Alaska - Week 7 & 8
August 14, 2022
Our journey peaked and then valleyed in our last two weeks in Alaska. The high was seeing huge brown bears fishing for salmon in Katmai National Park, where we also caught COVID (from the bears, obviously) that brought our trip to a halt. We’re feeling better, and looking back, those were some thick, beary memorable weeks.
Illustrated is our 1h30 flight route from Homer to Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park
Monday to Wednesday: Relaxing in Homer
We made it to Homer, a touristic town at the edge of Kachemak Bay on the Kenai Peninsular, early in the morning. While we were waiting for Renda and David to arrive, we dropped off Margo at Homer Dog Boarding for the week. As easygoing of a travel companion as Margo is, it’s always nice to give her and ourselves a break.
The agenda for our stay in Homer was simple: getting ready for our 5-day camping trip in Katmai National Park. So we planned few activities and mostly enjoyed our time with friends.
We could never pass a wildlife tour on the Castle Cape.
Kuan trying to spot the whales
Here is one taking a big gulp of food!
A raft of 50 or so otters also floated into our view. Sea otters do look cute and innocent… but don’t be deceived by their appearance.
We listened to the lutrinology (otters) episode on Ologies with Alie Ward during this trip and were blown away by the violence and aggression that seem to be the norm in sea otters societies. Male otters regularly hold female’s heads underwater, biting their faces, and forcing them into submission during mating. The animal kingdom is real cruel sometimes.😱
After the tour, we stopped by Johnny’s Corner next to the flagship store of Salmon Sisters for lunch, the most hipster spot in town. 😎
The poké bowl we ordered, with fresh sockeye salmon, was one of the best we’ve had in a long time!
We also walked around the famous “Homer Spit” - a 4.5-mile-long peninsula, formed by a terminal moraine 15,000 years ago, that extends Homer into the Kachemak Bay. The strech of land is mostly filled with souvenir shops.
Debating if we should buy smoked fish from this spot or the next one
Boardgame night at David and Renda’s Airbnb!🤓 David won the tournament of Ticket to Ride Europe that evening.
Without Margo, it was easier to find a nice and cozy Airbnb. We were lucky to have one clear evening to admire the distant mountains and glaciers from the couch.
Thursday to Monday: Bearassic Park Aka Katmai National Park and Preserve
Katmai National Park and Preserve is a fairly remote park in southwest Alaska, notable for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes but also for its very high concentration of brown bears (grizzlies). It’s fair to say that Katmai and its bears brought us to Alaska!
But traveling to Katmai is not easy and requires some extra planning as the park is only accessible by float planes and boats. And while it’s possible to visit for one day, we thought it would be cool to bring our tent and camp for a few nights surrounded by bears! Camping in Katmai requires even more planning as reservations sell out in seconds when the National Park Services opens them each year…
In January, we stayed up way past our bedtime and anxiously refreshed the webpage on recreation.gov to ensure that we could book one of the most sought-after campsites. We booked 4 nights at Brooks Camp, which gave us 4 full days to see the bears, try sport fishing next to the bears, and visit the Valley of 10,000 Smokes at the other end of the park, where the largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century took place in 1912.
Fast forward to last week, it was finally time to meet our pilot Stephanie at Beryl Air with whom we made arrangements to fly to Katmai from Homer.
We met with our pilot early in the morning at the Homer Seaplane Base on Beluga Lake.
The visibility was excellent as we passed Augustine Volcano that last erupted in 2006.
After roughly 45 minutes of flying over the ocean, we arrived above Katmai National Park and could see many glaciers covering the mountains in the distance.
From valleys and lakes to peaks and glaciers
A glimpse of the lush valley as the clouds rushed in
We landed just in front of the small visitor center where we were welcomed and invited to join the “Bear School” to be taught how to be safe in the park.
Rangers at the park are extremely careful not to allow bears to obtain human food or get into confrontations with humans. As a result, bears in Katmai National Park are unafraid and mostly uninterested in us. This might be the only place in the world where it is possible to see grizzly bears without too much fear of being attacked.
Mandatory photo in front of the National Park sign! Katmai is one of the least visited national park in the US, and here we are with our eyes closed. 🙈
At first, we did not see any bears but could see “signs” of them everywhere. If you look closely you can see bear hair on the wood. Bears leave their scent and hair to mark their territory.
