Dear Animal Adventurers,

Nothing can prepare you for the first time you come face to face with a brown bear. Nothing.

If our trip to Africa six short months ago was about variety of animal, this trip was clearly about intense personal encounters with a single animal: The Alaskan Brown Bear. The wildlife and scenery in the enormous state of Alaska is astounding!

We spent a week at Kulik Lodge in Katmai National Park. Bears were everywhere - and their numbers increased as the week continued. Jack, his wife Suzi and daughter Kathaleen were here, along with the Executive Producers of Animal Adventures and their families, our fearless crew, and some old friends and new.

It was an unforgettable trip and we couldn't be more excited to be bringing you two new episodes this March: Grin and Bear It and Touchdown Alaska. And as for me, I can tell you assembling another online journal has been a lot of fun. The comments I received after the last journal were very much appreciated and I have tried to bring you more of what you are clamoring for - animals and adventure!

This time around, with less travel involved once we were on site, I had an opportunity to not only cover Katmai but sit down with some of the principals of Animal Adventures. I think you will find what they have to say very interesting.

Signing off from the Last Frontier!

PS. Continued thanks to the producers of Animal Adventures for their support, to Kathryn Deyerle for her incredible photographic contributions to this journal, the staff of Kulik Lodge, and the many friends who spent a week with me in this incredible location.