Brooks Lodge, Katmai National Park, AK

Edit:ignore the map. My phone thought we were in Florida apparently.

We had a few false starts this morning. The 7 am. boat was delayed due to fog. Then the 9 am. boat was delayed, but finally, about 10:30, the fog lifted. We went across Naknek Lake in about 45 minutes. We had a bear briefing, and then Phil and I went to have lunch at Brooks Lodge.

Just after we finished, a mother bear and cubs walked by on the beach. The cubs were play-fighting until Mom finally had enough and took them back into the woods.

Phil and I walked to Brooks Falls and Brooks Lake, but we saw no other bears today. We did see a lot of fish. Mostly salmon starting to come upstream, but also some trout and other smaller fish.

After the fog, it turned into a beautiful sunny day. We found out they accept volunteers here, so we may consider that in the future.

You will notice we broke out the bug coats in addition to our permethrin-treated clothes. They have mosquitos here and also a biting fly called white socks. The bug coats are good but hot. I wore mine the whole time, and Phil put his on after a short hike.Read more