The Adventures of Starl Krenbic: August 2016

Let's backtrack for a hot second, back to when we first crossed the border into Canada and were beginning the long road to Alaska. Imagine, if you will, Karl and I sitting in a Tim Hortons taking advantage of the free wifi and amazing white hot chocolate, dreamily discussing what we envision our perfect Alaska adventure could possibly include while researching what was actually feasible (drivable and monetary-wise).

As a kid, Karl visited Alaska on a cruise with his family, so his goal was to explore deeper into the interior. Then there is me… Alaska held this almost unattainable mystery to it. For those of you that know my parents (and have heard of their past travels), this state was one of the few places in the US that slipped through their grasp. They talked of visiting longingly. My dad reminisced about how the road was not safely drivable for most vehicles back when they attempted the task and my mom would always mention how going to "the place where you could photograph the bears" was on her to-do list.

I inherited this desire to see the Alaska my parents dreamt of and jokingly told Karl that it would make my folks uber jealous if we went to see the bears before they did.

The conversation went in the directions of saying that it would be pretty cool to explore Alaska by plane, train, and automobile- just to say that we did. By automobile is painfully obvious at this point, train (as you know from our last blog post) was on the agenda and tickets were booked, but plane was the tricky part. There are many National Parks (Katmai, Glacier Bay, Lake Clark, Gates of the Arctic, Kobuk Valley) and whole areas of Alaska in general that can only be accessed by air or water. Probably on a sugar high from those Tim Hortons white hot chocolates and donuts, Karl started looking into prices of tickets for a plane ride to one of those remote places. Katmai National Park (where you go see the bears) along with only being accessible by float plane or boat (neither of which are cheap) also usually needs reservations months in advance for lodging (with our transient last minute planning lifestyle, we had days). So, I assumed that such a goal was beyond our reach and just dismissed Karl's research attempts as futile.

Yet, with a grin, Karl asks if I would be OK with just seeing a few bears rather than a lot of bears… Upon my confused look, he points at a chart showing that the bears seem to frequented Brooks Falls (the place within Katmai where the bear viewing platforms are) mostly in July for the beginning of the salmon runs, then follow the salmon up stream, and return in September after the salmon spawn to feast again. August, when we would be in the area, is not "prime-time" but there was still a chance of sightings. Plus, as luck (or destiny) would have it there was some last minute availability at the campsite, if we didn't mind pitching our tent inside of an electrified enclosure. So, with less than 2 weeks notice, we book a flight to hang out with bears… And DAMN, it was worth every penny, plane ride, and picture (I took over 600 photos). Take that as another warning of a photo overload coming.

Getting to Katmai is no easy task. Starting with a flight from Anchorage to King Salmon on a plane that hands out earplugs as well as snacks and drinks, then a quick shuttle ride from King Salmon's little landing strip to the docks, and then you get weighed to the ounce in order to be put onto various sized float planes.

I was already giddy with the float plane ride. Seriously, those pilots are crazy but also gave me the best views and smoothest landings in an aircraft that I have ever experienced.

Once you land, you are immediately escorted to the Ranger Station for a bear safety video and lecture. Getting to see the real wild of wildlife in the wildness as it is supposed to be while staying safe requires work. What to do, what the expect, where to go, and protocols to follow. It is rare to have such a location that these massive, strong, and beautifully fierce animals can be observed in their natural habitat without being too disturbed. The reason this place seems to works so well is that the bears have become accustomed to expect certain behaviors from visitors to the area now, if you stay smart and keep within said expected limitations, the bears know you are there but do not give a crap about you. After the ranger feels like you get the gist of what to do, you get a cool pin to wear around as a badge stating that you have been through the briefing.

One can explore the area around Brooks Lodge and Camp, bears even hung out there too. A certain bear being so bold as to bed down in the grassy fields just outside of the lodge. People are definitely the visitors in a place like this, bears get the right of way. But the real fun begins when you take a short walk towards the Brooks River. There, each year, the park puts in floating bridge (it is actually floating docks that have been modified to create a bridge) with gates on each end. Once you cross the water, there is a viewing platform (Lower River Platform) at the far end for people to climb up onto and have a nice view to scope out any bears in the surrounding waterways and lakes. This area is where most of the "bear jams" occurred.

