Lake Eva Trail
The Lake Eva trail, located in the Northeast corner of Baranof Island, is one of the best places in Alaska to experience the ambiance of a temperate rain forest. Immediately after leaving the trailhead on a rocky beach, you are transported to a magical realm of spruce and hemlock soaring skyward to form a canopy over a forest floor of thick green moss. Further along, the trail follows a stream choked with spawning humpback salmon. This, of course, is where bears congregate for an almost effortless lunch. As we watched from the safety of the trail above, our bear made repeated forays into a pool just below a small waterfall, where most of the salmon take a break before resuming their relentless journey back to their spawning grounds. The best part of this remarkable wildlife encounter is that the bear was aware, but undisturbed by our presence. From time to time it would glance up to be sure that we were not coming down to compete for the available fish. Otherwise it wandered freely from the stream to the forest, pursuing whatever agenda that brings satisfaction to the instincts of the ultimate predatory land animal in Southeast Alaska.
The Lake Eva trail, located in the Northeast corner of Baranof Island, is one of the best places in Alaska to experience the ambiance of a temperate rain forest. Immediately after leaving the trailhead on a rocky beach, you are transported to a magical realm of spruce and hemlock soaring skyward to form a canopy over a forest floor of thick green moss. Further along, the trail follows a stream choked with spawning humpback salmon. This, of course, is where bears congregate for an almost effortless lunch. As we watched from the safety of the trail above, our bear made repeated forays into a pool just below a small waterfall, where most of the salmon take a break before resuming their relentless journey back to their spawning grounds. The best part of this remarkable wildlife encounter is that the bear was aware, but undisturbed by our presence. From time to time it would glance up to be sure that we were not coming down to compete for the available fish. Otherwise it wandered freely from the stream to the forest, pursuing whatever agenda that brings satisfaction to the instincts of the ultimate predatory land animal in Southeast Alaska.
