July 14th – Anan Bear Observatory to Santa Ana

Having seen quite a few Grizzly bear in Khutze, we did not have Anan on our list of stops. Anan is a protected bear reserve with a mile long boardwalk to an over the river observatory and blind from which to view and photograph the bears feeding.
When we met up with Gord Argue in Petersberg, he had said it was a great trip and that we should not miss it. The only problem is getting permits to go in for a group of 7. The permits are no charge but there is $10.00 fee at Anan, there is a daily limit of 60 people allowed into Anan to observe the bears. They do have cancellations or no shows at the observatory so we thought it wouldn’t hurt to go hang out for the day in hopes we could get a few cancellations. Turns out we were able to get 4, so by previous agreement, Dave, Penny, CJ and myself were allowed to enter. After a quick orientation by the Park Ranger, we set off (CJ & Dave first, Penny and I second). One of the warnings they give you in your orientation is “Should you encounter a bear on the boardwalk, stand your ground”…..Penny and I nervously laugh, but stop with the laughing when we see fresh bear scat all over the board walk on our walk in. We met up with CJ and Dave at the observatory and were treated to a pretty neat show by both black and brown (Grizzly) bears feeding side by side on the river. There was a Brown and Black bear within 20 feet the observatory giving us the bear eye as they trotted past to go down to gorge themselves on Salmon. It’s a bit unsettling, but we feel re-assured by the Park Ranger and his big gun. 20 feet does not appear to be much, but there is only a 2 board fence separating man and beast!
At 6:00 oclock the park is closed and we are escorted out by the park ranger and his large gun. We head about 13 miles down the strait to Santa Ana Bay for our overnight stop.