Welcome to Katmai NP and Preserve;-)  Originally established in 1918 as a National Monument to protect the volcanically devastated region surrounding Mount Katmai and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (more on this later).  Then – man found this to be an excellent fishing area, as salmon returned here annually to spawn.  This resulted in the first ‘fly in’ fishing lodges – including Brooks Lodge, which was the 2nd such facility.  But, the salmon fishing here was also known to the grizzly;-)  And soon man discovered the grizzly fishing here at Brooks Falls AND a bear cam was installed as well as a few prominent photographers marketed some astonishing pictures of the grizzly catching fish literally jumping out of the water into their mouths!  That’s all it took.  Now there is a lottery to get to Brooks Falls in July, when the salmon are running the heaviest. That’s why we were here in September – when the second ‘batch’ of salmon head this way.   Today this area is a NP and Preserve protecting 9,000 years of human history as well as an important habitat for salmon and thousands of brown bears;-)!!

To set the stage – the only way into Brooks Lodge/Falls is by float plane.  There are NO roads, cell coverage, internet or TV;-)

 

 

Upon landing at Brooks Camp one is immediately taken to “Bear Orientation”.   All who come here are in a preserve for the bears – it is THEIR home and THEIR territory and they have first rights.  Instructions are that one stays 100 yards from the bears at all times.  If a bear comes out of the trees around you while you are walking on the paths around the camp (thus closer than 100 yards) – ‘YOU back off the path, face the bear and tell it in a calm voice that you are making way for it to pass!  You then wait for it to pass.’ More on this shortly;-)

We were literally at camp!  After the ‘bear orientation’ next stop was the small check-in cabin and a ‘tour’ of the ‘dining hall’ (which included a bar, seating area around a fireplace and long picnic tables for eating breakfast, lunch and dinner and playing games later in the evening) – then off to our assigned room.  This was approximately 10×10 with two sets of bunk beds (one on each side of the door) and across the back of the room a shower, sink and toilet.  Good news is – the mattress and pillow were excellent AND we had heat and running HOT water IN the room.  There was a sign over the toilet, however, that suggested you not flush in the middle of the night as there was no insulation or sound proofing;-(

 

OK – checked in and backpacks unpacked – we were off to the main event.  There was a path from our rooms, past the dining hall and check-in cabin to the bridge crossing the river.  All about 1/4 mile.  On the other side of the bridge was a viewing stand and another 1.5 miles to the viewing stand at the Falls.  It seems that there were three BFF bears that really liked hanging out, playing, wrestling and fishing around the bridge and along the path from the dining hall to the bridge.  Remembering that there is to be a 100 yard ‘buffer zone’ – if any of these three BFF’s were around the walking path or the bridge – IT WAS CLOSED until they moved away.  No matter if you were on the other side and couldn’t get to dinner or couldn’t get to your plane.  The standard line was “they know and will wait for you”!!

 

OK – first Bear Jam over and on our way to the Falls platform.  After about 1.5 miles (with bear encounters along the way!!!) this walkway, which becomes elevated over the bears’ habitat, is entered.  There are many gates and doors to go through ensuring the bears do not also enter – –

This is what we came for AND we were not disappointed.  The pictures speak for themselves – and as you can imagine – these are only a sample of the approximately 3,000 taken;-)

 

As mentioned at the beginning of this posting, this area was originally designated a National Monument to protect the area of volcano devastation – The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.  Three years after the volcano, Robert F. Griggs was investigating the area for its geology and saw the ‘smoking vents’ – remnants of the eruption.  Thinking this area might be similar to Yellowstone with its geysers, he set out to get the area protected as a National Monument/Park.  It was made a National Monument in 1918 (the 100 year anniversary this year), but the activity was not geyser like.  The smoke that was seen was steam coming from the glacier streams mixing with the heated volcanic ash.  A volcanic ash that was up to 700′ deep!!  This particular morning we were off to see the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes for ourselves – – – AFTER a Bear Jam holdup!!  (It was OK, though, as our bus driver was on the same side of the bridge as us during the Jam.)

 

Like all of our adventures, this one also had to come to an end;-(  We DID have one last Bear Jam the morning of our flight, though – we were caught on the other side of the bridge while two of the BFF’s took a nap on the path just over the bridge.  When they did wake up – they decided to fish around the bridge.  No problem – since we were the only 4 on the plane – it waited;-)

 

There are not enough superlatives to describe this experience!  If you ever want to ‘walk with the grizzlies’ and watch them fish and play in their natural environment – in their home – visit Brooks Lodge on Katmai.  You can get a flavor of their activities by watching via the bear cam at – https://explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls.   This is not anywhere close to being there, however.  We are so grateful to have had this opportunity!!

E & G – Totally blown away