Alaska Trip July 2019
Larry Arneson
Brooks Falls & Lake Clark 2019.07.15 - 2019.07.20
Brooks Falls - Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA
Katmai National Park -
Getting to Brooks Falls is not easy. For this trip there was a
flight from Anchorage, AK to King Salmon, AK and then a float plane
from King Salmon, AK to Brooks Camp. Click on the map image to
open a new window with a higher resolution map image.
Brooks Camp Location Map - This
overview map shows the general layout of the roads, trails, lodging,
and eating locations of the Brooks Falls area. People stay in
cabins or tents and then hike to the location(s) where they want to
view the bears.
Brooks Falls 1 -
This image was taken at Brooks Falls. This is the location where
many male bears feed on salmon. In
the lower part of this image you can see the salmon attempting to make
it up the falls. They say that the salmon have only a 6% success
rate of making it up the falls each time they make an attempt. So
on average a salmon has to make 16 or so attempts to make it up the
falls so that they can travel up Brooks River to Brooks Lake.
When you watch them, you can understand the difficulty they have. Some
jump toward the falls, some jump straight up, and some actually jump
backward. All that to worry about on top of being a meal for a
hungry bear.
Brooks Falls 2 - This
image shows a male bear seemingly confused as to which salmon he wants
to catch and eat. You can see that there are so many salmon in
the water that they're nearly touching. It's
interesting to know that the male bears don't eat the whole salmon. They
just eat the portions of the salmon with the highest amounts of
protein. Which means they eat the head, skin, and if a female
salmon, the eggs. On
days when many salmon are migrating in the river, a large and dominant
male bear will sometimes catch and eat more than 30 fish per day.
Smaller bears that cannot compete for the best fishing spots, or bears
that are less skilled at fishing, may catch and eat considerably less
fish.
Brooks Falls 3 - Bear waiting on salmon.
Brooks Falls 4 - Bear
no longer waiting on salmon. Note the salmon captured in
mid-jump. You have to wonder where the salmon is going.
Brooks Falls 5 - This
is a common sight on the trail to the Brooks Falls Viewing
Platform. Often, you will encounter a bear either going or coming
and all you can do is move off the trail (if you can) and let them pass. If
fact, it seems to be a favorite past time of the bears to lay down and
go to sleep either on the trail or very close to the trail. All you can do is wait for them to wake up!
Brooks Falls 6 - A male bear enjoying a relaxing day at the Brooks Falls Spa!
Brooks Falls 7 - Time for a snack at the Brooks Falls Diner.
Brooks Falls 8 - Uhh, yeah, I'll have another one!
Brooks Falls 9 -
There is a place on the falls where the height the salmon have to jump is a
bit lower than most of the falls. This is a prime location for
them to try and make it over the brink of the falls. It's also a
prime location for bears to catch salmon. This image shows one of
the more dominate male bears catching a salmon while a couple of others
seemingly sneak by.
Brooks Falls 10 -
This male bear has caught another salmon. Note the scars and
missing fur on this bear where he has been injured while defending his
territory and maintaining his dominance over other male bears.
Male coastal brown bears will often battle for dominance during mating
season. Male Alaskan Brown Bears can grow to over 1500 pounds
making them the largest land based predators on earth..
Brooks Falls 11 -
This is an image of a mother bear with cubs nearby. They are
constantly on their back
legs so that they can see farther. Bears are thought to have the
best sense of smell of any animal on earth. For
example, the average dog's sense of smell is 100 times better than a
humans. A blood hound's is 300 times better. A bear's sense of smell is
7 times better than a blood hound's or 2,100 times better than a
human. The mother bears are very protectful of their cubs and are
constantly watching out for male bears or other aggressive animals.
Brooks Falls 12 - Peek-a-Boo!
Brooks Falls 13 - Salmon for breakfast . . . and lunch . . . and dinner.
Brooks Falls 14 - Okay, which one of you three ate the rest of the salmon?
Brooks Falls 15 - Mama bear keeping an eye on cubs from a distance
Brooks Falls Videos
Cubs Playing Near Cabins 1
Cubs & Momma Playing Outside Cabin Door
Cubs Playing On Log On Earth Berm
Cubs & Momma Playing On Earth Berm
Lake Clark National Park
Lake Clark National Park -
Another amazing place for seeing bears in Alaska is Lake Clark National
Park. One way to get to Lake Clark National Park is by
helicopter. In this case by flying across the Cook Inlet from
Homer,
AK. There are also quite a few glaciers within the park boundary. Click on the map image to
open a new window with a higher resolution map image.
Lake Clark Bear - This
bear came within about 10 feet of where I was standing.
Apparently, I didn't bother it too much at all. I wish I could
say the same about myself. I was starting to get more than a
little bit bothered.
Lake Clark National Park Glacier - From helicopter.
Lake Clark Videos
Lake Clark Bear Video 1
Lake Clark Bear Video 2