First Day to Visit Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park

On Tuesday, July 12th I flew Bald Mountain Air Service with two float planes, two pilots and twenty passengers (ten per plane). First, I inserted images of our flight from Homer to Brooks Camp Beach. That’s a Garmin GPS up front with pilot Bob. The one bear with it’s back to us is on the river near the bridge area. The next shot was taken at the Ripple Deck just below the falls. Then, the image of the folks on the deck are at Brooks Falls.The bears were still catching salmon even though the peak of the salmon run was about a week before I arrived. I was pleased that our pilots, Bob and Ricky left Homer about a half hour ahead of schedule. I was disappointed that when we arrived, we had to park at the far end of the beach because of many float planes already parked there. We also had a longer walk to the Ranger Station for our bear orientation. I did remember to buy my sticker first thing to place in my little National Parks Passport Book and use the official stamp and the Centennial stamp also. However; we had to wait for a group of forty ahead of us to finish their orientation and then get to do our orientation. I was the second one from our group out the door with my official bear orientation pin, my big lens and tripod. There is a 1.2 mile hike to the falls. Got my name on the list to get on the deck at the top of the falls and went to the lower deck called the Ripples along the river. Had a good time there; but, did not want to miss a chance to be at the falls deck. I was worried that I might have missed the rangers calling my name. I was told there were still 34 people ahead of me on the list. I was concerned I would not be able to be on the Brooks Falls deck before my plane was scheduled to depart at 3:30 PM. Finally, the ranger asked if I was ready to go to the top of the deck. I said I was more than ready. I got my hour taking pictures from the upper deck. My name was called to leave the deck. I told all the rangers “Thank you for letting me visit the bears.” Then; with the long hike back to the plane, I was wondering if they might take off without me. When I got to the plane with two other passengers, we arrived shortly after 3:30. One passenger was still unaccounted for. She arrived about ten minutes after I did. More nice pictures on our return trip. Each way was about a one and a half hour flight! That’s what they call “Homer Spit,” the land that extends out into the ocean.