South Arm, Kelp Bay, Baranof Island
Drifting mists defined our morning and draped the steep forested fiord walls in soft foggy finery. Stumps and rocks morphed into brown bears while mountains moved, disappeared and reappeared, as in the shape shifter stories told in the old days. Veils of low clouds covered and uncovered the forest with shades of black and white; the whole accented by the deep translucent green of the plankton-rich waters. The south arm of Kelp Bay hosts a lush wild meadow at the head of a narrow fiord that supports two salmon streams and a number of coastal brown bears.
At the mouths of the streams, pink and chum salmon are gathering to make their final move into the spawning grounds; bald eagles and harbor seals guard the entrance to this great annual feast. Two sub-adult brown bears were spotted meandering near the banks of the streams, looking for a salmon snack to quell their hunger. They’ve been browsing on sedges and eating in the intertidal for several months and the coming of the salmon has a tremendous impact on their ability to survive.
The hikes today followed the salmon streams through the waist-high tangle of grasses, sedges and wildflowers. Some walkers made it through the meadow to visit islands of impressive Sitka spruce, while everyone spent some time in the irresistible thickets of salmonberries, certainly the ripest and sweetest I’ve tasted this week. White umbels of cow parsnip, blooms of yarrow, wild geraniums and red paintbrush were threaded throughout the path.
Guests in brightly colored kayaks paddled gracefully across the inlet to gaze upward at a waterfall cascading down the mountain for hundreds of feet. The rains of the past few weeks have added substantially to the flow of the falls and filled the salmon streams.
We too have been filled with a stunning week of Southeast Alaskan adventures and an amazing number of exceptional wildlife sightings. But beyond the hikes and kayaks and even the sightings is a new appreciation for sharing the wonder and the beauty of wild places with young ones and with those we care about. At the end of this glorious week, we can easily appreciate each other and the mystery of our home planet a bit more than when we stepped ashore in Juneau.
