Ramp Dogs

When a visitor flys in to Brooks Camp chances are he or she is flying on Katmai Air. They have a number of flights that go back and forth from King Salmon to Brooks Camp. They bring people out for the day or to stay at the lodge. There is a great team of guys that are in charge of unloading and loading passengers and gear from each flight. They are known as the ramp dogs. They wear casual clothes and waders while they grab and secure the float planes. They welcome the visitors with large smiles and friendly handshakes. They send the visitors up to the visitor center for their bear training and then unload luggage, packs, and supplies for the lodge off the plane. All this gets loaded onto a gator that pulls a trailor.

Their schedule is about to get just as hectic as ours as the numbers of visitors and bears increase. They have the hard job of getting planes unloaded and reloaded while at the same time making room for the bears that travel up and down the beach. Two days ago when the bears were chasing each other down the beach I watched as the ramp dogs jumped into the plane to get out of the way of the passing bears. The gator at the time was full of food and gear, which is something the bear team tries to keep away from bears so that they don't realize an easy meal lies inside the plane. Bears are lazy creatures and easy meals in gators would make trouble for the bear team. Luckily that day the bears were too busy running from one another to realize that food was just inches away.

Once the bears had passed, the ramp dogs jumped out and went back to work. With in minutes the plane was loaded with the guests that were leaving and back into the air. In a weeks time there could 14 planes at any one time parked on the beach. Not all the planes are unloaded by the ramp dogs but quite a few. Each one of them has a smile on their face and treat everyone like a special dignitaries. So if your coming to Brooks Camp be sure to treat the ramp dogs great. They have a tough job.