Above & Beyond Alaska — Pack Creek Bear Viewing

Above & Beyond Alaska was founded in Juneau in 2002 by Becky and Sean Janes, who spent a decade guiding for other area outfits before setting out to offer smaller, highly customizable trips across the Tongass, the Juneau Icefield, and the waters of the Inside Passage. Alaska Seaplanes acquired the company in 2022, with general manager Liz Barlow carrying on the original approach.

The Pack Creek trip is a seven-hour day built around a 25-minute floatplane flight to Admiralty Island, about 30 miles south of Juneau, where a Forest Service permit puts groups of four to five guests on the creek to watch brown bears. Guides are trained in wilderness navigation and bear safety protocols.