The Tour

After getting off the plane and getting settled I got a tour of Brooks Camp.  There are beautiful views every where you look.  Brooks Camp includes the Interpretation staff housing, the ranger station, the visitor center, and the lodge and their staff housing.  Each of the areas have names, the park staff housing is found down park avenue,  the lodge staff live in tuckerville.  From Brooks camp you go the the Brooks River.  In a month 80 different brown bears will gather for the annual salmon run to get fat on fish.  At the river there is a long floating bridge that crosses the river.  On the other side is a platform to safely stand and watch the bears.   Once across the river you follow a dirt road about a half a mile
where you come to a trail that will lead you to the falls platform.  The falls is a six foot high falls that the salmon have to jump over to go upstream to spawn.  This will be the place all the bears will gather in July.  Brown bears are lazy creatures by habit and if the fish will jump into their mouths instead of them hunting for them so much the better.  Once back on the main road if you head away from the river you come to a Y  in the road.  A left will take you to the valley of ten thousand smokes a right Lake Brooks camp.  This is where I will be living when I am out there the rest of the summer.  I am lucky enough to be able to stay in a real log cabin house.  It is the oldest building in the park with a beautiful veiw of Lake Brooks of which I hear the sunsets over the mountains are spectacular.  I did not get to see one though while I was there.   There are also cabins down the road from us that the maitenance people stay in.  the log cabin contains a huge fireplace in the center of the cabin.  It is very comfortable and cozy.