Today, June 23, we did the first bear viewing trip of this season at Brooks Camp and Falls in Katmai National Park. While it is still slow with bears showing up for their favorite meal, there were sows with cubs visiting the Falls. Normally sows with cubs stay away from the waterfall – with boars ruling the waterfall most of July, it is dangerous for cubs to be too close to the prime feeding grounds.

One change this year at Brooks is that the National Park Service has prohibited use of tripods for your cameras, or any devices that would attach your camera to the railing on the platforms by the Falls. Those are the platforms where access is limited during peak of the season. Talk to us how we can help you avoid crowds and have the best viewing spots mostly to yourself in the height of the busy July in Brooks.

In July, the waterfalls at Brooks River are packed with salmon jumping upstream to get to their spawning grounds. This attracts the crowds – of hungry coastal brown bears! That is great since it is an incredible sight to be seen. However, these sights attract crowds of people. Most of us try to avoid standing shoulder to shoulder as we watch bruins merely moving their heads to snatch a meal in mid air. Small scuffles play out in front of us as bears fight for a better spot in waterfalls. While human visitors to the falls tend to be more civilized, I would like to offer some tips for better experience at Brooks Camp visit.

After an hour and a half flight from Homer we arrive at Brooks Camp. We beach the float plane on Naknek Lake and let you off to start your visit. The beach is soft sand with small pumice rocks – see them float in the lake as you toss a few in the water! The first order of business is getting through an orientation by National Park Service rangers called “Bear Etiquette”. In order to maximize your time at the Brooks Falls, try to get to the Visitor Center quickly, getting a spot in the briefing room. After a short video and a follow up by a ranger showing off a prop that used to be someone’s backpack but ended up as a toy for a curious bear, you will graduate and receive a pin you will be suggested to wear while you are at Brooks.

We ask you that you bring lunch or dinner with you, as the case may be – the total trip time runs at 6-6.5 hours before we get back to Homer with its great restaurants and some fast food places that pale in comparison with fresh salmon that bears catch. At Brooks Camp you can not take any food with you on the trail. The four options are: eat on the airplane just before we land at Brooks, on the airplane after we depart Brooks, at the camp next to the Visitor Center in a picnic area guarded by an electric fence, or as some well informed passengers of ours have done, during the Bear Etiquette briefing!

As you get through the orientation, keep in mind that everyone in the room with you is headed for the same place – platforms at the falls. It is about a mile walk from the Visitor Center to the prime spot for bears trying to get a salmon and for us to see those huge creatures scoring a meal. Once the platform nearest to the falls gets packed to the capacity of 40 people, NPS rangers start taking names and allowing one hour to view the bears once you are on the platform. When you walk up to the covered area, your name goes on a list, and when they call it out, you can get close and get the great views of the bears.

It seems like everyone tends to book for 9AM departure. While convenient for most people, it happens to be popular as a departure time and around 10:30 the beach at Naknek lake get packed! Floatplanes will be beached wing to wing, a few boats might be in the lineup and crowds of day visitors invade the Visitor Center. This slows down the briefing with questions like, “can I chew gum on the trail?” “Is it OK to bring chap-stick?” and on and on! While it is important to be well informed, this robs you of your time which could be spent looking at the bears instead of listening to bear stories.

So if you pay attention to the video, feed yourself before the briefing lets out and head down the trail you could have a lot more time to catch that once in a lifetime photo!

Brooks Camp bear viewing for the 2016 season is on! Fish are jumping and the bears are in the falls. The bear camera is live now, so stay tuned to see how many bears are out there each day!

Brooks Camp is located at the mouth of the Brooks River on the shore of Naknek Lake in Katmai National Park. It is known all over the world as one of the most beautiful and best places to view brown bears in large concentrations. The bears in Brooks Camp can be seen roaming the trails, teaching their babies to fish in the lake, and pulling salmon straight out of the famous Brooks waterfalls.

Our trips to Brooks Camp leave daily from Homer until September 9am until 3pm, allowing for approximately 3 hours of bear viewing time. Check out the Brooks Camp bear viewing brochure, and contact us to reserve your spot.

If you would like to customize your Brooks Camp experience, just let us know. We have seats available on existing flights for one way transportation at reasonable prices. Whether you would like to stay in Brooks campground, just outside of it on Dumpling Mountain with its stunning views or explore the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, we will provide you with plans B and C and contacts for when weather stops us from picking you up at the end of your stay in Katmai.

Uran here again reporting on my most recent flight adventure – the Fly-Hike-Boat we offer in conjunction with Mako’s Water Taxi. Our esteemed pilot Jimmy got the trip started off with a quick and beautiful scenic flight over to Leisure Lake (China Poot Lake). He pulled the plane up to the beach at the entrance to the China Poot Trail and helped us all out. From there, we began the hike following the trail signs headed toward the Ranger Station. The trail was freshly groomed, easy to navigate, and filled with breathtaking views. In total, it took us about 3 hours to get to the Ranger Station, and we really took our time along the way to enjoy the scenery and take lots of pictures for sharing with you!

