Day 57 , 58, 59
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
68
205
Trip End
Nov 22, 2008
Where I stayed
Katmai National Park and Preserve,
Alaska,
United States
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Well with a check in time at the airport at 8am and a car to return it was an early start for the Travellers four.
We made the transition to the airport with no challenges nor problems, hey we know our way around this town.
We check in, in plenty of time to wait for the boarding call to leave at 9:20am
Interesting collection of people and dogs waiting for the plane, I kid you not we are amazed at the number of dogs travelling in Rv's in this part of the world, but to find them waiting to catch a plane is another dimension. Oh well the journey always throws something at us to learn about!
Well the plane is a 30 seater with one spare seat, so a lot of people heading to a place called King Salmon.
Uneventful trip with drinks and snacks on the way in the 1 hour 15 min flight, mainly in cloud with a brief glimpse of a view after we lifted off.
The transfer from this plane to the Katmai air was in a small bus with other Brooks Lodge travellers was approached with excitement and anticipation.
The plane was moored at a dock on the lake, yes a small float plane that seats six.
The pilot asked who was going to be the co-pilot, no immediate volunteers, so gee Rick again has to step up first, I guess someone has to do it!
Again a wonderful new experience, reasonable smooth take off and a short flight to the lake the camp is situated, the plane is pulled to the beach and a plank is laid down for us to walk on shore to prevent our feet from becoming wet, how considerate of Katmai air!
Well an interesting gathering and chaos ensued at the gathering point, people arriving being briefed about "Bear Etiquette" as other well as people leaving attempting to gather their bags to depart.
"Let me get a better look"
Gee not really a lot of organisation. No big deal we manage to sort ourselves through this and climb aboard the shuttle bus, to be informed we would be dropped at the lower platform because the wind had prevented the plane from landing close to the camp as it normally does.
We hop off the bus at the lower platform hoping to get to the lodge for some lunch, (we are becoming a little peckish at this stage) to experience our first bear sighting, not 20 yards from where we alight, we are told to climb onto the platform quickly because just below the platform is a bear happily sitting grazing on the grass.
WOW what excitement, the procedure here is the bears have right of way, and we are to give them a 50 yard passing lane. Well hey this guy was just there, and also he wasn't moving. We had to cross a bridge over the river, but this is not open unless it is clear of bears. So we wait, and wait and wait, then over the other side of the river another bear shows up with two cubs in tow.
Wow great, cameras clicking and this is what we came to see. There was a clear spot for a short time and we were allowed to start crossing the bridge, to get half way on in a large group and get called back by the ranger on the platform, more bears spotted in the area. Ok this is fun, the first time! It happened twice and the lunch worms are biting by now, so hey bears this is your picnic but we need food as well.
Eventually after we had had the excitement of observing 8 different bears before we crossed the bridge we made it across to the other side of the river and into the camp area.
It was a little late for lunch but we managed to fill up on soup and salad with a much needed cuppa.
Close encounters
How inconsiderate of the bears to hold up our usual morning tea and lunch breaks, we may have to spend time educating them about Australian human etiquette!I guess we will forgive them because while we are sitting having our soup and salad a mother bear with two cubs chose to walk through the camp and show her family off not more than ten metres from the window we were sitting.
The next move was to head to our room, this is a four bunk room with a shower, hand basin, toilet and a small table with one chair.
Hey we are not here for the five star hotel suites, it is a room to put your head down and sleep at the end of the day.
We certainly were all appreciative of our earlier shopping turns to suit up with warm clothing.
It would have been easy to have been lulled into a false sense of security in Anchorage over the last two days to believe summer is here in Alaska.
Our experience in the Alaskan climate is not to be relied upon, suffice to say we have found not a climate but most likely a multitude of mini climates each interacting and depending on the area, giving a different aspect of what nature can serve us.
We unloaded our gear except for the warm clothing and headed out for the bear viewing platform, entailing a walk over the bridge.
This is controlled by the rangers, one on the tower and one on the corner watching for bear movements, if the bears show or come within 50metres of the bridge then the bridge is closed to visitors, as a safety feature.
