Day Six - This was as close as I came to a grown brown bear in Alaska. It may not be clear but this picture was taken at a fork in the path. No zoom necessary!

We were walking from one direction and the bear was coming down the path from the other. It is incredible how big these bears really are when you come this close to them.

Where does a bear rest after a few courses of salmon? Anywhere he likes! Bears dig big belly holes like the one pictured to the right, and then lie in them.

We spotted these holes pretty much everywhere we hiked. The dark mass in the lower right of the picture is recycled berries.

Across from my lookout on the shack by the river's mouth, a sow catches a sockeye salmon for her cubs.

The mother bear is not only getting food for her young - she is teaching them how to fish at the same time. These lessons have been passed down from bear to bear for generations.

Another lesson learned by the young is to stay away from The Kulik Lodge buildings - and indeed, for the most part the bears do stay away. If they need to pass the Lodge, they stick to the beach or water.

This brown bear had a stately presence about him as he sat on the bank watching the activity of the river.

Another fine example of how, if you're not paying attention, a bear just might slip you by.

Someone said to me during the trip, "If you think about it, humans are the only animals that walk through the forest, truly unaware of what other animals might be nearby."

I try not to think too much about it!