeff was done and had no desire but I was driving so he had no choice, I went anyway) He looked down one stream and said, oh there's another black bear. I started to turn around (Jeff didn't like that plan either since we had already seen our share of black bear) but low and behold when we went back it was a grizzly. I was in heaven. And not just a grizzly, a sow and a cub. I got out of the truck and stood on the bridge to take pictures. Then I heard a noise come from the brush and out came another cub. (Now these cubs were about 2 years old, about the age they start leaving their mommas). I turned to Jeff, who was watching from the truck, and just as I turned back to take more pics the water beneath me started rippling and another cub came walking up the stream (remember I'm on a bridge, 12 feet up from the water... I felt super close to these animals.) At this point over 20 people had stopped and were watching these bears (in Valdez, whenever you see a bunch of cars pulled off the side of the road you know there are bears in sight) After watching for 5 more min or so I heard someone gasp and to my right just down off the bridge was another cub... 4 grizzly cubs total... that's pretty unheard of for a grizzly. I would've thought maybe some were 2 years old and some yearlings, but they were all the same size. It was incredible and I was in HEAVEN. I got what I wanted and I couldn't stop talking about it to everyone... and of course rubbing it in there faces that I live in the land of the wild... it's a zoo everyday in Alaska.