Earnie, Marian & Karon kept walking towards the bridge with a bear heading towards us, given the option of staying with the ranger, Rick chose to stay to experience what ever came past.
Well the bear approaches and evasive action is called for, we have to take the "back trail" around the path to give the bear the correct amount of distance, by this time we have gathered four fishermen who also had to accompany us in the "great bear escape" .
Hey Guys lets look at the humans
It was interesting learning the escape options and the training and talking the rangers communicate to protect the visitors.The bear moved on and Rick crossed to catch up with the other three, we proceeded up the road towards the famous Brook Falls.
There are two observation towers near the falls, a lower one a little back from the falls, the second is beside the falls. We joined other visitors waiting at the falls for a view of the bears and the salmon.
This is a game of patience, by this stage we had viewed around 12 bears in and around the camp, but none were visible at the falls.
After a period of waiting at the lower observation deck, we moved to the upper deck, between the short time of moving a bear had appeared from the woods and was in the middle of the falls looking in the water. WOW this is really happening for us.
We clicked and observed this bear looking for the elusive salmon, the only invitee that had yet to turn up at the party, how dare they be late.
This bear was also a little miffed and decided to head back into the woods, our patience was rewarded a short while later as another bigger gear chose to see if the salmon had arrived. This guy started at the top of the falls and walked around the edge to the bottom, then looked around in the water as well as wandered downstream, continuously looking for this mythical fish.
We watched this beautiful creature depart and also decided that these guys have a better idea than we, about the non-arrival of the salmon, we headed back to the lodge, this again was an exciting trip back, the bears in and around the area by the bridge and lodge were fairly active, and we ended up being herded by some very close bears to a spot in front of a small rise in a group of around 20 people as the bears had free rein and the rangers were nervously watching out for their "visitors" (loopy tourists)
It was exciting and fun and the bears have definitely not been educated as we have about the 50 yard rule.
How Close are we allowed?
What can I say but this experience is at this point it has lived up to any thoughts or plans. Really wonderful to be allowed the experience amongst this still partially untamed land with the true wildlife ruling the humans.
Karon, Rick and Marion chose to take another walk over the bridge while Earnie was showering after dinner, this gave them the experience of watching an angler land a lovely salmon right in front of them.
As the three observers returned along the path, Marian spotted a bear just off the path within 3 metres of us, WHOOPS we better move, EXCEPT there were two cubs and no sign of the mother, Where do you go? Certainly not anywhere until the mother is in sight, we waited patiently on the small hill mentioned before near a porch of a building until we could catch sight of mother bear. She showed herself behind the cubs and they began to wander off, so we headed to the safety of the lodge and a rather fast walk. Gee this is fun!
The fish have an advantage here as well, the anglers are limited to 1 fish per day as a taker below the bridge, above the bridge they are catch and release. Also when caught and landed the angler has to leave the banks with his fish immediately, this is for their own safety, because, hey the bears have a great sense of smell and if the fish is in the back pack it is fair game as far as the bear is concerned.
A ranger had explained to Rick, already this year some bears had taken salmon off the anglers lines, and this is a concern if the bears begin to associate humans with an easy free feed.
Well after a wonderful full day of this bear experience, we headed exhaustedly to bed.
A great day.
Marian is looking the wrong way
How to choose from the many photos to give an idea about the number of bears and how close they are to us is going to be a hard call. We will do our best. The photos will be posted later today when time allows.Day 58 Brooks Falls Lodge - the Valley of Ten thousand Smokes.
Today we had booked to travel to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes A valley of ash deposited in a large area from a 1912 eruption of a volcano, the biggest eruption in the last century.
The trip in was on an old school bus, they are as we see on the movies, big and clunky.
Having been advised it would be leaving at 8:30am we rose in plenty of time, had breakfast and readied ourselves.
Headed out across the floating bridge, spotting a few fish lazily drifting in the water above the bridge, to be told we wouldn't be leaving until 9am. Gee the extra snooze might have been appreciated.
Eventually the tourists are loaded and the driver does a head count 2-3 times, I guess he then decided it was after all a School bus and did a roll call!
