The Phone That Went Swimming with the Bears

By Todd Nettelhorst | Nettelhorst Photography

I've experienced some pretty incredible things over the years leading photography adventures, but every once in a while, something happens that you simply couldn't make up if you tried. Sometimes it's an extraordinary wildlife encounter, an unexpected moment of beautiful light, or something that unfolds so perfectly in front of your camera that you almost forget to press the shutter.

And sometimes, it's losing a very expensive Samsung phone in the middle of a remote Alaskan river, only to have it returned more than three days later.

Still working.

Yep. This one's a doozy!

This past October, I had the pleasure of leading a wonderful group of photography clients on our Alaska Bear & Wildlife Adventure, exploring the extraordinary wilderness of Katmai and Lake Clark. With the help of our friends at Alaska Grizzly Safaris, we ventured deep into some of the most spectacular brown bear country imaginable. We traveled by Beaver floatplane, flying over winding rivers, rugged mountains, and magnificent autumn landscapes before touching down in places that felt wonderfully removed from the rest of the world.

And the bears? OH MY GOODNESS!

We spent our days photographing massive coastal brown bears fishing for sockeye salmon, curious cubs learning from their mothers, and bald eagles watching patiently for an opportunity to grab their next meal. Some days we waded through the rivers, carefully positioning ourselves for wonderful photographic opportunities. Other days, we traveled by raft, allowing us to explore different stretches of this beautiful wilderness while watching the bears go about their daily lives.

There's something truly extraordinary about being in the presence of these magnificent animals. You're standing in their world, watching a mother teach her cubs, observing a bear patiently searching for salmon, or witnessing an incredible burst of action as one charges through the water. With experienced guides, thoughtful positioning, and tremendous respect for the wildlife, you begin to appreciate just how special these encounters really are.

Of course, there's another side to these adventures that I absolutely love. Beyond the photographs, it's the laughter, the friendships, the conversations, and those candid behind-the-scenes moments that help tell the complete story. I always enjoy capturing a few of those images with my phone because they remind me of the people who shared the experience, not just the wildlife we came to photograph.

Little did I know that my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra was about to embark on an Alaskan adventure of its own.

Monday, October 5, started like so many of our days in Alaska: spectacular scenery, wonderful company, and wildlife encounters that had everyone smiling. On this particular day, we'd chosen to explore by raft rather than spend the entire day wading. Our guide maneuvered us through the river, helping position everyone for photographic opportunities as we encountered bears, eagles, and the remarkable landscapes surrounding us.

Around lunchtime, we stopped on a gravel bar, enjoyed a bite to eat, and took a little time to soak everything in. There's something pretty special about sitting out there in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, sharing lunch with your photography friends while some of the most magnificent animals on the planet go about their lives nearby.

As we pushed off and continued downstream, I spotted a wonderful moment between a couple of my clients and our guide on the opposite side of the raft. I pulled out my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, captured a few candid photographs, and slipped it back into my pocket. Or at least I thought I did.

A little farther down the river, our guide stepped into the water to help position the raft for another photographic opportunity. As he turned us, the snowcapped mountains came into beautiful alignment behind everyone. It was one of those compositions that practically begs to be photographed, and naturally, I reached into my pocket for my phone.

Nothing.

I checked another pocket, then another. Looked around my seat, searched the raft, and started retracing my movements. And that's when it hit me.

SHIT! WHERE'S MY PHONE?!

Now, you'd probably expect a guy who makes his living creating photographs and videos to completely lose his mind at that moment, especially knowing how much wonderful behind-the-scenes footage was stored on that phone. But strangely enough, I was pretty calm about the whole thing. We all searched for several minutes, checked the raft thoroughly, and looked around in the water, but there was absolutely no sign of it.

I knew approximately where I'd last used the phone, and since we were planning to return to that area the following day, I figured we'd have another opportunity to search. In the meantime, I had a group of photographers enjoying the experience of a lifetime, and there was no way I was going to let my missing phone become the focus of their adventure.

So we continued downstream, photographing bears, enjoying the scenery, and making the most of another incredible day in Alaska. Was I disappointed? Absolutely. But I also knew that a lost piece of technology wasn't going to ruin an experience this special.

Besides, maybe we'd get lucky the next day.

The following morning, we headed back out for another day of wildlife photography, and naturally, there was a little unfinished business on our minds. We knew roughly where we'd been when I last had the phone, so we decided to retrace our route and give the search another shot.