"Bear jams" are when rangers close down the people walking pathways because a bear is in too close proximity. Nearly every single time Karl & I made this crossing over our 4 days stay, we got stuck in a "bear jam". This may sound annoying to some, but I absolutely loved it! Bears don't care about your schedule, so there were times (while we were safe on a platform), we got to watch bears up close, chat with rangers, and just wait for them to move along for periods anywhere from a few minutes to over 2 hours!

After leaving the Lower River Platform (once the coast is clear) you walk along a dirt road for about 0.3miles to reach the start of the Brooks Falls Trail, a 0.6mile winding path that takes you through the brush and trees closer to the Brooks River. It is unnerving walking this short little trail sometimes, especially after one was just released from a "bear jam", due to the fact that you can see places where the grass is compressed from bears walking and bedding down all around you. And you are out in the woods. And not on a platform. In bear country. Without bear spray! (Oh, yeah, no bear spray or camp fuels are allowed on the planes… so you just go without.) Nothing ever happened on this trail other than one's imagination becoming very active along it (seriously, the same overturned tree that kept disguising itself as a bear got me every time!) but, it leads to the main attraction- the Falls and Riffles Platforms.

The Falls Platform is where the majority of the world's iconic "bear catching salmon in mouth" photos are taken. If you don't know what iconic images I am talking about, see my attempt at capturing the "catch" above or see the image I posted on Instagram (enter my blatant social media plugin here: @krenbic)! Time ceases to exist in the normal sense when you are out there. Even in the pouring rain, one can stand and watch nature LIVE, no HD needed, for hours on end.

Who knows if it has to due with mere luck, late salmon runs, climate change, or what... but the whole bother about there not being many bears in August was bull. The main August advantage was that there weren't as many people as there would be in peak season. At times Karl & I had the platform all to ourselves to just watch the bears. Oh, side note: anyone can watch the Bearcam from Brooks Camp.

My mom will find this scandalous, but the reason I don't have even more photos of bears is because just watching them was enough. Speaking of enough, I'll stop typing- here are some bears getting fat on salmon:

Of course by now, you can tell I am obsessed with the bears of Katmai and that they are awesome, but a huge shout out has to also go to Katmai for having some of the best people (visitor and staff) I have met on this trip so far. It may be that those who make the trek out to such a remote place and willingly decide to camp in a tent in the middle of bear country must have a shared passion (or shared craziness) that connects us all, but every single camper we ran into was wonderful. Each spare moment not spent with bears was utilized by chatting, eating, drinking, sharing, and laughing in the communal shelter with strangers turn into friends. Bear hugs to all (and cute bear cub photos):

Oh yeah! Just so you know- Katmai National Park when it was originally created, had nothing to do with wildlife viewings. It was established in 1912 to protect the features of the Novarupta Volcano eruption (30x larger than St. Helens) and the resulting Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.

Back then, they thought that Yellowstone geysers might be dying out and the steaming remains from the eruption in Katmai could be a new geological destination for tourists. Funny enough, things cooled down and the steaming stopped so there is no more smoking in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.

We weren't going to go on the tour up to this area until said new-found friends convinced us otherwise. It is geologically unique, you won't find a place like this anywhere else in the world. It is impossible to judge size and distance in the ash, dust, and pumice fields and cliffs remaining, giving you a sense of how tiny we really are in this world (if being close to a brown bear, didn't do that already for you!)

<3 S

From the largest National Park in Alaska to the smallest, next stop: Kenai Fjords! Yet, we did not drive towards the park (which could be considered a southern coastal neighbor to Wrangell- St. Elias) we drove UP into Alaska and headed for Anchorage. This detour was to tickle my fancy of wanting to ride on a train along the Alaskan Railroad! So with our Adventure Class seats booked, we camped out in the Anchorage Cabela's parking lot and got ready for a 6:45am departure on the train to Seward.

