Bears Hate Selfies

Some of you might already have heard, but despite our best efforts (14 days of quarantine AND two negative tests before being allowed in the park, masks to match our uniforms, and as much social distancing as can be humanly managed in a tourist-based industry) the coronavirus did make it to Katmai: King Salmon, AK –  Katmai National Park and Preserve   (Katmai NP&P)   announced today the immediate closure of the Brooks Camp Developed Area (BCDA) to all visitors until further notice. The closure is in response to a request from local health officials after multiple positive cases of COVID-19 having been detected in the park’s residential community . The park is acting according to a COVID-19 operations plan developed alongside public health professionals. (Emphasis mine.)  Yup, you guessed it, I'm one of those positive cases. Last Thursday they had a nurse practitioner come out and test us all again, even though no one had any symptoms. Two of us turned out ...

#775 "Lefty" taking a nap between salmon You asked for bear pictures, and I'm here to oblige. I had wondered how long it would be before I saw any bears, but I didn't have to wait long. On the drive from quarantine to the boat launch to go to Katmai, we very nearly ran into one on the road, just standing there. I was ecstatic, and also very grateful that my new coworkers, surely much cooler than I am and inured to the shock and amazement of seeing a bear, didn't hear the excited squeaks that were apparently coming from me. I'm a lot of things, but "chill" is not one of them. When we landed on the beach, there were five bears. Five bears right there on the beach. Which one do you even look at when there's that many?! The Park Superintendent was there to meet us, and despite my valiant efforts to give him my full attention, he probably at most got 60%. I tried. Every single person who comes in to Katmai has to go through a Bear ...

Off the last flight into King Salmon, I was met at the tiny airport by a gate, with an employee of some kind (no idea who she worked for) on the other side with a clipboard. A locked gate. The employee asked us the now all-too-familiar Covid screening questions, and said "the pilot should have given you the code for the gate." We looked back at the pilot, who was now in the process of taking off.  "He didn't." The employee unlocked the gate. I think I may have found a gap in their security system. After that, an National Park Service employee found us, and we were handed the keys to a government vehicle, and we drove to "the dorms" for our quarantine, only to be moved to a different place an hour later. Then we settled in. It was a cute little house with a back porch and a back yard, but we were trapped not only by our quarantine rules, but also by the clouds of mosquitoes thick enough to totally obscure a person. Fourteen days. I can do fourtee...