Everyone was looking. Polarized sunglasses helped us peer into the water, our guide carefully maneuvered the raft through what we hoped was the same path we'd traveled the previous day, and we scanned the riverbed for anything that remotely resembled a Samsung Galaxy.

We saw salmon. Lots and lots of salmon. We saw trout, rocks, gravel, and just about everything you'd expect to see in a beautiful Alaskan river.

Everything except my phone.

Eventually, we accepted the obvious. Somewhere out there, my Galaxy was probably going to spend the rest of its days hanging out with the salmon and trout. I wasn't particularly thrilled about replacing an expensive phone, but I was even more disappointed about the photographs and videos I'd captured throughout the adventure. Those were the moments I'd planned to share with my clients and our photography community when we returned home.

What happened next was one of those little things that reminds me why I love sharing adventures with such wonderful people. My clients and guides knew how important those behind-the-scenes memories were to me, and without being asked, they began capturing additional photographs and videos throughout the remaining days. They wanted to make sure I still had something wonderful to bring home and share.

How cool is that?

We finished our adventure surrounded by incredible wildlife, shared plenty of laughter, and returned to the lodge each evening with memory cards full of photographs and stories to tell. The phone was gone, but the experience certainly wasn't diminished. If anything, it reminded me that the people you travel with can be just as special as the places you visit.

Of course, reality was waiting for me back in Anchorage.

And reality, as it turns out, was going to be expensive.

After our final days in the wilderness, we made our way back to Anchorage, where I finally had to address the unfortunate reality of replacing my phone. I stopped at a Verizon store to find out what my options were, and let's just say I wasn't particularly excited about what I learned.

I'd gotten a terrific promotional deal on my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, but those monthly credits were tied to my existing agreement. I hadn't purchased additional device protection, either. So replacing the phone wasn't going to be as simple as walking into a store, handing someone a few dollars, and walking out with a brand-new Galaxy.

PLAY HARD. PAY HARD!

That's something I say quite often, although at that particular moment, I was beginning to question whether I should come up with a less expensive philosophy.

Now, before I go any further, you need to understand something about my relationship with smartphones. I've been a Samsung Galaxy guy for years. As a professional photographer, I've always loved the cameras in these phones, and I can't begin to count how many times someone has looked at an image I've captured and said, "WOW! That came from your PHONE?!"

Apple and I, on the other hand, have a little history.

Way back in the early iPod days, I had an experience with managing my digital music collection through iTunes that left me less than thrilled with Apple's ecosystem. Let's just say I wasn't happy with the limitations I encountered, and I've pretty much been Team Samsung ever since.

But there I was, standing in Anchorage, considering the possibility of switching to an iPhone.

Yep. You read that correctly.

An iPhone!

The first Verizon location didn't have the Galaxy model I wanted, so we headed to another store with more options. Along the way, I was seriously weighing the alternatives, wondering whether a different phone might make more financial sense. It was an unusual position for someone who'd been happily carrying Samsung phones for so many years, but sometimes you've got to consider your options.

We finally arrived at the second Verizon store, parked the car, and everyone started heading toward the entrance. I was just about to walk inside and begin what I assumed would be a rather expensive shopping experience.

And that's when something happened that I still have a hard time believing.

One of my clients received a message from my sister.

"SOMEONE FOUND YOUR PHONE!"

Wait a minute.

WHAT?!?!?!

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. More than three days had passed since my phone disappeared into that remote Alaskan river. We'd searched for it, accepted that it was gone, finished our adventure, and traveled all the way back to Anchorage.

And now, at the exact moment I was about to walk into Verizon to replace it, somebody had FOUND IT?!

You can't make this stuff up, folks.

As it turns out, a group associated with Alaska Sportsman's Lodge was making its way through the same remote Alaskan wilderness when one of the men happened to look down while walking through the river.

And there it was.

My Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Not washed up on shore or sitting on a dry gravel bar. According to Quentin Baker, who later shared the story with me, the phone was completely submerged, sitting right in the middle of the river. One of his companions had simply happened to glance down at the right moment and noticed something unusual beneath the water.

Think about that for a moment. A phone lost in a remote Alaskan river, surrounded by miles of wilderness, discovered more than three days later because someone happened to look down in exactly the right place.

Pretty incredible, wouldn't you agree?

But here's where the story gets even better.

