20060626 Ranger Perquisites

While the 15’x20’ living space I share with Travis seems cramped, nobody and I mean nobody, has a bigger back yard. This would be one of the perquisites of life as a park ranger in Brooks Camp. Today I had the opportunity to view a part of that backyard from the air.

Katmai Air, the concessionaire here, offers one-hour sightseeing flights to the public for $138. In order that we might know the area better, once a season on a “blue-sky day” the park service pays for employees to go. Today was that day for Travis, myself, Niki, and Dan.

Up up and away on a 7-person Cessna, with Sean, the son of Katmai Air’s owner Sonny, as our pilot. We climbed to 7500 feet for the tour of Naknek Lake, the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and volcanoes in the vicinity. We were able to see the valley road, the only road in an enormous park, along which the tourbus travels to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The plane gave us an eagle-eye view of the ash-filled valley, site of the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. We flew by Mt. Griggs, a volcano whose summit was shrouded in clouds on this day. We flew directly over the Mt. Katmai caldera and its lake half covered in ice, and alongside a steaming vent. The Baked Mountain research hut stands lonely on an ash-covered slope. The milky-blue waters of Naknek lake, colored by the sun's reflection off of fine suspended particles, looked fake, too good to be true. Enough. The photos speak for themselves.

The flight was one of several firsts on this day. I offered a guided hike to Brooks Falls for the first time, where a few bears have just begun fishing for the salmon that increase in number daily. At the falls I saw my first bear in the falls and my first bear catching a fish. I also saw my first spring cubs, up a tree while mama fished. Sorry, as I was working I shot only one picture from the falls platform. All in all a great day full of the perquisites extended to park rangers.