The Park Ranger jumps in and we are on our way at about 9:15, ( gee does not give us a great feeling about this tour)
The Ranger stands and gives us a small but disjointed idea about the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Allow her some space she is young and maybe a little nervous.
At the next view stop the Ranger gave a brief explanation about the view the 30 visitors were getting out to photograph, then proceeded to go to the edge of the drop off and began to talk to those fortunate enough to be near her.
Someone suggested she talk up to all of us, which she began to do so, explaining the lake system and the mountain.
Rick is waiting to jump at catch the fish
The driver gave us a short talk about the trees and the beetles that have attacked the trees, after we loaded back up.The rest of the trip in was not narrated, the Ranger and the driver continued to talk to each other while we all attempted to spot wild life down in the tundra.
We did manage to convince them to stop for a moose one of the visitors spotted, but that was all.
We arrived at the information hut at the top of the mountain overlooking the Valley of Ten thousand Smokes, It is a huge valley filled with a reddish ash with cuttings in the ash the river has made since the eruption.
The drivers set up the lunch while we had a brief talk from the Ranger outside on the balcony, her information flow was not really professional and was not able to answer questions really well.
We had lunch (an expensive non impressive affair of a sandwich with ham on it, put your own lettuce and tomatoes on, one biscuit and a packet of crisps, a warm cuppa tea or coffee. To suggest we were NOT impressed would be an understatement.
After the lunch it was a choice to take the hike to the valley, a drop of around 800 metres, to walk on the ash and to the falls the river has made through.
Earnie and Marian decided to be our representative fearless explorers and head on down, Rick and Karon chose along with two others to be wimps and stay up in the warm mossie free building. The information around the centre was informative about the eruption and the details leading up to and the exploration after the event.
The Falls, The Bear, The Photograhphers
(It really wasn't too detailed and one would consider a college graduate could have had a good spiel with this information.The trip down and back was a round trip of 2.5 to 3 hours, Karon and Rick enjoyed resting and chatting to the others at the centre.
Amazingly a few people began to drift back up after about 1.5 hours, they had had enough and had come back.
Our fearless travellers turned up after 2 hours, both had successfully made the trip to the valley and to a small river part, but chose to turn around and return.
They did extremely well and made it back up the climb, the party that did descend eventually arrived back in dribs and drabs, this is an amazing thing considering it was a "Guided tour"
Earnie and Marian reported the Ranger simply led the way and didn't take note or show concern to the speed or fitness of her fellow hikers. The report they gave us, the trip wasn't worth the effort not impressive. Also to allow some to just turn around and return without any supervision, especially being told to keep eyes open for bears, because they are in bear territory, certainly flies in the face of any hiking training I have ever had. Earnie suggested Marian did well and his personal encouragement to get her to the top was to save him practicing his fireman's lift and carry technique to get her back up to the top. Although on reflection he considers he might have rolled her down and called a helicopter in. Seriously he did praise her in the effort to achieve this climb.
The Ranger returned on time and rain was beginning to fall, so it was back on the bus and wait a while as the drivers cleaned and mopped up the floors, then set off back to Brooks Lodge, There are three river crossings in the 4x4 bus and it had burnt out a bearing seal on the way in, but the trip out was uneventful with no stops and a sleepy lot of tourists.
We guess that you would be aware from the above report, we were NOT impressed with the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, (by the way the smokes have died away around 1929) and it really may be interesting to scientists and geologists, but as a tourist attraction it is not on our recommended to do list!
We did another wander out to the bridge after dinner to enjoy watching a bear standing and "Snorkelling" for fish as well another three turning up and playing chasings along the beach near the lower platform by the bridge crossings.
It is difficult to report all the bear sightings and the antics and shows they gave us, suffice to say they certainly gave us our enjoyment and filled our trip with fascination and magic.
Day 59 Brooks Lodge return to Anchorage.
Today was check out by 9am and free time until around 12:15, so this was the day the "Salmon day to turn up" because this is the day we are leaving.
