Katmai National Park | Lost & Found EP.08
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 8 of Lost & Found. I personally, have been waiting for this episode to come out since the day we left Katmai.
I knew as soon as I went to write this episode that I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted the focus to be on the bears of Brooks Falls because this area is so unique. For the three days and two nights we were in Brooks Camp we were solely focused on getting the best footage and photos we possibly could of these captivating creatures. We left with HOURS of footage and over 4,000 photos. Clearly, we are smitten with bears.
Our flight left from the Anchorage International Airport. While we were packing we debated for a long time if we’d be allowed to bring a knife on the plane to help prepare our meals and propane to cook because we were leaving from a regular airport. Turns out even though we were leaving from an Airport, we were in a different terminal that split off before security where those sorts of things would get banned. These small flights that take people out to camp (including bush planes) allow you to take those types of items because the people taking those types of flights are headed into remote areas to hunt! The more you know!
View from the float plane
View from the float plane
Our first flight landed in the town of King Salmon where we transferred to our first float plane (ever). We were both pretty giddy to ride in a float plane. The best way I can equate how it feels to be in a float plane is that it feels like you are swimming through the sky. Hung in a delicate balance somewhere between the ground and the sky. I loved every minute of it.
Katmai Trading Post and office for Brooks Lodge
Our float plane landed on the water outside of Brooks Camp. It took us a while to taxi into shore because there was a group of bears walking up and down the beach. Immediately we knew it was going to be a matter of if we’ll see bears but instead how many!
Brooks Camp Bridge
After setting up our tent in the campground (which lives inside an electric fence) we ventured out to explore Brooks Camp and to find ourselves some bears. On our way to Brooks Falls we walked across this bridge (pictured above) for the first time. We came to spend a lot of time at this bridge watching the bears snorkel for fish. Yes, snorkel. It was un like anything we’ve ever seen! Bears swimming and diving down to catch fish.
Bear in 35mm
Bears fishing Brooks Falls in 35mm
Before long we sauntered over to see Brooks Falls, what we’d traveled all this way to see.
As I’m sure this blog post will make clear, we took a lot of photos. In fact, we spent nearly all of our waking hours admiring the the bears. It’s amazing how much can be learned about an animal by just observing them. It was a joy to watch all the different tactics that bears use to fish for salmon.
Though these photos create the look of us being close to the bears, all of our photos and videos were taken from safe viewing platforms above the water. They were created to ensure that the bears can still fish without the pressure of people getting close to them. Obviously the platforms provide safety for the viewer as well! The outer most viewing platform over the falls has a limit of 40 people at a time on it. We found that the early morning and late evening before the sunset was the best time to be out on the platform. By then the day trippers had gone, and everyone staying overnight was either eating breakfast or dinner. On a few occasions we had the platform to ourselves.
This is one of my favorite photos that we took in Brooks Camp
The photos and footage of the bears swimming were all captured from the bridge, which is actually a recent addition to Brooks Camp. Apparently a few years ago it was just a floating bridge. When bears swam close to it, they’d shut the bridge down entirely. Park rangers talked of “traffic jams” at the floating bridge where people would have to wait for over an hour to cross. Now, people can come and go over the bridge freely now and the bears can swim under it as they please... which is often.
This is another favorite of mine
Bear snorkeling looking for salmon
Bear wading into the water to snorkel for fish
Us on the Brook Bridge
MAK getting footage of bears
The day we arrived in Brooks Camp we tried to secure a spot on the bus to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. However the were full everyday we were there. After chatting with the kind people at the Brooks Camp office (many times) they suggested we take a flight seeing tour instead. Before then, we didn’t know such a thing was even possible.
Owen on a flight seeing tour of the Valley of 10,000 Smokes
On the morning of our departure we hopped on a last minute flight seeing tour to get us to the sight of the largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century. Though it cost us a bit more than we originally planned to get to the valley, it was better than anything we could have ever imagined.
There is no other way to describe the scenery than awe inspiring. The ground in the valley is made up nearly entirely of ash and pumice making it no match for the water that runs through the valley. For an hour we flew over deep canyons formed over just the last century and textures unlike anything we’ve ever seen. I don’t think I blinked the entire flight. Of all the places we visited in our time in Alaska, the Valley of 10,000 Smokes captured my imagination the most. I want to go back someday and explore this martian landscape deeper.
View from the window of the ash below
The flight over the valley was quite a way to end our time in Katmai, because just an hour after we landed, we hopped on our second float plane of the day to head back to Anchorage. Our time in Katmai was nothing short of spellbinding. My mind returns here often and I look forward to the next time my body can return too. ;)
Let us know what you thought of the episode and the photos. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. In a few days we will be releasing a tutorial for how to get to Katmai because it takes a bit more strategy to get to than your average National Park. Keep your eyes peeled for it.
Until next time,
MAK
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