The river ran thick with salmon today, and by the time we arrived at the falls for our morning shoot, the bears had gorged on fish and were sleeping it off in the brush.
The salmon had the run of the falls and were jumping at rates we had not previously seen. So we trained our cameras on the cascade (water going down and salmon going up), hoping to catch the salmon mid-jump as they strained to return to their spawning waters.
At one point, I found myself shooting next to Len Rue, Jr.. (We was leading a group from Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris) We laughed at how in-sync our shutter releases were as we reacted to the jumping fish seen through our telephoto lenses, and we commiserated over how many deletions we were generating for ourselves. I made an attempt at Salmon Slo-Mo (see below).
As it was our last day traversing the mile-long trail between the lodge and the falls, I indulged in a few trail shots. Technically, you're supposed to keep moving (and talking) on the trail because bears.
After the morning shoot, it was off to lunch and (sadly) back on the float plane to King Salmon and then back to Anchorage. We had a slight delay out of King Salmon, so we took in a "true Alaska bar" experience at Eddie's Fireplace Inn.
In Anchorage, we gathered for our farewell dinner at Sacks Café.We did our best to let the good food and laughter suppress the realization that our adventure together ha dome to an end. With all the scenery, travel, and photography, it seemed like our welcome dinner (less than a fortnight prior) had been at least a month ago.
We were grateful to have a night in the deluxe accommodations at the Historic Anchorage after our time in the spare barracks of Brooks Lodge. After a breakfast at the hip and delicious Snow City Café, we scattered to our various separate post-safari destinations.
Jumping Salmon and Return to Anchorage
Salmon Jumping in Slow Motion
COMING SOON
The Grizzlies of Brooks Falls, Alaska - Part 3
Brooks Falls LIVE WebCam
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