Bears, Bears and More Bears!

Here fishy, fishy!

We're off to watch bears in the wild!  I've learned that observing animals in their natural habitat is very different than seeing them at a zoo, so I'm excited about this excursion.  Plus, the bears are still feeding on the salmon swimming upriver, so it will be fun to watch them doing their own fishing.

our plane

To reach Katmai National Park we fly on a small float plane (de Havilland Otter).  It's my first time on a small plane, with only ten seats, plus the pilot.  Steve manages (once again) to sit in front of me, in the copilot seat (after the woman sitting there realizes she's supposed to be on the other plane - there's no hesitation as Steve jumps to the seat as she disembarks).

Here are the six of us, before Steve moves to the copilot seat.

We taxi down to the end of the lake, and it's a a very smooth take off.  There's no wind, so I think that helps. The seats are like small canvas stadium chairs, very low to the floor.  Of course, there's no bathroom or service!  It takes us about 90 minutes for us to fly the 150 miles to the park.  I discover the plane window makes a nice frame for taking landscape pictures. 

Our landing location - you don't even realize you've
touched down it's so gentle.

Clearing the treetops

Katmai National Park was formed by a volcano eruption in 1912 (the biggest blast of the 1900s).  The area was designated as a national monument in 1918 after expeditions by National Geographic described the spectacular features of the "Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes" formed by 40 square miles of lava flows 100-700 feet deep. (It's not until the 1950s they discover Novarupta was the volcano that erupted, not Katmai.)  Currently the park encompasses almost 6400 square miles, about three times larger than at the original proclamation. 

Feed me!

We land at the Brooks Falls location and have a one minute walk to the park ranger building.  We haven't even had our bear orientation when one wanders by (everyone moves into the building). After our 20 minute briefing on how to act and what to do if we see a bear we're released into the wild.  (Do not run!  Make yourself appear bigger, and talk calmly.  Tell the bear how nice his fur looks, etc.  If the bear wants to walk along the path you're on, slowly move off of it, while still facing the bear.  Don't make eye contact.)
 
Next we go over to the lodge for lunch, which is a nice "make your own burrito" buffet.  There's even bowls of chili and nachos with guacamole, pico de gallo, and sour cream​.  It's all items we don't have regularly in Tokyo.  Yum! 

We've already seen some bears, but during the walk over to the lodge I appreciate evidence of them - there are definite trails in the grass and it's easy to see places they've laid down to sleep, right beside the walking path.  I could pass on the bear excrement though!

bear trail

bear bed

Bear lunchtime!

Then we're off to see the bears at Brooks River!  It's about a mile to the viewing stations, and for about half the distance we're on a narrow, 2-person wide path. We're supposed to talk and clap our hands so the bears know we're there. We don't end up running across any, but we talk with some people who had a bear "escort" them for a quarter mile along one of the paths earlier that morning.  


We go to the main Brooks Falls viewing platform, but it's currently full so we write our name down and the number in our party, and receive our pager (just like waiting for a table at a restaurant). Then we go to the secondary platform, about 100 yards downstream from the waterfall, and just a few feet from the edge of the river. There's up to six bears close to it providing lots of amusement, including one point when they have a little growling match over who has control over a specific spot.  We also watch a mother take care of her cubs, too.  Generally she watches over them for a couple of years, but after that she kicks them out to fend for themselves.

Remember to share with your brother!

After about 30 minutes, our pager buzzes and we walk to the main overlook, at the five foot high waterfall.  We have an hour here, so all the visitors can have a turn.  The bears make it easy to appear like a professional photographer - they give you many opportunities for memorable pictures.

Just missed it!

The entire time we're there we keep hoping the bear standing at the top of the falls will catch a fish (he catches two while we're at the other platform). But he never does, though he tries hard (that's him in the top picture, too). The bears just downstream of the waterfall seem to have more luck. We're about 10 feet above the ground and a few feet from the shoreline, so we have great views and are safe. 

Well, now you know the salmon are not dyed pink.

Can you find all the bears?  We see as many as six at one time, but there's only three in this picture.

Jump!  Jump!

The fish have a hard time jumping the falls (you try jumping 3 times your height!) and you feel bad for them, because the bear is just sitting at the top, waiting for them, or standing just downstream in case they miss and float back.  It's got to be tough to survive this long just to be eaten by a bear as you return home.

Safe on the platform!

After our hour on the platform it's time to head back for our plane. There's a bridge that we have to cross, but we're not allowed on it if there's a bear within 50 yards (you're supposed to stay 50 yards from a bear if you see them, but since they can cover that distance in 3 seconds, it doesn't really make me feel better). There's a mother and 2 cubs nearby, so we can't walk on the bridge for about 10 minutes (we're up on another platform, waiting). It's entertaining to watch the cubs, especially when they try to eat the fence!  They finally wander off, and we're able to cross over and make it back to our plane for the trip home.

"My turn to to bite the fence!"

Mom's in the water calling for them to get a move on!
They've held up the tourists long enough.

Luckily, the flight home also goes well (though everyone except me is feeling pain from the low seats. Sometimes it helps to be short!).

I'm in a different seat this time, but still able to take some scenic window photos.

Exterior photo of Fat Olives

Back in Homer we decide to eat dinner at a restaurant we keep driving past, Fat Olives. It's an Italian place and the interior looks completely different than the exterior (in a good way). ​They actually have their own wines produced for them from a winery in eastern Washington state, one of our favorite wine regions.  However, the red blend is good, but not great. The food is excellent, though!

One last bear photo...he never stopped trying to catch a fish!

Missed again!