Jerry Jacques has been guiding wildlife photographers in Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks for 48 years. Holding Master Guide License #110 and 17,000 hours of bush flying experience. Jerry is uniquely qualified to be your host for the best Bear Viewing and Bush-Flying Adventure the Last Frontier has to offer. You will truly be given a once-in-a-lifetime, unforgettable experience that can be found solely at Jacques Adventure Lodge with the Alaska Grizzly Safaris team. Laura O’Connell Jacques is another avid outdoorsman. She too has been a whitewater rafting, fishing, and outdoor enthusiast for 35+ years. Laura and Jerry met at the lodge, with their first date being a bear viewing trip to Katmai Wilderness Area. Laura graduated from Temple University School of Law and has been practicing law on a part-time basis since 1989. Together, with the help of their kids Caleb, Erin, they have built the lodge to what it is today.
100’s of years of family history in Alaska & The Yukon
1885 Albert Jacques fled Lancashire England to Canada, where he eventually found a home in the Yukon. Soon to follow, Albert’s son, Blondie Jacques, a prolific trapper and guide, arrived in Alaska. His homestead was the start of the Jacques family’s business. Patriarch uncle Carl Jensen’s family history dates back long before Alaska was discovered by the white man. To this day, the Jacques family continues to follow their great-grandfather’s tradition of exploring and guiding in Alaska. Although trapping and hunting brought the Jacques family to Alaska, we have since chosen to operate our lodge in an eco-friendly, non-consumptive way. We now specialize in Photo Safaris, Bush Flying Adventures, and Adventure Travel.
Our Team
Pilots
Steve Wiedekamp and Aubrey Clark all have extensive experience guiding & flying in Alaska.
Food/Lodge
Executive Chef– Hello I’m Kellam Harp. I’ve been with Alaska Grizzly Safaris since 2021. A Virginia Beach native, who lives full time in Iliamna. I got my passion for culinary arts from my father who was an Executive chef. If you don’t see me at the lodge chances are I’m on the river chasing big Rainbows.
Pastry Chef– Hello, I’m Linda Cunningham. Pastry chef for Alaska Grizzly Safari’s and Jacques Adventure Lodge. I’m the previous owner, operator of Custom Cakes Bakery in Circleville, Ohio. My husband and I are full time RVer’s. Enjoying our adventures together in this great country!
Sous chef– Nick Walker, is just finishing up his third year. Our team prepares delectable meals for Meat lovers and VEGETARIANS alike!
Hospitality Manager – Debi Wiedekamp just finished her 5th season with us. Debi is dedicated to ensuring a seamless stay for every guest. From answering initial inquiries from prospective guests to any questions you may have after booking. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to her at wiedekamp@yahoo.com.
Guides
Our guides always accompany you to any of our 127 separate Alaska wilderness locations
We are a custom lodge, where you, our valued guests, get to choose your own adventure. The options for your experience are only limited by your imagination but include Photography, Bush Flying adventures, Flight Instruction, Beach combing and fishing. We are not a fishing lodge but if you want a day or two of guided fishing we provide you with all the fly or spin tackle and a guide to fish some of Bristol Bay’s most famous wate
Activity Level
We pride ourselves in being capable of accommodating anyone in reasonable health. Our oldest guest to date was 98 years old! He enjoyed wonderful bush flying adventures, fishing three different rivers, viewing countless grizzly bears, picking plump blueberries on the alpine tundra, and was even able to squeeze in a short, guided raft trip with his grandson. Whatever your condition, we guarantee you will not find a more willing, and capable outfitter ready to suit your current condition. You must be able to hike up to 4 miles a day in moderate conditions. The terrain could be rocky, wet or tundra.
Itinerary
We meet our guests at the Merrill Field Airport in Anchorage at 1950 East 5th Avenue. This is the address to the Tower at Merrill Field. There is a small parking lot there where you will see our bus with our logo on the side. You will see the PC-12 parked on the other side of the gate. When the pilot is fueled and ready to go, he will collect our guests at the gate labeled N4.
Check in time is 7:30AM for the 8:00AM flight, and 3:30PM for the 4:00PM flight. There is no reason to arrive any earlier.
Each guest is allowed a maximum of 70 lbs. baggage, and that includes carry on. Small Aircraft have absolute weight restrictions, so for safety the 70-pound restriction is strictly adhered to.
Location
There are no roads that lead to our remote part of Alaska. The only access is by aircraft. People find it confusing when they arrive at the Iliamna airport and see a paved runway and a road that leads from the airport to the village and then to our lodge. We often get asked how this can be as we were told there are no roads leading to Iliamna and we cannot drive there.
There is a 20-mile-long road in Iliamna that dead ends on each end. It was built to connect the Airport to the Village and to the lake.
To build the airport and 20 mile long road the original machinery, trucks and cars were brought in using a series of ocean going barges and Ice roads in the winter.
The only practical way to get to our lodge is by aircraft. For the flights from Anchorage to Jacques Adventure Lodge we operate a nine passenger Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. This allows us to transport 9 Guests and their gear simultaneously.
The PC-12 cruises at 300 mph so it is only a 45 minute flight from Anchorage to our destination at Lake Iliamna.
