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Happy birthday to Gramps today. We had an amazing day for you!! We had thought about getting up early but after a late night, wasn't going to happen. Went and had breakfast (and watched some bears run past the dining hall) and sorted our gear. Bit raining and yukky today but wasn't going to stop us. Lucky we had some waterproof gear with us. Headed off to the trail, only to encounter our first 'bear jam'. Due to bears being near or on the trail or near the bridge they 'close' the bridge. We hung around and waited. The rangers were racing up and down the trail to see where the bears were. We would pop down to the beach to have a look and then a bear would wander up the beach and we would have to move back. Quite frustrating but that is life at Brooks Lodge. Finally they opened the bridge and we made a quick dash (no running) for the bridge and got across before they closed it again. Had a look from the platform and more bears wandering around the shore and swimming in the river. Bridge was shut once more but all good, as we were on the right side this time.
Made our way up the trails to the viewing platform, booked in and out to the platform. They only allow 40 people at one time on the platform overlooking the falls and you are given an hour limit. When your hour is up, you head out but you can put your name down once again and if the platform is full they give you a restaurant buzzer so you know when it is your turn. There is another platform called the Riffles Platform which had no limit on people or time and has a look out over the river and up to the falls. You do notice the difference when there is 40 people on the platform as opposed to last night when there was only about 25 of us. Still so amazing to see and so much to watch.
Different bears have different ways of fishing. Some sit up on the top of the falls and wait for the salmon to jump up and into their mouth, others sit at the base of the falls and lunge on to the fish with their claws or put their heads under the water and catch them with their mouth. One was quite happy to sit in the 'jacuzzi' and have a feast of fish as his disposal. Some bears like to stay to the opposite side of the falls to where the people are watching and hang out in the shadows. They all seem to know their spot. One sub-adult was up the top of the falls and just watching and scratching. Looked like he had no idea what to do up there. Once they catch their salmon, again they all have different ways of eating it. They don't eat the whole fish. They are more interested in the skin, the eggs and the guts. They pretty much leave what us humans would eat. Some eat more then others and before you know it are back fishing again. Some bears will eat is where they catch it, others will take it to their 'spot' and eat it, some even use a rock as a 'dining table'. So cool to watch their unique personalities.
We had another visit by a mum and cubs before it was our time to leave the platform. We put our name on the list again and headed to the Riffles platform for some more bear viewing. There were so many people waiting we eventually decided that we would head back and grab lunch before coming out again. We stopped at the lower platform to see what was happening on the lower river and beach and were lucky enough that a mum and her spring cubs (newest cubs around) walked straight past the platform. That little they are still black. So cute. Over for lunch and again had some bears wander by. They have a real problem with the sub-adults running amok in camp lately and they don't them getting used to being in the camp because it becomes a problem when they are bigger.
After lunch, could easily have had a nap but decided to head over again. Unfortunately the bridge was closed and pretty much stayed closed until after 5.30pm. It is such a downer, it is one of the lows of Brooks Lodge (but highs definitely outweigh it). At least we weren't stuck on the other side on the platform because it was drizzly for most of the day. We could see some bears down on the beach and out swimming too in the lake. Decided to have an early dinner and then try and head out afterwards. Got to the corner (just before the bridge when a bear decided to come in and once they are 50ft within the bridge it get shut so we got called back. Urgh. Waited on the grassy knoll and luckily they re-opened it about 10mins later so we shot out so we didn't get caught again. No encounters this time on the trail and then it was bear viewing time from the best platform in the world.
We were so lucky. At one point we had 24 different bears and cubs around the waterfalls and within view of the platform. We had 4 different families visit and had 2 of them hang out right beneath the platform. They are so cute!! Since it never reached the capacity of 40 we pretty much spent 2 hours watching the bears. You could never get bored, there is always something to watch and then something else catches your eye. It is so hard to explain. Yes, we took lots of photos but we also spent lots of time just watching and enjoying and cheering when a fish was caught. The ranger said this was most bears they've had here in quite a while so we were so lucky. We also noticed that the salmon weren't jumping as much as last night so it was longer between meals for those on top of the falls. It was also interesting watching the salmon jump and when one made it, you could just see it struggling so hard to keep going, it's tail going back and forth to keep making it. Just magic, the whole thing.
Kicked out at 10pm, the same bear and cubs had settled in once more in their nest. Made it back to camp, and chilled out in the lodge with a drink chatting to the same couple as last night. We are trying to decide what to do tomorrow, we need to be careful we don't get caught on the other side because out flight out is at 12pm which sucks, because our connecting flight is at 4pm.
- comments
nj So loving your bear watching and hearing all about the adventure. Great stuff.