For our last full day in Katmai National Park, we spent most of our time hanging out with the bears. I had asked the lodge about the possibility of a flightseeing tour to visit Alagnak Wild River, Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve, and the preserve portion of Katmai, but nothing could be arranged for today. Guess we'll have to come back to Alaska another time to check those units off my bucket list!
Another sign pic
After breakfast, we stopped by the visitor center to look through the bookstore and turn in M and J's booklets for their junior ranger badges. Then we made our way to the platforms by the Brooks River. A plethora of bear pics ahead...
Fun to watch the bears snorkel for fish in the river
By 10:00AM, we were out on the Falls Platform...
Looking downstream from the falls
Jacuzzi Bear
That's a nice sized salmon!
After about a half hour, we left the platform and returned to the trailhead. Instead of going back to the river, we decided to hike out to Lake Brooks. A very buggy 0.6-mile trek, one-way! In hindsight, head nets would have been a worthwhile investment because those suckers go straight for the eyes, ears, and nose. Ugh!
Because it was too windy to land on Naknek Lake this morning, the float planes were using Lake Brooks instead. However, that meant that the lodge had to use their passenger vans to transport guests back to Brooks Camp, so the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes Tour was cancelled today - glad we were able to go yesterday.
Then we walked back towards the lodge since it was almost time for lunch. The bears were having their midday meals in Naknek Lake, too.
Mama bear 26 snorkeling with her two cubs. Two other bears are also snorkeling further out in the lake.
The cubs are so adorable!
After lunch, we saw a ranger who told us that there was a bear right off the beach, so we couldn't go down to the lake. But we could see it from where we were standing on the path between the buildings...
Are you talking about me?
We then hiked the 0.25-mile Oxbow Overlook Trail out to the cultural site. Archeological evidence indicates that people have lived here next to the river for at least 4000 years. Thick layers of ash interspersed with layers of soil suggest that volcanic activity could have been the reason for long periods of abandonment of the area. There is a reconstructed pit house inside the building at the site.
The entry tunnel was built lower than the main floor to serve as a cold air trap
It was about 1:00PM when we headed to our room - all four of us ended up crashing out for a couple hours! Feeling refreshed after our siesta, we went back out to watch the bears from the lower river platforms and enjoy the sunshine before dinnertime.
Two bears in the lake
Golden eagle
Watch with the sound on. 🤣
After dinner, the four of us hiked out to Brooks Falls for our last chance to see the bears up close...
32 "Chunk" in his usual spot on the right
Can you see all of the red salmon in the water?
903 "Gully"
32 "Chunk"
903 "Gully"
Lots of bears downstream of the falls, including Mama 26 with her cubs
Mama caught a huge salmon
This is a long video, but M captured three separate confrontations between two sets of bears at the falls - go to timestamp 0:45, 2:34, and 9:43 if you don't want to watch a lot of footage of the bears just waiting to catch fish. Turn on the sound to hear the Chewbacca noises they make.
Round #1
Hey, I was here first!
We wrapped things up around 9:00PM and went back to the room to pack up our stuff for the flight out in the morning.
What an amazing place! So thrilled that we had the opportunity to experience it!
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