Salmon spawning streams. Southeast Alaska is full of them, and today we were able to experience one. After a morning of Zodiac cruising in Kelp Bay, we headed north along the eastern shore of Baranof Island to Hanus Bay. After lunch we booted up for one last hike - to Lake Eva. The long hikers blazed ahead, while the rest of us either kayaked or meandered. Up a few hills, through a bit of mud, around the head of a tidal lagoon - finding Indian paintbrush and purple asters along the way, accompanied the entire time by a resounding chorus of "YO BEAR!".
We could hear the cascade of the creek, and smell a few spawned-out salmon long before we actually reached the falls. We watched pink salmon and dolly varden nosing their way upstream, sliding into the eddies behind small boulders to rest briefly before pushing back out into the current for the final stretch up the falls. Above the falls, a glassy calm pool was filled with sockeye, pinks and dollies, circling to find the perfect nest site.
Strolling back down the trail we paused to look around, seeing ancient forest and new friends.
