Home from Brooks Camp

Hello!  I have made it back from eight days at Brooks Camp.  Brooks Camp is a small camping area in Katmai National Park.  Katmai was named a National Monument in 1918 six years after Novrupta Volcano erupted.  At that time the park only included the valley of ten thousand smokes.  In 1931 The park was expanded to include Brooks Camp which was a small village.  Today it is the most popular place in the park.  There you will find the parks visitor center.  Next to the visitor center is Brooks lodge which is a series of cabins, restaraunt, bar and giftshop.  The area is not very big but 10,000 people will fly in, mostly in July and September when the Brook River becomes the ideal sockeye salmon spawing area.  With the fish come the brown bears.  80 different bears will feed next to one another to catch Salmon swimming up river to spawn.
This was my first time to visit this absolutely beautiful area.  If you were to close your eyes and dream of the perfect place in Alaska, and I say in Alaska because I know if I say the perfect place some of you would be dreaming of a warm and tropical place.  But if you were to close your eyes and dream of the perfect Alaska hideaway Katmai park would be it.  I got off the float plane, which is the major way people can get into the park.  There are only four ways in, fly, boat, hike, or on snowmachine.  Anyways I got off the plane, which by the way I made the flight without getting sick.  Thank You Dramamine.  Back to the story, I stood on the beach and in every directions I saw snow covered mountains.  Absolutely, beautiful.  It took your breath away, it was that beautiful.  After a short hike up the sandy beach and through the white spruce trees, we entered into the visitor center.  Once your off the plane you must immediately take a bear training.  Which includes a 10 minute video on the bears and protecting yourself and the bears.  Then a Ranger speaks for about another ten minutes explaining what goes on at Brooks Camp and go over the important parts of the movie.  Which is no food is allowed to be eaten or cooked outside any where in the Brooks camp area.  You must stay 50 yards from a single bear and 100 yards from a mother and cubs.  You are told not to run and what to do if you should come across a bear.  When all is said and done, you recieve a Katmai annual pin which you must wear at all times to show you have been through the bear orientation.  And yes, even I wildlife biologist had to take the training.  From there it was on to housing and a tour of the park.  The whole time I was thinking I am going to summer camp and getting paid for it.  I would tell you more but I just got home a few hours ago and I am beat but I will have lots of stories to tell so stay tuned.