Quentin had access to Starlink, allowing the group to communicate from a place where ordinary cell service wasn't readily available. And fortunately, I'd made one small decision long before the trip that turned out to be incredibly important: I'd placed my wife's phone number on my lock screen as an emergency contact.

They found that information and reached out to her.

When the first message arrived on October 8, they actually referred to the recovered phone as an iPhone. They quickly corrected themselves when they realized it was a Samsung.

Apparently, even my phone was getting confused about which team it belonged to! 😂

My wife began communicating with them, and they confirmed something that was almost as unbelievable as finding the phone in the first place.

IT STILL WORKED!

My Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra had spent more than 72 hours completely submerged in a cold Alaskan river, and somehow, the darn thing was still functioning.

Now, I'm certainly not suggesting anyone should start tossing their phones into rivers to see what happens. Please don't! Water resistance has its limits, and I wouldn't wish this little experiment on anyone.

But as a longtime Samsung user, I've got to admit I was pretty darn impressed.

And Quentin and his companions weren't content simply to find the phone and leave it at that. They took the time to contact my family, work through the logistics of getting it out of the wilderness, and arrange for it to be shipped back to me.

On October 13, my phone finally made it home.

And the most unbelievable part?

I'm using that very same Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra today.

Samsung, I think we need to have a conversation. Your Galaxy went on one heck of an Alaskan adventure and somehow lived to tell about it.

And Apple?

Sorry, guys. You were THAT CLOSE! 😂

As incredible as this whole experience has been, the more I think about it, the more I realize that the best part of the story really isn't the phone at all.

It's the people.

It's my photography clients, who were having the time of their lives in Alaska but still took the time to help search the river, and then made an extra effort to capture photographs and videos for me when we realized the phone was probably gone for good. It's our guides at Alaska Grizzly Safaris, whose experience, knowledge, and dedication made the entire adventure so extraordinary.

And it's Quentin Baker, his companion who spotted my phone, and the wonderful people associated with Alaska Sportsman's Lodge, who went out of their way to track down a complete stranger and help return something important to him.

They didn't have to do any of that. They could have easily gone about their day, continued fishing, and never given the phone another thought. But instead, they made the effort to find its owner, contact my family, and get it safely back to me.

That's pretty special.

Photography has taken me to some magnificent places over the years, and I've been fortunate to meet some truly remarkable people along the way. But experiences like this remind me that the most meaningful memories aren't always about the perfect light, the incredible wildlife encounter, or even the photograph you bring home.

Sometimes they're about the unexpected things that happen between those moments. The laughter, the friendships, the kindness of strangers, and the experiences that bring people together.

When I look back at our Alaska Bear & Wildlife Adventure, I'll remember the magnificent brown bears fishing for salmon, the curious cubs exploring their world, the bald eagles overhead, and the extraordinary landscapes we were privileged to experience. I'll remember the excitement when one of my clients captured a photograph they couldn't wait to share, the conversations on the river, the laughter in the floatplanes, and the wonderful friendships that developed throughout our time together.

And yes, I'll certainly remember the Samsung Galaxy that decided to spend three days swimming with the salmon.

But more than anything, I'll remember the people who made this adventure so special.

Because in the end, that's what these experiences are really about. We travel to extraordinary places in search of incredible photographs, but we often come home with something even more valuable.

Stories, friendships, and memories that last a lifetime.

And this one? Well, it's going to be awfully hard to top.

Cheers,

Todd Nettelhorst

Nettelhorst Photography

My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful team at Alaska Grizzly Safaris for helping make our Alaska Bear & Wildlife Adventure such an extraordinary experience. Your knowledge, professionalism, and passion for this remarkable wilderness made every day something special.

And an enormous thank-you to Quentin Baker, his companion who discovered my phone, and everyone involved at Alaska Sportsman's Lodge for your kindness and the effort you made to reunite me with it. You turned what could have been an expensive disappointment into one of the most unbelievable stories I've ever brought home.

To my photography clients, thank you for sharing this adventure with me. The photographs are wonderful, but the laughter, friendships, and memories are what I'll treasure most.

There's something truly special about exploring wild places with a small group of people who share your passion for photography, wildlife, and the natural world. Whether we're photographing coastal brown bears in Alaska, discovering colorful birds in tropical rainforests, or chasing beautiful light across an incredible landscape, my goal is always the same: to create meaningful photography experiences that you'll remember long after the adventure ends.

If you've ever dreamed of experiencing something like this, I'd love to have you join me.