Up early (not with the sun, but early) for breakfast and back to the Falls to check on the bears. As it turned out, we were among the last couple of people to cross the bridge before it was closed again - the female with cubs does like to hang out around here.
Since the bridge closed so soon after breakfast, we were among only a handful of people at the Falls on this morning - unfortunately, there were only a handful of bears, too! The bridge kept the people away for a nice long time, but the bears got more numerous as the morning went along.
We enjoyed watching different fishing techniques employed by the bears. This guy wandered around and around - he made so much racket that he scared fish away - we never saw him catch anything, but we enjoyed watching him anyway.
One time the fishermen downstream got his attention. He kept ambling a closer and closer, and the fishermen kept re-locating further downstream.
This guy doesn't really TRY to catch anything - he watches the other bears and then tries to steal their fish from them. Most of the time it's obvious which bear is the dominant one - he can scatter a crowd with just a look. Occasionally, there's some snorting and growling and snapping of teeth, but mostly noise and then the dominant bear stops and gives the other guy a chance to make a hasty exit.
This bear appears to be a two-year old cub that is pretty clueless about fishing. He hung out around the edges and watched for scraps. He couldn't get the time of day from these big guys, but he'll do better in September. After the salmon spawn, they die and the dead fish float back downstream - a river full of dead fish means easy pickings for all.
This pair sits and stands on some rocks near the base of the waterfall, expecting the fish to land in their laps? We never saw them catch anything, but they did dive in the water a couple of times - they'd come up snarling at each other, wondering what happened.
This guy stands at the top of the waterfall, watching and waiting. We were, too - wishing we could snap a picture of a mid-air fish catch. No such luck - no mid-air catches, no Nat Geo pictures.
Then there's the bottom of the falls technique ... lots of water, and the occasional fish, which he carries over the shore to gobble down before anyone else arrives to take it from him.
This guy sits in the jacuzzi, and occasionally grabs a big mouthful of water - every now and then, he came up with fish.
This guy is an entertainer - he wades around in the rapids, spots a fish and launches a flying leap into the water. Never saw him catch a fish that way, but he sure was fun to watch.
ALL of them are fun to watch - and it was just a little bit unbelievable to be standing calmly so close to so many bears. They truly are magnificent animals and we'll never forget this short time we spent in their home. But ... there was a plane to catch, so we headed back to grab some lunch and board our 1 PM flight back to King Salmon.
Surprise - we forgot to notify the bears that they should be out of the way for planes leaving today. The mama bear with four cubs had found a comfortable spot (right next to our plane) for nursing, and she wasn't in a hurry - and four cubs is a bunch of babies! These things take time -- a nice meal, a little nap, a little play time -- this charming family moved on down the beach (toward the bridge) to check the fish and we hopped on our little floatplane and were gone.
There's not much else to say - except to note that it is a LONG trip from Naknek Lake in Katmai National Park to Columbia SC. One floatplane, one prop job, one big jet and one little jet, and we made it home at midday Sunday. About 19 hours in transit. That's way too long, but ... one step out of the airport into the stifling heat and humidity, and we would have happily jumped back on the plane to spend another month or two in Alaska.
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