Last updated: December 7, 2021
Itinerary
What follows is a general flow of events. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be flexible.
Day 0
Meet your guide for a pre-trip meeting at 4 pm in Anchorage.
Day 1
This is a long day. We fly from Anchorage to King Salmon. After a visit to the excellent visitor center we board a float plane and fly to Colville Lake. Once the plane is unloaded we will assemble the canoes and paddle several miles to make a nice, secluded camp on a pebbly beach. We’ll spend the rest of the evening settling into our surroundings.
Day 2 - 7
We have 80 miles to go and time to enjoy it. We’ll be paddling up to six hours a day, stopping several times to stretch, snack, hike, and explore.
We’ll paddle across Colville Lake and into Grosvenor Lake, a long finger of a lake curving beneath tall mountains, a hidden jewel with secret creeks full of salmon. Snow capped volcanoes loom in the distance. At the very tip of the lake, we will descend a creek that empties into the Savonoski River. From here, we’re paddling swift water in a vast open plain of river gravels. The views are stunning as we enter Naknek Lake, gray with glacial silt and dotted with floating rocks (pumice).
We will spend time fishing the lakes and rivers, swapping stories around beach fires, and watching bears feed, swim and interact with each other.
Day 8
Paddle the last few miles to Brooks Camp and unload our gear. We spend our last night of the trip in Brooks Camp, the Katmai National Park campground and will have the afternoon to watch bears from the platforms overlooking the world famous Brooks Falls.
Day 9
After a last walk up to Brooks Falls, we meet our plane and depart Brooks Camp. We fly back to King Salmon, and then catch a jet back to Anchorage arriving late in the evening. Change socks!