Once we got on our scheduled pickup from Mako’s, we meandered around the lagoon a little and then cruised through the beautiful Halibut Cove community, which is only accessible by boat or plane. From there, we headed over to Gull Island, the local rookery, where as many as 20,000 birds build their nests each year. Finally, we made it back to the Homer Spit! Take a look through my pictures below at all the great things to see, and schedule your Fly-Hike-Boat with us today!

Interested in seeing bears but don’t have an entire day to devote to a bear viewing trip? Join us on a volcano and bear viewing tour and see bears from the air! This 1.5 hour flightsee leaves from Beluga Lake in Homer and heads west over the Cook Inlet towards the Mt. Iliamna volcano. You will circle the 10,000 foot volcano and then descend into Chinitna Bay to view the bears clam digging all along the beach. Included in this 90 minute tour is the massive Tuxedni glacier on the backside of Mt. Iliamna. Get it all in one flightsee!

Hello all. Uran here. As the newest Steller Air employee and brand-new Homer transplant, I have been given the difficult task of jumping on our flights to get familiar with the area and our offerings. I know. It sounds just awful, doesn’t it? However, I’m a dutiful employee, and it’s part of my training, so I try to oblige.

The first of these “training flights” was a 1-hour Flightsee. We took off from Beluga Lake, and flew out the Homer Spit to the mouth of the Wosnesenski River. Following the river into Katchemak Bay State Park, we soared over the Wosnesenski Glacier. Our skilled pilot Jimmy snaked a path over the park to show us the Grewingk, Dixon, and Portlock Glaciers, Bradley Lake, and several other beautiful sightings. Once we reached the head of the bay, we circled around and followed the bluff all the way back to Homer. The whole trip was absolutely breathtaking, and we saw a lot of wildlife including birds, mountain goats, and even a mother black bear with her two cubs. From flying in a floatplane to seeing the picturesque landscape of Homer, it was an experience unlike any I’ve ever had.

Stay tuned for my next flying adventure. Better yet, join me in Homer and we’ll experience it together! Call us at 907-299-0284 or fill out our request form to reserve your spot.

It’s been a crazy 2014 already with lots of reservations coming in for July. Brooks Camp is one of the most popular destinations for bear viewing in Alaska. In July, you can observe dozens of bears fishing the famous Brooks waterfalls, sometimes pulling salmon right out of the air. Its also exciting watching the sockeye salmon make their migration up the Brooks river and jumping the falls. Its a beautiful place with a rich history.

To read more about Brooks Camp and the bears, visit the NPS website here.

To make your reservation for July, please email us or call us at 907-299-0284.

Congratulations to those who have received wildlife viewing permits to the McNeil River Game Sanctuary this year! Winners of the permits were announced on March 15th and can be viewed at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.

We offer service to McNeil River all season long. The cost of the trip is $1100 each way and allows you use of the entire plane which can accommodate up to 4 passengers or 750 lbs max. Many people will try and contact other winners during their date range and reserve together in order to split up the cost. Please contact us to reserve your spot!

We are very excited to start offering guided trips this summer with local guide, Randy Keller with Isuma Guideworks. The first trip that we will offer is a guided rafting trip down the Wosnesenski River (locally known as the WOZ). The trip will be 3 days, 2 nights and will include a guide, all rafting and camping gear, all food, park fees, and float plane transportation there and back. We are still working on a itinerary but expect a beautiful flight over Kachemak Bay glaciers and mountains, a day of hiking around Kachemak Bay State Park, two days of easy rafting down the Wosnesenski River (Woz), and some unforgettable memories.

Randy Keller has been leading both summer and winter trips into some of Alaska’s most remote wilderness areas since 1986. He maiWosnesenski current WFR (Wilderness First Responder) and is a certified ACA (American Canoe Assoc.) kayak instructor. As a trained facilitator, he brings with him 30 years experience in the Alaskan outdoors and a lifelong commitment to making a difference in the lives of those he leads on Isuma’s trips. As many of his clients over the years can tell you, his trips are unforgettable. He has a passion for the remote, an excellent knowledge of the wilderness and wildlife, and just so happens to be a superb camp fire chef.

Detailed information including prices will be added to our website soon, but always feel free to contact us with questions at 907-299-0284 or fly@stellerair.com.

It’s been one funky winter here in Homer, Alaska. The lake has almost completely thawed out at least twice. Will it be an early start this year? Will travelers be sliding in earlier in May or even April?? We’ll see! But I do know one thing. People from the south must be trying to escape to our “tropical” weather because our reservations are filling up fast. If you are interested in bear viewing in July at Brooks camp in Katmai National Park, you better hurry because we are filling up fast. We are also actively taking reservations for flight sees, fly-in fishing, hunting drop offs, and volcano tours across Cook Inlet. Give us a call or fill in our online reservation forms if you have any questions!