Close Encounter of the furry kind

Apparently truth is nearly as strange as the internet may lead us to believe. I did not take the picture of the fisherman and the bear, but sure enough, I was in that same situation just a couple of days ago. Val, one of my friends, who also happens to be stationed here in Kodiak and I were fishing the Buskin River last week. Taunted by 10-15lb silver salmon who wanted nothing to do with us, we were getting ready to leave (Val, my fair weather fishing friend had already taken her line out of the water and was enjoying the evening). One of the other folks fishing nearby called out that there was a bear up stream. Sure enough, a 4-500lb Kodiak Brown walked the length of the river bank, not 40 feet from us. We watched in awe as he munched on a pile of dead fish that had been left on the bank, then clambered into the river to chase down a not-so-lucky piscine victim of his own. Just like National Geographic. We watched for nearly a half an hour before deciding to head back to the car lest he intercept us on the trail home.

It continues to be sunny and beautiful here. The winds have picked up since Jana and Jackson arrived, so it has been cold, but still beautiful. This makes writing difficult. I'd better go play. Hopefully some pictures will come in the near future.