Brooks Lodge and Carter

B is for Bear.

On July 16th, Bucky and I began our much anticipated trip into Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park. Katmai sits at the top of the Alaska Pennisula and the Aleutian chain of islands. We had heard many wonderful tales of this area from Carlisle and her good friend Carter while working at Brooks Lodge. Although Carlisle moved on to new ventures, we were excited to become Carter's surrogate parents during our week at Brooks. No parent could ask for a more wonderful son. We took an early morning flight from Anchorage and arrived in King Salmon, a small fishing village on Naknek River, an hour and a half later. Upon arrival in King, we were shuttled to Katmai Air for the flight by float plane to Brooks Lodge. As luck would have it, our pilot was David McRae, a good friend of Carlisle's, who was able to point out for us the connection of Bristol Bay to the Naknek River and to Naknek and Brooks lake. Bristol Bay is perhaps the largest salmon fishery in Alaska and it's all about the spawning salmon. Our first bear sighting came before our floats hit the water as we approached the beach at Brooks Camp. What seemed like a close bear encounter then, would seem trivial in the days to come. As soon as our feet left the float and hit the sand, we were in the capable hands of Carter. If not for him, we would never have seen all that this area has to offer, including tufted tan bear ears just showing over the grass, taking a wade in the Brooks River below the bear viewing platforms with all binnoculars on us instead of the bears and starting a fire to cook salmon on the beach at Margot Creek with water logged wood while a bear eyed our salmon from a distance. Margot Creek provided us with Arctic Char fishing, a fish which with we had had no previous experience, nor had the puple,egg sucking leach been a part of our lives before now. Carter was as adept as Levi at pulling my wearing bones through the current of the Brooks River enabling Bucky and I to catch some awesome Rainbows. Our camping in the Brooks campground was O.K. other than the pools of water in the corners of the tent. So, it was without hesitation that we accepted an extra night offered to us at Fure's Cabin, the only public use cabin within Katmai Park. Roy Fure was a Lithuanian born trapper, homesteader and tough old bird who outlived one wife and went on to share his cabin with his 17 year old native bride. It was impossible to share his home without many thoughts of how it must have been here really not so long ago. Being in the cabin gave us the chance to dry our soggy clothes by the wood stove and eat food out of aluminum pouches. In the early morning, while lying on my back listening to the comforting snore of my two sleeping bears, Bucky and Carter, on either side of me, I counted the knot holes in the spruce ceiling above me and thought about Fure's 17 year old bride and wondered if she had made the right move in marrying Roy. Carter left the next day for work at Brooks, leaving behind the canoe we had brought from Brooks so Bucky and I could try our luck with Pike. We heeded the many warnings that we had been given about Naknek being a tricky lake with high winds appearing rapidly by staying close to shore and fishing some weeds. After landing a decent fish, our hopes were high, but that was to be the only fish of the day. We made a hasty return to Brooks on the evening of the 21st as rough water and wind were predicted for the 22nd. It was weird to hear the motor of "Big Red" the Brooks boat, coming to fetch us, far in the distance long before we could see it, due to the silence of a spot like this. It was our hope that Carter had been able to arrange for another day off to stay and fish, but it wasn't to be. One thing we've learned about Alaska is that you move or don't move as the weather permits. There are so many more things to say. I haven't even begun with the bears. That's for next time. And if the weather permits, the next move is to the Kenai. J.