Brooks Falls ~ An Electrifing Bear Encounter

OK, so I had about an hour to get back to the motorhome, clean my lenses, pack a PB&J sandwich and a few bottles of water. Before I knew it, it was time to get back to STELLAR AIR for my ride over the Cook Inlet to Brooks Falls.  They text me 30 minutes sooner than planned because the last flight was coming in early.  YIKES!

So here we go ready to board the little red plane It’s 2:30 pm

Today was one of the few days that the sun was out for most of the afternoon, another reason to be so impulsive and take this trip. It was cold here in Homer, so we were advised to layer up with jackets etc.

We got the Homer version of the in-flight safety “schpeel,” and away we go.  It’s a full flight in this Cessna 206 with a 310 HP Continental. Five passengers, one pilot and no flight attendants on board…  and no snacks served except my PB&J.  We were instructed to either eat now aboard the plane or after our bear viewing on the flight back because all food must stay in the airplane unless we sit within the electric fence area at the visitor center to eat our food.   I remember hearing about long waits prior to the bridges if there were bears present, so I wasn’t about to sit in the electric fence pen and waste time eating my PB&J.

Whitecaps were forming on Beluga Lake, so we wasted no time to get up into the air

 

Our pilot is Deb, (a medivac helicopter pilot for this area of Alaska) gave us a constant detailed description of how we were flying and what we were looking at along the way.  I’d fly with her anytime! Her Emergency rescue Bear stories, especially her own personal stories, having lived in this area all her life,  kept us amused and attentive for the round trip.  Flight time is 1 hour and 10 minutes with a headwind.

 As we took off over the Cook Inlet, a thick fog was forming and heading right for Homer.  Our pilot was a little concerned about it.   She then mentioned something about not being able to land back at Homer if the fog has set in at our estimated 9:30 pm arrival.  With a laugh she said, we can always go to Seldovia, land there and spend the night, they have a nice restaurant and bar,  what? We could spend the night, wait, I don’t have my ID with me I’m thinking??  In Alaska, they won’t serve a person 100 years old without an ID!  

Here’s a map showing the location of our landing spot, Naknek Lake.

 We passed by Mount Katmai which is a massive stratovolcano. It’s about 6 miles in diameter with a lake filled caldera about two by 3 miles in size. It was formed during the Novarupta Eruption of 1912.

 

 

I cannot remember the name of the lake in the crater shown below. I do know that Stellar Air takes people out on trips to this lake and lands there on occasion. It was beautiful to look at, but a picture through a plexiglass airplane window does not do it justice. Maybe someone reading this will know what lake this is… Jan and Ed might??

 

We also passed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.  Deb was going to give us a closer look but the ash from the volcano was stirred up from winds so we could not enter that airspace today.

 

 

Many Glaciers are visible along this flight as well as beautiful turquoise water

 

 

I was so excited when we landed in Naknek Lake that I only took one picture as we walked up to “Bear Central”. We were quickly ushered up to the visitor center because bears were patrolling the beach.  We needed to get our orientation on “Bear Etiquette” before taking the walk to the falls.

 

 

Winds were beginning to pick up as we left Deb and the Cessna.  She said we better keep an eye out for her in the plane while we are at the falls because if it gets too windy on Naknek Lake, she will have to take off from here and fly over to Lake Brooks where it will be calmer water.  “Just watch for me circling the falls and you will know I had to move to another location,” she said.  She added “oh and we don’t have any maps to that area, just walk to here” drawing a map in the dirt,  “then take a right, when you get to the end of that trail..walk until you get to a lake , Its about a mile and a third.. and watch out for bears”  HUH?

When we left Homer it was actually cold enough to wear a sweatshirt so just in case I wore two more shirts.  When we arrived here it was in the mid-80’s!  I was packing my 30-pound camera bag plus water, I knew these short hikes were going to feel longer due to the heat.

It is Katmai’s 100th celebration this year since becoming a National Monument we each received a pin for our visit.

It was established in 1918 to protect the volcanically devastated area surrounding Mount Katmai and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.  Today Katmai National Park remains an active volcanic landscape and also protects 9000 years of human history.  It’s over 4 million acres, only about 6 miles of the area is designated hiking trails and camp area.

 

 

OK so we listened to the orientation from a forest service bear whisperer and when she was finished giving us all the “How to speak to Bears lingo I was wondering if I was ready for this walk in the woods for the walk to the falls without a guide.  I was alongside two other visitors who were as inexperienced as I.  We never saw a bear in that distance but definitely heard snorts and sniffs in the willows along the trail.

All the while I am trying to remember the Grizzly Etiquette  –  Maintain 50 yards from you and the bear –  IF you do have a close encounter back up out of the bear’s way Speak Softly – DON’T run for your Life!!!

We made it to the falls area, and although it looked crowded, we were able to head right over there.  Only 40 people are allowed on the bridge platform at a time and you are given one hour to stay and observe these bears going about their feeding frenzy. The bears are not interested in anything except Salmon right now. We left on a 2:30 flight, so it was rather slow here. The only people who seemed to be in front of our group were staying in Brooks Camp overnight. Since it was later in the day on a Sunday many of the day visitors had already left. We were able to stay here until 8:00 pm.

So here are just a handful of the 500 Plus or minus shots I took during our stay here. What an experience!

 

 

The salmon leap up to six feet over the falls to get to Brooks lake spawning grounds.

In July you might see up to 25 bears just at the falls at any one time and many more down the river.

I roughly counted around 18 total at one time as far down the river I could see. Some would leave and new ones would arrive.

 

 

 

A few hours after we arrived at the falls, I looked up and saw Deb circling,  that meant we would be walking to Lake Brooks to catch up with her when it was time to leave the falls.

The Salmon are at the end of their journey here and the bears must eat as much as possible to make it through the harsh Alaska winter.

When the salmon run is finished, the bears will move on to the grasses and berries.

If you are planning to fish in Brooks River,  there are some things to consider.. First of all you are not alone, and I don’t mean your two-legged fishing friend downstream. The Grizzly bears are fishing too, all around you., and they have the right of way. It’s fly fishing only, unbaited single hook

NOTE: If you have a fish on the line and a bear is in view, you must cut your line and slowly move out of the way of the bear. No fishing from the floating bridge. Catch and release only, except downstream from the floating bridge, One fish per person per day can be retained.  Must be hooked in the mouth.  No Rainbow Trout can be kept in Lake Brooks, Brooks River or within one-quarter mile of the mouth of Brooks River within Naknek Lake at any time.  But better check the rules with Fish and Game to be sure.

Fish you will be keeping must be placed whole into a fish freezing bag and taken to the Fish Freezing building for storage and labeled with your name.  Don’t clean your fish within a mile and a half of Brooks Falls. These rules do not apply to the big boys and girls in these pictures.

 

 

So this is all the photos I’m going to post here.  I have so many other images, but it will take me weeks to process through them.  What a great day this was.

It was a short  1.3-mile walk to Lake Brooks now with the new plan for take-off, but we were all so hot and the hike seemed like 5 times that.  We were on constant bear alert and all of us were way overdressed, carrying packs with too much photo equipment.  However, we were all very happy to have had this experience.

I might have to add a video so I can relive all the moments of the flight which was all part of the experience.  We were able to return to Beluga Lake, the fog had lifted so no overnight at Seldovia 🙂

 

Heading to the Kenai Penninsula next to hopefully meet up with the Reds!