ALL ABOARD!

Seriously, the train was fun, relaxing, and we got to see a lot of cool scenery as the railroad does not follow the highway to the coast, yet winds its way through the mountains and valleys. Four hours and many photos of said mountains, glaciers, and train tracks later we found ourselves in the fishy smelly town of Seward, Alaska.

Interestingly enough though, we weren't allowed to check into our hostel until 5pm, so a few hours had to be wasted exploring the town with packs on our backs. Walking along a section of the National Historic Iditarod Trail, we got familiar with the layout of town, chatted with the rangers at the Visitor Center, and then found Seward Brewing Company where were had some beers and food- not a bad way to wait.

We were staying at the Moby Dick Hostel, and as per usual with hostels we got our share of hot showers and interesting roommates (one night even included the funniest older "cruise couple" who staggered in, smashed drunk and were hysterical to listen to as they whisper fought over who would get the lower bunk and repetitive drunken slurs of "I think am still on the boat, everything keeps swaying!" and hisses of "You are the worst husband ever!" with an answering "Shh!" from said husband- haha).

The main reason we wanted to come down to Kenai Fjords (other than the train ride) was for that iconic wildlife guide/whale watching tour. So, after some research, we booked an 8.5 hour cruise called the National Park tour with Kenai Fjords Tours, that would take us exploring through Resurrection Bay, out into the Gulf of Alaska, into some of the fjords to check out some tidewater glaciers (like Aialik Glacier) up close, and even stopping for a dinner on Fox Island.

Of course, going into a tour like this, one always hopes for the best but keeps reality in check. We heard many stories of past bookings of the cruise getting to see only a few seafaring birds but we had to take the chance. "If not now, when" right? The cruise, mostly due to the kick-ass knowledgeable crew and freaking insane amount of wildlife sightings, went WAY above and beyond any expectations that I had. Here is where I warn you, even before we lost sight of docks, there were more than just a few gulls… MANY MANY MANY photos were taken. Prepare yourselves, you have been warned! They do say pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'll do my best to pick and share a select few photos and let them speak for themselves…. *I wanted to add more but Karl told me to limit the overload on here, but if you want to see them just ask!*

Sea Otters, Steller Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, Cormorants, Black Oystercathers, Common Murres, Puffins (Horned and Tufted), and the WHALES: Fin Whales, a pods of Orca, and the Humpback Whales… Oh My! Oh yeah, glaciers and pretty scenery too!

With just that day, I could have left Kenai Fjords and Seward, more than satisfied. I was giddy with excitement on what I witnessed but we had 2 more days to enjoy the gray rainy weather of Seward.

On our 2nd full day, we layered on the rain gear and booked a ride up to Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier, is the most accessible interior glacier, and is one of more than 40 glaciers that fan out from the Harding Icefield in Kenai Fjords National Park. There are only 2 options when people go up to Exit Glacier, if you don't want to book an excursion with a guide: 1) take the short easy path leading to overlooks of the glacier or 2) take the longer and steeper journey up to the top of the Harding Icefield (just to look at it, because they do not recommend attempting it without a guide and proper equipment like crampons). As we don't own crampons (yet) we modified option #1. After talking with the ranger again (and getting a few ideas of our own) we took the easy stroll with all the other tourists, and got to see the signs marking where the glacier used to extend to in the past.

But, after that lil jaunt we followed the rangers suggestions and worked our way down to the Outwash Plain of the glacier. From there, we just followed the water-flow and scrambled our way all the way up to both of the toes of Exit Glacier.

It was surreal, getting to be so removed from all the other people and close enough to touch the glacier and have it all to ourselves. I'm starting to understand why Karl likes bushwhacking so much - exploring off the beaten track can really reward you, if you are prepared for the challenge.

Having taken the adventure of the train ride in, we needed to take the train back out. But it only leaves at 6pm. so once again we had time to waste waiting. We spent it in the best way possible, hanging out with more animals. The Alaska SeaLife Center, an educational center for the public and rehabilitation facility for a lot of the wildlife was awesome, and once again, heed my warning: MANY photos were taken!