Day 1
We fly you from Anchorage to Lake Iliamna.
The lake is 80 miles long and 20 miles wide and over 1,000’ deep in places. On the north shore sits the tiny Native village of Iliamna with a population of 86 people.
Our waiting staff will load your bags onto our bus. Relax, we are very familiar with expensive and fragile camera gear. We understand that this gear must be treated very gently.
After everyone is on the bus we will drive you to the end of the road and our lodge. The crew will escort you to your cabin or room and bring your gear in. Each room has a private bathroom and 2 full sized beds and 24-hour electricity.
At 11:00AM you will board one of our three De Havilland DHC-2 beaver float planes or our Cessna 185 on floatsand we will fly you and your guide to Brooks Falls.
Brooks falls is Alaska’s most famous location to see bears.
This is where Thomas Mangelsen captured the first Iconic image of a bear standing on top of a small waterfall with its mouth wide open about to capture a salmon in midair. Mangelsen did this using a SLR camera and film. Today with modern cameras and a long lens It is a lot easier for you to capture your own amazing images.
As soon as we land at Brooks Lake you will have a short meeting with Katmai National Park Rangers. After the meeting it is time to spend the day with the bears at this iconic location. There are viewing platforms next to the falls and an elevated boardwalk to keep you safe.
At the end of the day at 5:00PM you will board your waiting plane and return to the Lodge.
Arriving at the dock the staff will unload your gear.
Arriving at the dock the staff will unload your gear.
Day 2
8:00AM Breakfast is served, after eating, pick up your lunch and head to the dock.
8:45AM at our seaplane dock just outside the lodge we will load your gear into the planes.
9:00 AM you will be inside one of our beaver float planes for a short flight to a remote location to see bears.
After a day at Brooks Falls most people think that would have been the highlight of their trip, but you soon realize that we have taken you to an even better place to see bears.
Very few people ever get to experience this true wilderness and have up-close encounters with the giant coastal Grizzly/Brown Bears. We are on the ground at eye level with these magnificent creatures. Unlike Brooks Falls there are no cabins, platforms, trails or vehicles here, this is raw wilderness. The salmon are in the creek, and the bears are actively chasing fish. Art Wolfe got the first iconic shot here with us decades ago. It is an image of a bear charging straight at the lens splashing after fleeing red salmon. A full day with your guide here will fill multiple SD Cards and exhaust a couple of batteries. A 70-200 or 100-400mm lens is all you need as the bears are usually close and we are in the creek bottom at eye level with them.
Day 3
After eating breakfast, pick up your lunch and we take you over to the airstrip where our bush planes equipped with tundra tires are waiting. This time you are off to the remote Katmai Bear Coast. The timing on this day changes every week as we follow the tide schedule. We must land and takeoff between high tides. High tide makes the beach disappear. You will get 6-7 hours with the bears on this day but nature’s tides determine our timing. The tidal difference here is 16-20 feet.
Here your pilot will land the bush plane with the giant oversized tires on a black sand beach. On a clear day you can see Kodiak Island.
This is the land of glaciers, rugged mountain peaks with huge lush green meadows.
The bears will be feeding in the sedge grass meadows. Some bears will be in the tidal flats digging for clams. This location is an amazing location for landscape, birds and occasionally wolves. It is worth going to this area just for that. Add the bears and it is flat out incredible for anyone, especially photographers. As always for safety our pilots and planes remain here with you if we need to move to a different location.
Day 4
8:00AM You will have breakfast then you will pick up your lunch that the kitchen staff has prepared for you and head to the seaplane dock.
8:45 AM at our seaplane dock just outside the lodge we will load your gear into the planes.
9:00AM you will board one of our three De Havilland DHC-2 beaver float planes and we will fly you and your guide to an alpine lake. The outlet of this lake is a small stream. A short hike through blueberry and fire weed patches takes us to where the red salmon are spawning in the shallow crystal clear water. This is a favorite place for momma bears (sows) to teach their cubs to fish. This is well above tree line and in open tundra with mountains on both sides of the valley. This is prime caribou country and we usually see caribou here and occasionally a wolf.
Day 5&6
Today you have Multiple choices
1. Go back to a remote wilderness location and see more bears.
2. Take a ride in an outboard powered jet boat up the Newhalen river to Lake Clark. Fantastic scenery and fishing with the possibility of seeing a moose are the attractions for this choice.
3. A scenic flight deep into Lake Clark National Park, see glaciers & rugged mountains. Seeing Caribou and Dall Sheep is a possibility. But the main attraction is landing on the turquoise waters of Twin Lakes. This is where the Alaska Sourdough Richard (Dick) Proennke built his now famous wilderness cabin and lived in it alone for 30+ years. The Park service has preserved the cabin exactly the same way that Dick Left it. You will be able to go inside and see how Dick lived his solitary life. The book “Alone in the wilderness” or the documentary film One “Mans Wilderness” documents the life and adventures of Dick Proennke. Breakfast is served, after eating pick up your lunch and go to the dock. If you arrived in the morning on Day 1 you will leave in the morning of your last day. If you arrived in the evening on Day 1, you will go out to the field for ½ day and return to Anchorage at 5pm.