Well we had breakfast and headed out to the falls, a bear walked past the lodge as we had breakfast and we were held up for a few minutes preventing us crossing the bridge because another bear showed up, (this is known as the "bear Jam" and sometimes they have held the bridge crossings for up to 6 hours) but the rest must be at the falls catching fish surely!
We arrive at the observation deck and oh dear no bears, we position ourselves for the wait.
The First Bear Encounter
We waited and waited, as did around 20 other odd people, no fish, no bears, just "loopy tourists" wrapped up against the cold and the mossies. Eventually a salmon was spotted having a feeble attempt to jump the falls, a few shouts of encouragement from the onlookers, but no bears, and this fish didn't have another go, whoops yes he did, another two attempts but unsuccessful, and hello a bear arrives, walks under the observation deck and glances at the falls without much interest.The bear wanders up to the top of the falls and then wanders off back into the woods. We waited for a short period and then decided the invitations for the salmon must have been lost in the mail or the ethereal, because they didn't turn up.
We had an early lunch and headed over to catch the bus to the float plane, the time frames kept around this place are fairly flexible, we were informed our bags would already be at King Salmon waiting for us. We piled into a larger float plane with 9 other people and away we go.
A quicker trip back to King Salmon, and we pulled alongside the jetty and piled out, walked up the gangplank and were swarmed by mosquitoes, they were horrendous, we began a search for the bags and they were not in the pile of bags from our lodge, the mosquitoes drove us to cramp into a small office with heaps of other people.
The bags apparently were loaded in the same plane as us, we grabbed our bags and jumped onto the shuttle bus. (Did I mention the mosquitoes?) off load at the terminal at King Salmon and check in, We are in plenty of time and are told about a restaurant "next door" or one down the road a bit.
The Lodge Room
We choose to go have a cuppa "next door" this turns out to be over the road, a quick walk to attempt to dodge the mosquitoes (yep they are a feature of this place), sit down and order our cuppa, while we are enjoying the respite from the mosquitoes and a cuppa the phone rings and the waitress walks over to two others and tells them the air port rang to tell them their plane is ready to go, what service is that!We finish and head back for our flight, and wait we had about 15 mins before our scheduled flight. Time comes and Marian heads over to ask about our flight, "oh she is told it has just left Anchorage! And the girl suggests she better make an announcement. DAH! So I guess we are not leaving on time! Then the power went down and shut the few buildings in town down including the airport. What fun, the small float planes kept shuffling passenger in but no big plane to take them out. One woman had been waiting for 6 hours for her plane, and we heard one guy say that was nothing he had been there 26 hours. Oh boy and you couldn't go for a walk because the mosquitoes were just so bad.
Gee we do enjoy a lot of fun on our journey, and of course so pleased that the fun and excitement hasn't abated since Marian arrived.
The plane at last arrived and we lined up, just as the power was switched on to the cheer of the backed up passengers, our plane only takes 30 people, mind you when Marian arrives at her seat she finds a young girl sitting there with the same numbered boarding pass, we got told by the hostess, Just sit anywhere of course this then creates further confusion as the next lot arrive to want the seats Marian and Earnie chose to take. It could happen anywhere I guess, but it certainly adds to the flavour of our experience in King Mosquito (whoops Sorry I mean Salmon.) The only plane leaves with a lot of people waiting. We are home in the Castle and happy to hear our trains again for the simple reason to be away from the Mosquitoes, (oh did I mention the mosquitoes we encountered? Oh I might have once or twice. )
Maybe this is the reason you can buy five acres of land with two houses on it in King Salmon for $180,000 or a block of 5 acres with the power/water/sewer and driveway already in place for $45,000. What has happened to the owner one could ask?
Well on the road tomorrow, to give Marian the experience of our Rolling Castle, we are heading to the famous Denali National Park and new experiences.
Hopefully we will get some photos up of the bears etc and the experience from each of us in a short word is;
Earnie - All in all the interaction of the experience with the bears has made the whole thing worthwhile despite the mosquitoes and the fish not showing up.
Marian - Worthwhile doing it again, Mosquitoes and all, given the chance.
Karon - Beary, beary good experience
Rick - It will take a lot to top this part of the journey.
Back on the road tomorrow.
