July 25, 2009

July 25, 2009

We are spending the night in a very bad neighborhood. Aimee is not happy, she is scared to go outside with all the antisocial males walking the area. The local inhabitants sport scars, sharp weapons and are known for their thievery. How we ended up here is a long story.

We (or at least me) are on a quest to see all 392 National Park sites. Alaska alone has sixteen. Unfortunately most are virtually inaccessible except by air. I am unlikely to ever visit more than a few of Alaska’s entries. Despite the difficulty (and exorbitant cost) we are going to Katmai National Park today. Katmai is on the Alaska Peninsula that extends out to the Aleutians. We drive to the Anchorage Airport, park the RV and take the shuttle to the South terminal where we board a 30-passenger prop-job. After a ninety-minute flight we land in the tiny town of King Salmon. There we are bussed to a local lake where we climb into the largest seaplane I have seen. This 46-year old DeHavilland Otter, veteran of UN flights in Congo, can carry ten passengers. Thirty minutes later we land on Brooks Lake in Katmai National Park.

Before we can go any farther, a park ranger gives us a warning lecture about the local inhabitants, Brown Bears. Browns are the larger coastal cousins of grizzly bears. Coastal browns have a rich diet of salmon allowing them to grow far larger than the inland grizzlies. 1500 lbs is not unheard of.

The star attraction of Katmai is Brooks Falls. This ten-foot waterfall is world famous. Every summer spawning salmon headed upstream have to make spectacular leaps to clear this obstacle, much to the joy of the brown bears. The bears crowd around the falls hoping to catch a few as they jump past. After checking in to Brooks Lodge, we take a short ranger hike to a local Aleut archeology site. Afterwards we head for the Falls. The viewing stand is a mile away thru the forest. Aimee hugs close to me as we nervously make the hike. There is nothing between us and the bears. It is like a zoo without bars, except this is for real. We are told to expect bears everywhere. With all the bear scat along the trail (and around the cabins!), I know they are not joking. We have been trained not to run, but to back off slowly and let them walk by. Supposedly these well-fed bruins like salmon flesh far more than humans. We hope so.

After reaching the falls without incident, we climb a viewing platform where we watch two male bears standing in the water. Not a lot of action. Eventually they both catch a fish but it is a lot like watching me fish. There is a lot of waiting. When the fishing is good, these bears mostly strip off the fatty skin, leaving the meat for scavengers. We do get some excitement. At one point five bears are fishing at the same time. We even see a bald eagle swoop down to the falls and almost make off with a jumping salmon.

After dinner we head back to the falls for more bear viewing. Before leaving Aimee asks a ranger if it is okay to carry lipstick. The ranger recommends leaving it in the cabin. For good measure Aimee smears some of this fragrant paste on her lips before stashing it away. Aaaahhh!

Bear activity seems to be heavier in the late evening. We are not disappointed. A sow walks past the falls with three cubs in tow. They are cute but obviously very wary. Apparently male bears are known to feed on cubs.

After we landed this afternoon the winds picked up to almost gale-force. Strong enough that the seaplanes are grounded, but not before a private seaplane overturns in the lake. The grounding strands 73 tourists here for the night. Most will be sleeping on the floor. We make friends with an adventurous older couple from Winnetka and invite them to share the extra set of bunk beds in our cabin.