what trip did you do and when? I think of the bears often, too!

I was at Katmai for three days last month. Just an excellent time. Too bad you didn't talk with a ranger when you were at Katmai and get his/her EMail address. That would probably have been one of the best ways.

Last year as I was planning my trip, I wrote to the NPS office in King Salmon and they were incredibly helpful. Perhaps you should do the same?

If anyone is interested in photos from my Katmai trip, here is a link to some photos from my entire trip. Over half of the photos are from Katmai.

…google.com/johnn.photos/AlaskaJuly2007

John

Hi, we were there in late June and had an amazing experience. Check this site out, www.jonnyhorizon.com/NEW-WEB-SITE/index.html You probably met this ranger volunteer, John. We got to talk him quite a bit during our visit, even met one of the other rangers parents who were visiting, just a great bunch of folks! Send him an email since he told us it does get lonesome up there!

Great photos FTI, I enjoy seeing some of the bears I recognize (we called the one at the top of the falls catching jumping fish "Hollywood", since we were there at the end of the staging period and he would stand there for hours waiting for a fish to jump close enough for him to catch, we figured he just wanted his picture on the cover of National Geographic!) It's amazing how much he filled out in less then 2 weeks!

Laura

Loved the fotos John. I'd like to go next year. what's the best time. I have 2 weeks to kill coming from Miami,Fl. Was thinking of last 2 weeks July or Midlle 2 weeks of July. Have been to Africa 2x and loved photographing wildlife. I don't mind spending extra time to get that great foto. what settings did you use? Manual mode or aperture priority? shutter speeds? Thanx

Besides the Bear viewing (how many days should I stay at Brooks was thinking 3 nights?) what else could be done in that area or even that part of the country (already did the Alaska cruise thing w/ quick stops in Denali/ fjord tours). I'm not into hunting or fishing.

Thanx Laura and John and to all who advise---Steve

z06man,

Re: Katmai, July and September are peak months there. I was there July 10-12 and it was great. Actually more bear activity on the lower river than normal for July, so said the rangers.

I would say anytime in July is probably great. Plan on spending 3 nights there or more - max is 7 nights in July. Many photographers I met were spending 7 nights. I wanted to spend time in other places as well. But between bear jams and the weather, it can be tough if you are only there for a day or two. Fortunately my last day there (departed at 3pm) was the best day for lighting (good sun for the first time) and the best day for no crowds (shortly after I crossed the bridge over the river, there was a bear jam so the fall viewing platform was almost empty all morning!).

Besides the bear viewing you can take a day-trip to the Valley of 10,000 Smokes. I had planned on doing that until I arrived one day later than planned due to flight delays. But I would probably not take that unless I were there 4-5 nights. Just enjoyed the bear viewing so much. If you are interested in hiking, there is also a hike up part or all of Dumpling Mountain. A park ranger leads this hike up to a lookout point (I think daily but not positive). Also seems worthwhile but only if you are there for more time.

If you plan to camp there, book the campsite in January. Only $8/person/night. The cabins fill up 1 year in advance so you are probably too late for that ($300/person, minimum two people/cabin so they don't come cheap).

I used automatic exposure almost all the time and often bracketed. I don't recall the specific shutter speeds but generally they were pretty fast to capture the sharpness. For the one I have of the bear on the falls but the falls are blurry, that was obviously slower - maybe 1/15th of a second? Bring a tripod - very useful at the falls platform but not so much at the other platform.

If you can use freq flyer miles, some airlines allow a stop in Anchorage en route to King Salmon. That is how I did the trip so inexpensively. Otherwise figure $500-$600 just from Anchorage via King Salmon to Brooks Camp for the flights. Just the floatplane from King Salmon to Katmai is about $180 round trip.

I try to get to Denali as much as I can. I really love that place. I was able to get to Denali, Kenai Fjords and Katmai National Parks on that trip last month. Next July's trip will be to SE Alaska so I won't get to Denali next year unless something happens that I don't yet know about.

John

Thanx John. I got lucky and got a cabin reservation for July 29-31. For 2008 there is a 2 night max stay at the lodge. Was thinking of visiting Kodiak Is. Any info on that? I doubt fotos would be as good. Would love to stay longer at Brooks but 2 1/2 days seems loke alot for that camp.

