Our mid-July journey to Katmai NP began with a scenic 90 minute float plane ride from Homer at 7 am. As we landed on Lake Brooks, we immediately spotted a mother bear with her 2 cubs walking along the shore in front of the park visitor center.
The viewing conditions were perfect to see dozens of bears on this sunny 65 degree day. Seeing bears from various elevated platforms felt very secure. We only encountered 1 bear (75 yards away) during our 45 minute trail walk to Brooks Falls while avoiding lots of bear skat - so we knew they were close !! After a mandatory safety orientation from the park ranger, we spent about 3 hours viewing bears. After talking our photo with the park sign - our pilot Trent had us board his 7 passenger float plane for the smooth return flight to Homer.