The tent camping area is surrounded by electric fences. Though they are not bear proof, we do feel less nervous inside. As soon as we leave the camp, however, we enter the Bearassic Park. 🐻🦖
Our home for the next 5 nights
We enjoyed our first picnic in one of the designated food shelters. It’s forbidden to eat outside of these structures in the campground.
Smoked fish, pepper jelly and cheddar for lunch
The hike to Brooks Falls platform is roughly 1.5 miles from camp. The last couple hundred yards are on a bridge above the forest floor to protect the bears from the humans. Or maybe the opposite.
Multiple gates are installed on the bridge to prevent the bears from passing from one section to an another.
We made it! The world renowned Brooks Falls bear viewing platform!
✌️
We spent several hours at this platform during our stay in Katmai, and saw between 10 to 25 bears fishing at any given time.
Bears, just like humans, have different fishing techniques. Some of them try to catch the salmons as they jump over the lip of the falls.
Easy peasy for this bear!
Two cubs waiting for their mom to bring back the fish on the bank of the river
Mama bear just brought back bisous (kisses) this time.😘
When you fish with your family…
…you share the fish with your family.
The strongest bears claim the best fishing spots on the river
🧸
🧸🧸
One petit ourson eating a gull feather
After feeding, some bears go into the nearby forest to nap on their luxuous mud and grass pad
We assembled a couple of videos together to give you a taste of what it is like to look at the bears at Katmai. Watch with volume on:
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Going back to camp after the viewing platform was a thrilling experience each time because…
…we could see bears fighting 10 feet from us. And…
…We got to stop for cocktails at the lodge. The talented bartender knew how to regulate Katmai visitor’s heightened nervous systems.🤪
Camping and navigating within Katmai was an interesting experience. As we were not at the top of the food chain anymore, we were constantly on the lookout for bears to avoid them as much as possible which was actually very tiring. This was probably what our ancestors used to feel when they lived among predators.
A large bear walking by the beach next our camp. Bears are surprisingly quiet animals.
On our third day, we arranged a tour with a park ranger to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The valley is accessible via a 23-mile road that departs from the visitor center (the one and only road in the park). The valley is filled with the ash from the 1912 eruption and most vegetation still does not grow in it. An impressive sight that reminded us a bit of our beloved Utah desert!
We ran into some traffic while going to the valley.
Renda and David in the valley
The next day, after some mandatory bear viewing at the platform, we met with our fishing guide Evan for an afternoon in the river. Little did we know we were about to go fishing right by where the bears were also fishing!
All geared up!
Arriving at the Brooks River and observing a different fishing party fishing a couple hundred yards from a bear. That would be us soon!
Evan probably spent more time explaining how to deal with the bears than the fishing itself
Kuan very focused on her line
But the key to fish in bear country is to not get too focus and keep an eye out for bears.
A bear is coming for David’s fish. It’s time for us to leave!
We were supposed to leave Katmai on Monday, so we decided to wake up early and head to the viewing platform for one last look before our flight. But two unexpected things happened. First, we woke up with fatigue and headache, and ended up sleeping through our viewing opportunity. Second, the weather condition that morning wasn’t great for flights, so our pilot texted David’s satellite phone that our pickup would be postponed to the afternoon, if not tomorrow. With the extra hours in our hands, Kuan decided to take a COVID test before moving on with the day.
The last place on earth where we thought we would catch COVID!
That explained the headache and the fatigue! We might have caught the virus in the lodge when we were ordering cocktails, or on the tour bus to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, but we would never know. Rest assured, from this moment onward, masks were on and self-isolation was happening until our symptoms subside.
Later that day, we heard from the pilot that she would have to postpone our return flight to the following day since the conditions were too dangerous for her to fly.
Tuesday to Sunday: Kenai Airport Hotel 😷 (1h/64 Miles)
After an extra (and free!) night at Brooks Camp, the weather improved and our pilot was able to come pick us up. We were reunited with our truck in Homer by lunchtime, and bid farewell to Renda and David. We were so sad that we couldn’t caravan a bit longer to go back to Seward with them. Then, we checked into a small airport hotel in Kenai, a much quiet town with good access to grocery stores and pharmacy.
The rest of the week was extremely uneventful (sleep, eat, repeat), but the good news is that we are feeling almost back to normal. The plan is to start our journey back to the lower 48 on Sunday. Fingers crossed for a negative COVID test!
Stay safe and healthy!