Kelp Bay and Lake Eva
The sheltered bays of Southeast Alaska connect the forest and the sea. Moisture held by lakes, glaciers, and spongy mosses percolates into rivulets, streams, tumbling cascades and waterfalls, flowing through the temperate rainforest. Marine life flourishes in the shallow saltwater, salmon make their way from ocean to stream, and bears and eagles feast on the abundance.
Today we witnessed this intertwined community of water and life. On a morning Zodiac cruise, Sitka black-tailed deer wandered on shore and mink bounded in the intertidal region. Immense sunflower stars and colorful anemones were conspicuous with the low tide.
Hanus Bay and the Lake Eva trail provided the focus for an afternoon of hiking and kayaking. A hidden lagoon was fed not only by the flood of the tide, but also by a lovely creek that winds its way through the lush understory of lacy ferns and monstrous skunk cabbages. Salmon return to this, the place of their birth, for the last effort of spawning before their death. Their rotting carcasses enrich the stream and new generations of fish. Trees also take in the nutrients brought in from the sea. We watched eagles and kingfishers as they patrolled the shorelines, yet nothing could equal the excitement stirred by the brown bear in the photo. The belly of this handsome creature almost swayed as it walked. Fattened by pink and sockeye salmon, perhaps with some berries as well, this massive creature strode the stream bank in plain view of a number of hikers. These animals, long ago exterminated from most of the lower 48 states, are true symbols of wilderness, and it was a special privilege to observe one here, relatively undisturbed by our presence.
The sheltered bays of Southeast Alaska connect the forest and the sea. Moisture held by lakes, glaciers, and spongy mosses percolates into rivulets, streams, tumbling cascades and waterfalls, flowing through the temperate rainforest. Marine life flourishes in the shallow saltwater, salmon make their way from ocean to stream, and bears and eagles feast on the abundance.
Today we witnessed this intertwined community of water and life. On a morning Zodiac cruise, Sitka black-tailed deer wandered on shore and mink bounded in the intertidal region. Immense sunflower stars and colorful anemones were conspicuous with the low tide.
Hanus Bay and the Lake Eva trail provided the focus for an afternoon of hiking and kayaking. A hidden lagoon was fed not only by the flood of the tide, but also by a lovely creek that winds its way through the lush understory of lacy ferns and monstrous skunk cabbages. Salmon return to this, the place of their birth, for the last effort of spawning before their death. Their rotting carcasses enrich the stream and new generations of fish. Trees also take in the nutrients brought in from the sea. We watched eagles and kingfishers as they patrolled the shorelines, yet nothing could equal the excitement stirred by the brown bear in the photo. The belly of this handsome creature almost swayed as it walked. Fattened by pink and sockeye salmon, perhaps with some berries as well, this massive creature strode the stream bank in plain view of a number of hikers. These animals, long ago exterminated from most of the lower 48 states, are true symbols of wilderness, and it was a special privilege to observe one here, relatively undisturbed by our presence.
