Katmai National Park

Katmai Bears Katmai National Park
August 4-10, 1988

The first time Susan's brother Lyle came to Alaska with his friend Chris, we decided to go to Katmai National Park. We took off with four people in the plane in 70 degree weather and flew down the west side of Cook Inlet, then through the pass to Lake Iliamna and on to King Salmon. We got a lift out to Naknek Lake and prepared our boats to go out on the lake in the morning. The midgies were terrible, hovering around us in clouds and crawling into our eyes, ears and nose to bite. Lyle was surprised that they didn't seem to bother Dennis and me much. Fortunately, we were able to camp that night in an old Quonset hut, and the bugs left us alone inside.

We had our Klepper kayak and a little dinghy with a 3-horse motor. Dennis' idea had been that the raft could tow the boat, but it didn't have enough power. Besides, the raft leaked. We had to stop a couple of times to patch it. Everything inside it got wet.

We left at noon. It was foggy and hard to see where we were going. At one point we almost turned back, but decided to round the next point before making a decision. The fog lifted and we made a long crossing. As it got later and later, Lyle became more and more concerned. He's not used to our LONG Alaskan days. In Colorado, you have to think about making camp by 6:00 or so. We were out in the middle of a large lake in two very small boats at 6:00, but the sun was still shining. We finally made it to shore and gratefully set up camp, then tried to dry our clothes by the fire. The bugs were terrible once again.

The second day on the lake, we tried towing the raft with the kayak, but that was too hard on the paddlers. It rained and rained and we all got soaking wet. I was concerned that Lyle and Chris might be regretting the trip until I heard them making up a funny song about the experience. We made it to Brooks Camp about 5:00. A grizzly sow and three cubs were walking along the beach as we approached (see photo).

After we ate and set up camp, we went into the lodge and sat around the fire talking to people from all over the world. The man next to me touched my knee as he was rising to go for a walk with his wife.

"You're soaking wet!" he exclaimed.

"We all are," I said. "We paddled across the lake in the rain today."

I'd resigned myself to sleeping wet for the first time in my life, but the man generously offered to let us shower and dry our things in their cabin while they walked. They took an extra long walk for our sakes and we got our clothes and sleeping bags dry and toasty. I still have not had to sleep wet on a camping trip.

The next day we walked to Brooks Falls and saw salmon levitating themselves up the falls. We didn't see the bears that typically gather here to fish because most of the salmon had moved on upstream and it was easier for them to fish there. We did see bears swimming in the river, however! The rangers are very strict with fishermen. If they have a fish on and a bear approaches, they must cut the fish loose. Otherwise, bears will learn that fishermen mean easy food, and that could be dangerous.

It seemed dangerous enough as it was, with bears walking up and down the beach just yards from the main campground. To date, there have been no serious incidents.

The next day, we took a bus to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. Mt. Katmai erupted in 1912, in one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded. The ash filled an entire valley, and the water underneath steamed up out of the cracks for a several years thereafter. When we returned, we paid a man with a boat to take us back across the big lake to Lake Camp, where we stayed in the Quonset hut again and prepared to float down the Naknek River back to King Salmon.

The next morning a fox walked right up to Dennis just before we left. We floated by an eagle nest on top of a tree, with an eaglet perched precariously atop, looking down at us with eagle eyes.