BEARVIEWING AND FLIGHTSEEINGKatmai NP
Just like the other parks, established in 1980, covering 4,725,188 acres. Volcanoes and bears-powerful and inspiring is the Katmai. Inside the Park are 15 volcanoes and North America's largest population of protected brown bears-about 2000 of the
m. Scooter, our wonderful bush pilot and guide, took us up up and away. Perfect weather-amen. No bouncing and bumping and me clutching Buba's arm. As you can see Pleep and Maggie enjoyed the ride as well. I kept looking for the air strip....nope, the beach. It was amazing how smooth and easy the landing was given the fact it was an ungroomed beach with a 15 degree seaward pitch! Way to go Scooter. We enjoyed with amazement watching the clam digging bears. Bears? Clam Diggers? Yup. And they all have their very own way of eating the clams. There they were, just meandering around us, looking and digging. Bear watching was a scream-up close and personal. Brown Bears averaging 1000 lbs and 10 ft tall within feet of us.Then we walked into the f
ields where they were enjoying a nice breakfast of grass....a few (20 ft) from us! Buba said he never dreamed he would be that close to an Alaskan Brown Bear without a big game riffle in his hand. They looked like big brown furry cows grazing on the sedge grass. It was as if we had the place to ourselves. There are no permanent facilities, camping on beach only and the Oh Rangers come and go sporadically. We met a couple of Ranger Volunteers. Volunteers? It's got Buba's name written all over it. When can I sign him up?Then we were off, up up and away to.............
m. Scooter, our wonderful bush pilot and guide, took us up up and away. Perfect weather-amen. No bouncing and bumping and me clutching Buba's arm. As you can see Pleep and Maggie enjoyed the ride as well. I kept looking for the air strip....nope, the beach. It was amazing how smooth and easy the landing was given the fact it was an ungroomed beach with a 15 degree seaward pitch! Way to go Scooter. We enjoyed with amazement watching the clam digging bears. Bears? Clam Diggers? Yup. And they all have their very own way of eating the clams. There they were, just meandering around us, looking and digging. Bear watching was a scream-up close and personal. Brown Bears averaging 1000 lbs and 10 ft tall within feet of us.Then we walked into the f
ields where they were enjoying a nice breakfast of grass....a few (20 ft) from us! Buba said he never dreamed he would be that close to an Alaskan Brown Bear without a big game riffle in his hand. They looked like big brown furry cows grazing on the sedge grass. It was as if we had the place to ourselves. There are no permanent facilities, camping on beach only and the Oh Rangers come and go sporadically. We met a couple of Ranger Volunteers. Volunteers? It's got Buba's name written all over it. When can I sign him up?Then we were off, up up and away to.............Lake Clark National Park
The only way to get to both Parks is by plane (90% of the time) or boat. Again, we landed on the beach. Like all of the other Alaskan National Parks, Lake Clark was also established in 1980 on 4,045,000 acres. The flight over the Katm
ai Mountains to Lake Clark was splendiferous-glaciers, alpine spires, wild rivers, lakes and volcanoes (Illamna and Redoubt mountains-active and smoking-Scooter flew us right over it to for a scary close look). The tops of the Chigmit mountains are as rugged as they get and it looked like someone poured white frosting over them. The jumbled contours reflect centuries of geological movement. You can always count on GOD to be the best artist! Another walk through the streams and meadows to watch
the bears of Lake Clark. Buba really enjoyed watching the mother and her 2 cubs playing and eating in front of him. Pam liked the bear claw marks on the trees-that's one way to get a manicure out here. Watching these gentle giants up close in their natural habitat didn't fit the Hollywood version of the vicious blood thirsty creatures. The bears there view us as "neutral"-we are not a food source nor a competitor which made for an extraordinary experience.
ai Mountains to Lake Clark was splendiferous-glaciers, alpine spires, wild rivers, lakes and volcanoes (Illamna and Redoubt mountains-active and smoking-Scooter flew us right over it to for a scary close look). The tops of the Chigmit mountains are as rugged as they get and it looked like someone poured white frosting over them. The jumbled contours reflect centuries of geological movement. You can always count on GOD to be the best artist! Another walk through the streams and meadows to watch
the bears of Lake Clark. Buba really enjoyed watching the mother and her 2 cubs playing and eating in front of him. Pam liked the bear claw marks on the trees-that's one way to get a manicure out here. Watching these gentle giants up close in their natural habitat didn't fit the Hollywood version of the vicious blood thirsty creatures. The bears there view us as "neutral"-we are not a food source nor a competitor which made for an extraordinary experience. As we were starting to land back at the Homer airport I asked Scooter - by the way how old are you? He turned around and said 22. I almost passed out-too late! Good job Scooter and the Homer Air Company. P.S. In the off season he teaches flying in Winter Haven Florida. That Florida flat land must be a good training ground for this neck of the world? Don't worry Bocahontas, I grew up in Colorado and been flying with my Dad since I was 10. Whew!
