For others, the bear experience at Pack Creek may be worth the hassle of permitting & timing, but definitely not for me. As Bob said, I went by it this year on July 14th, while cruising the upper Seymour Canal, but the bears if there are not viewable from a passing boat, even if they are at the creek. Before the permitting process, we stopped there in 2004 & talked to the Ranger. It was a hot summer & only one bear hanging around, so didn’t pay the fee, to go to shore. I’ve seen literally hundreds of bears with many very close, so the idea of being led around by Rangers with other people to view the bears in a controlled setting not appealing to me, especially with so many anchorages having bears on the shore & if cruising near shore bears can often be seen. Also places like Red Bluff Bay, Takatz Bay, Pavlov Harbor, Port Fredrick, Sister Lake, Black Bay, Dundas Bay & many others, when the sedge grass is growing, salmon berries ripe or fish running up the streams have great places to view bears.
Anon & Pack creek for bear viewing is comparable to the process set up for cruising Glacier Bay. Permitting, timing for weather & extremely controlled regulations on what one may or not do, to me not appealing, when there are other better choices available. Holkum Bay with its tide water glaciers & Fords Terror is every bit or more scenic than Glacier Bay with plenty of wildlife & much less chance of being caught out in bad weather. We did finally cruise Glacier Bay in 2016, but that was in late April, so no permits required & we were free to go anywhere we desired. We cruised it for 6 days & 325 miles without seeing another boat or person, so I can make legitimate comparisons of it to the freely accessed areas in SE Alaska.
Jay
