Katmai Grizzly Bear Encounter

Katmai National Park and Preserve (72 degrees, blue skies, perfect day)

As we planned our trip to Alaska, one of our bucket list items was to take a float plane to Katmai National Park and Monument. It was an opportunity to see the grizzly bears feast on salmon which when they are running up stream. It's a very expensive tour and we had been told to try and book one which went to Brooks Falls. Initially we talked ourselves out of the expense but when we were in Homer it was peak time for the salmon to be running and we decided to sign up for a tour with our friends Bob and Patsy. 

It was hard to sleep the night before because I was so excited. We laughed and justified the cost by saying it would be our birthday and Christmas presents for the next few years. 

We talked to two tour companies and decided to go with Adventure Airways. When we booked the lady recommended the afternoon departure because it was less crowded. This is peak bear viewing time. The flight took an hour and forty minutes from Homer to Brooks Falls. The weather was absolutely perfect and the scenery from our plane was breathtaking as it flew over this remote National Park. We also saw an active volcano called St. Augustine (it currently just smokes a lot). Our plane was small and just accommodated us. Our pilot landed on the water and taxied over to the beach. He told us in the morning there are planes lining up and down the beach. For us there were only a few and this turned out to be perfect. 

St. Augustine Volcano

Ranger monitored bridge

There is a mandatory bear safety briefing led by a ranger. It's not uncommon to see bears on the trail leading out to the platforms. You have to keep your head on a swivel and get off the trail and go back into the woods if one comes along. Luckily for us this did not happen but it's common. You cross a long bridge which is monitored by a park ranger from a tower. If a bear comes close to the bridge you cannot cross until it goes by. Since our time was limited we certainly hoped this would not happen and it did not. We also heard from the ranger there had been a two hour wait in line this morning to get on the main viewing platform. When you only have 2 1/2 hours this would be very frustrating. For us, there was no wait and we stayed on it almost the entire time. 

Trail to viewing platform and falls

The hike is about 1/2 a mile and we walked as quick as possible to get there. When we arrived there was a two level bear proof platform overlooking the falls and all the action. Everyone was very quiet and it was so awesome. We initially saw 21 bears from the platform. Life is good!

So, we stood there and took in all the action. The silver salmon were just flying up the falls in incredible numbers. Sea birds were well feed on the leftovers but still argued among themselves. The smaller bears were certainly not as experienced and missed catching fish a lot. When they did catch one they shared it with each other. Later in the day from above the falls some huge bears started to come down  and the other bears quickly got out of their way. I guess they had been taking a nap for awhile. Their skill at catching the salmon was extraordinary.  John took 976 photos!  Here are just a few of his incredible shots.

One very BIG Bear!!!

 This is a video of one of the big bears in action trying to catch a salmon

If at first you don't succeed....

Hmmm, which one do I choose???

Scuba Bear

I'm gonna getcha

Gotcha!

As we were leaving the platform these two bears were sound asleep in a salmon coma.

It was an incredible adventure. The flight back was equally enjoyable and we saw some great views on our approach to Homer. What a great birthday and Christmas present!!!

Homer

Homer Alaska On A Clear Blue Sky Day

Homer, Alaska (72 degrees, blue skies, sunny, perfect)

The worlds big

and I want to have

a good look at it

before it gets dark"

John Muir

Homer Spit

John Muir wrote this quote while visiting Homer Alaska. One thing for sure it rarely get dark this time of year. At ten o'clock at night it's still light outside. In fact, it's not until about 3 am when night arrives and only for a few hours. It takes some getting used to. One person told me they had to set an alarm for dinner time. Otherwise it would be around 10 pm before they realized it was so late. Crazy!

Russian Orthodox Church

We are now staying outside of Homer Alaska in a small Russian town called Ninilchik. It's about a 50 minute drive to Homer and away from all the hustle and bustle of that town. The weather has been fantastic. Perfect blue skies create some stunning views of Cooks Bay. a huge inlet ringed with mountains and even some volcanoes on one side. 

Halibut Catch

Island and Ocean Visitor Center NWR

We stopped at Alaska Island and Ocean Fish and Wildlife Visitor Center for a Beluga Slough guided hike after a nice breakfast together in Homer. The hike was interesting and well done by some interns who are staying there this summer. The visitor center is stunning with lots of interactive displays. It's a beautiful facility and the movie was well done. Who knows..maybe we will volunteer there someday.

(L-Jann, me, Bob D, Patsy, John R-Barry, Bob C, and Becky

Long boardwalk on Ranger hike

We drove down to the Home Spit, a four mile stretch of road which was formed by a glacier. It's ringed with lots of gift shops and campgrounds. We were all somewhat disappointed in it. The campsites look over the ocean and are really expensive. Everyone was packed in like sardines. It didn't look very appealing to us. 

We took several beautiful scenic drives which over looked the spit and town. We stopped often and felt very happy to be here. 

Barry's new hat

Moose on the loose

Original Homestead

The next day we went with Bob and Patsy to a homestead which is featured on the Discovery Channel. It's called Alaska - The Last Frontier.  We had a tour of the homestead and part of the farm. We got to meet Otto, one of the cast members on the show. He was very funny. 

Patsy, Otto, and Bob

John and Bob at the most westerly highway point in North America

Down from our campground is a Fish Weir. It's sort of like a holding pen for salmon. There are large fence like structures which close after the salmon come in. We watched the Fish and Game employees round up all the salmon which had entered overnight. There were hundreds of King Salmon.

Some of the salmon were huge

This "fish rodeo" sorts the wild salmon from the ones raised in a fish hatchery. This can be determined by a fin which is removed at the hatchery. The wild salmon get to live another day and are released upstream. The hatchery salmon are put in big tanks and injected with hormones to make their eggs mature quicker. In six days the fish will be killed and the eggs collected. It was really fun to watch them round up all the fish. We were especially happy for the ones which were released. However, the wild ones will only live a few more days. After the female lays her eggs and the males fertilizes them the fish die. Most are around 4-5 years old before they return to where they were born. Nature sure is amazing. They have managed during this time to live a nice life and have avoided fisherman, predators, and casting nets.

Large grey tube is where the wild salmon are released upriver

Campground Review:  All Seasons Campground, full hookups, 30 amp service, level gravel sites with some grass, WiFi is poor, in need of some maintenance, friendly owner, Passport America rate $21/night, best deal so far for camping