Hanging out with brown bears, and seeing them very close, being able to take pics like the one below… sounds like a great adventure, right?

Two years ago I got very lucky, and got an access to Alaska’s Bear Sanctuary called McNeil River. This is one of the spots that you see featured on National Geographic TV shows and pictures, and the most awesome fish-catching bears are photographed either there or at Katmai National Park’s Brooks Falls. McNeil is the home for the world’s largest concentration of wild brown bears.

Access to McNeil is very restricted, and only about 10% of applicants get selected to 4-day periods on McNeil river every summer. Wildlife guides take a small group of wildlife enthusiasts to observe bears in their natural habitat: long bear viewing days are full of awesome moments, great photo opportunities, and most importantly lots of aww’s when seeing these gentle-looking giants catching their snack. We tried to get to McNeil this year, and signed up for the lottery. With no luck.

Except last Friday.

I was getting my hair and makeup done for the Army Ball when I got The Email from Fish&Game. Someone had canceled their bear viewing trip, and our names were next on the list! After all we got lucky, really lucky. And will head to McNeil in a few short weeks.

This is what the bear paradise looks like: