Cook Inlet Adventures

Cook Inlet Adventures is owned by Tim Hendricks and Ty Thoreson, pilots and guides who fly bear-viewing trips out of Homer to Katmai and Lake Clark national parks in a modified Cessna 206 floatplane. Hendricks has more than 30 years of flying and guiding experience in Alaska and Colorado, including 12 years as a bear-viewing guide with over 900 tours, and is director of operations and chief pilot for Cook Inlet Aviation, an FAA-certified Part 135 air carrier. Thoreson, raised in Geraldine, Montana, first came to Alaska in 1999 as a fishing-boat crewman in Bristol Bay; he is a bush pilot and A&P mechanic, an Army veteran, and a permanent Homer resident.

The pair put safety first — modern avionics, maintenance protocols, and satellite communication devices on every expedition — alongside wildlife preservation and fair pricing.