"I arrived a day early (weather in Anchorage, AK can be iffy) on Friday. Weldon met me at the airport with others that had arrived early and went to dinner. We spent Saturday seeing the sites and Saturday night, when the others had arrived we had an organization/get to know each other dinner. There were 5 participants and our team leader on this trip.
          "Early Sunday morning we headed back out to the airport for a short jaunt to Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, in a Cessna 182 & 206, some 120 nm SSE of Anchorage. The flight down to the lodge was great, but close to the ground, due to overcast. I gather they operate a little looser in Alaska than they do in the lower 48. We had 8 passengers for the lodge and the planes had to make 2 trips to get all the luggage to the lodge (but only 1 trip to get back).
          "We were “trepidatious” about leaving our equipment behind for the pilots to bring down in a second trip, but they’re used to crazy photographers and took good care of our equipment. I travel with a ThinkTank Airport Security bag, that when loaded weighs 50 lbs. I had no issues with it. Except the usual hand-check in Kansas City. They do it every time, you’d think they’d never seen a camera bag before.
          "We were met on arrival with what would be our daily transportation, a 4-wheeler, with 2 carts behind it. As soon as we got off our planes we met with BEARS, BEARS, BEARS. We counted 14 bears between the airplanes and the lodge. We were amazed and happy with the proximity in which we were able to view the Grizzlys... little did we know just how close they would come.
          "After arrival at the lodge and getting the rooms assigned we immediately got our cameras and RAN out into the field. And had lots of success.
          "Our typical itinerary consisted of breakfast at 8am, the a quick ride out to see the bears, sedging or clamming. Back for lunch about 1 pm, then back into the field for more bear photography. Dinner was at 7pm with either class time afterward or back for more bear viewing.
          "That said, we took one afternoon to boat up to Duck Island to shoot Puffins, gulls, and cormorants. We even got a rare visit from a sea otter and a close inspection from a seal.
          "Two days were spent at a tent camp, where those that wanted to could fish. The rest of us spent time around the campfire, telling lies, photographing the sunset/sunrise. When the tide was low we got to watch the bears fish.
          "While you would not expect this to be a food review, I can’t pass this opportunity. I’ve NEVER been fed so well. Prime rib, eggs benedict, smoked salmon, barbeque chicken, and pork . . . etc. Even the food at the tent camp was fantastic. The meals were excellent, and I’ve never had a week’s worth of meals that were this good that I can remember . . . just don’t repeat this comment to the wife!
          "Now the question everybody asks. Just how close to the grizzly bears did we get. Would you believe 10 yards? Would you believe 5 yards and closer? We had a 7-8 year old boar walk within 5 yards of us and wasn’t even bothered with us. I think the most memorable event was a new cub, a collared one, come within 8 feet of us, putting on quite a show. He was a ham, and the star of the day and he knew it. Then it all came to an end when he looked over his shoulder and found his mother had wandered farther away than he was comfortable and bounded off after her.
          "Did we ever get ourselves in a position where we were afraid. Not once. The guides were very good. The put us near the paths that the bears would frequent, and the bears would walk up on us. We never approached a bear closer than about 20 yards, then we let them come to us. It was an amazing week.
          "Having heard stories like this from others that have been here, frankly I didn’t believe them (but I’m from Missouri, the Show Me state). Believe me, if you haven’t tried this trip you don’t know what you’re missing.
          "Daily temperatures were 40-50’s for the lows, and mid 60’s for highs. We were lucky, and had 4 gorgeous days and the balanced were overcast and drizzly, but even that made for dramatic photo ops.
          “Weldon does a very good job of making sure you get your money's worth. This workshop is really a great way to meet photographers from all over the world, and by the end of the week you find you have some new found friends.
          "Overall Rating: Excellent, recommended highly."

                                                                      . . . Jeff Billings, Missouri