Anyone know about various "tour" operators w/ bear viewing? any reccomendations for a real in depth tour of Denali (not the school bus quickie that the cruise lines do)?

Glad that you got a cabin reserved. Note that meals are extra - figure $60-$70/person in meals if you buy breakfast, lunch and dinner from the lodge. You can eat as much or as little as you want at the lodge and if you bring your own food with you, you can keep it at a food cache near the ranger station. No food allowed in the cabins. 2-1/2 days is a lot if the weather is good. If the weather is bad or if there are bear jams, you might barely get to the viewing platforms.

There are several tour operators out of Homer and Anchorage with bear viewing in Katmai - mostly along the Katmai coast.

I am not sure about Kodiak but I have heard that the bears are harder to find there. Hopefully someone with more info and experience with Kodiak can chime in.

Re: Denali, the cruiselines actually don't do any tours in Denali themselves. The park service operates four options:

Natural History Tour - this is the one most cruiselines contract for and that you are probably referring to. Forget it - you can go almost as far on the free shuttle bus to Savage River checkpoint.

Tundra Wilderness Tour - goes to mile 53. Commentary guaranteed, small box lunch (really a snack from what I have heard) is included. But costs over $90

Shuttle bus - to various destinations but the furthest is Kantishna for about $35. Usually very active commentary but not required. Having said that, I have never been on a shuttle bus that didn't have extremely knowledgeable and extremely talkative drivers, especially to the westernmost point (usually Wonder Lake, some buses to Kantishna).

Camper bus - primarily for those camping at campgrounds or in the backcountry. Also very knowledgeable drivers, usually very active commentary but my last trip the commentary was so-so going to Wonder Lake. Returning was better.

I would suggest a shuttle bus to Wonder Lake. You can always get off shuttle and camper buses at any point, hike around for a while, photograph, etc., and hop back on another bus. I often "bus surf" when I see wildlife and the bus doesn't stop for as long as I would prefer - get off the bus 1/2 mile up the road and catch the next bus back to spend more time watching whatever it was I was interested in.

John

Thanks again John you have been more than nice w/ the info!

Was at Barnes and Noble and read about the Mcneil River, another salmon run area w/ great viewing but it's camp only fend for yourself type area. Anyone ever heard of it or gone?

So as far as Denali goes just jump on the shuttle and see what's out there? Thanks for the tips / stopping points. Does the shuttle stop at that main Denali village that all the cruise lines put up their people?

The shuttle buses start at the Wilderness Access Center, about 1/2 mile from the Parks Highway. Some hotels offer shuttles from their hotels in "Glitter Gulch" but not all. It is about a 1 mile walk from Glitter Gulch to the WAC and there is a path to walk on, not on the main road.

Yes, just get on a shuttle bus and hope for great weather and lots of wildlife. Ride the bus a couple of days if you have time - never the same experience.

John

We were there Jun 27 to Jun 30 and really enjoyed having the camp grounds practically to ourselves, it was about a third full. We left our suitcases in the storage room and there was plenty of space, we even used that as our changing room and only used the tent to sleep in. We aren't really campers so this helped alot especially since it rained every night we were there.

I think everyone is skeptical about going anytime other than July or Sept. but after talking to the rangers they felt that a significant amount of bears seem to be appearing about the time the salmon are staging(late June this year). I would highly recommend anyone staying a few days during late June. It was really fun to watch the bears going from really hungry (they would wait forever for a fish, fight each other over fish, chase the fish down the river) the first two days to on the last day catching a fish every five minutes and just eating the head and roe (not even eating the skin they were so full). And not having to deal with alot of people, only once while we were did the even take names, but noone was ever asked to leave even when the daytrippers arrived it since it never reached forty people (I think that was the # when they are asked to rotate).

There were several times in the evenings it was just my DH and myself alone or with a couple of off duty rangers watching bears for hours. It was like having our own private Brooks!

I agree with John about the 10,000 Smokes tour, everyone that went on it said it was great, I was interested in going but couldn't bring myself to miss anytime away from the bears, it was just so interesting watching them. As the OP stated you really become attached to them. We estimated we saw a least 25-30 different bears, and several we saw everyday and became very familiar with.

You will have a great time, and no matter what your expectations, your visit will exceed all of them!