Ell Cove Ridge Hike with Bears

We watched this brown bear catch five salmon in about ten minutes. He is going to get big fast with this kind of diet.

Today I took a few hardy guests to one of my favorite hikes in Southeast Alaska. In the middle of the Baranof Island Wilderness is a tiny cove, just big enough to fit our ship for anchor. It is called Ell Cove, and this is the jumping off point for the hike. Just our from the cove is an unusual sight, a beautiful white sandy beach. This is a rarity in the inside passage. As we pulled up to the beach for our dropoff, our skiff driver called out, "bear in the river!." We all looked, and sure enough, right next to the beach there was a large brown bear in the salmon stream. Then we saw another. 2 bears in the river! I turned to the guests and said, "Bears in the river, right over there, looks like a great place to land. Let's go!"

Some of the guests thought I was joking. But soon enough we had all landed on the beach. We walked up to a large rocky outcropping to put our lifejackets down next to a few half eaten salmon. I was a little worried that a bear might chew on our lifejackets while we were hiking. Then I told to the guests to follow me as I led them down the beach...towards the river! We found another rocky outcropping to watch the bears from. That is when we realized there were actually 4 bears in the river! It turned out to be a bear family, a mama with three big cubs. We cheered on the cubs as they tried to catch salmon. And watched one of the cubs scamper all over the big rocks and splash down into the deeper part of the river. Eventually the bear family walked up the river out of view. What a great start. Now it was time for the hike!

I led the group back down the beach towards this massive old growth forest. We scrambled our way into the forest which angled up pretty steeply. The trees were old and the ground was soft. It feels like it would be a place where woodland fairies would live. There wasn't much undergrowth here, making downed trees the most difficult obstacle. We found some well used bear trails that led higher through the forest. Eventually the trails led to an opening where the forest ends and a vertical bog begins. The ground turns into deep mud and soft moss. The trees get stunted so it looks more like a bonsai garden. Carnivorous plants hide in the moss, trapping unsuspecting bugs in their sticky liquid. This is where the views open up, giving our hikers more incentive to keep climbing, as the 360 degree views just kept getting better and better.

We found a nice spot, high on the ridgeline to spread out and take in all the views. We looked down into a hidden lake, and out across Chatham Strait to the mountains of Admiralty Island. I saw a couple of whale blows out by our skiff tour on the waters below. There are not many people that will ever sit here and take in this view. You have to work for it, but I think the group felt proud of themselves for pushing their limits. I always say, "A good view is directly related to how hard you had to work to get it."

The whole bear family! This mama and her three cubs gave us a great wildlife show as we sat and watched them catch salmon in this wild Alaskan river. It was like something out of a documentary.

Looking up at my hiking group in the fairy forest. This is a great example of what old growth coastal temperate rainforest should look like.

Our hike started with a bear sighting in the river next to the beach we were landing on. Then it turned into 2 bears. Then 4. I think the guests were a little shocked that we still landed there. And even more shocked when I walked them over towards the river to get a better view.

We watched a mama brown bear and her three big cubs frolick and catch salmon in the river. They didn't mind us on our perch, happily watching their antics.

We all cheered when one of the cubs caught a fish, after a few unsuccessful attempts.

This cub climbed all over the big rocks and then jumped into the river. I think it was a little deeper here than he expected. It was fun watching him splash through it.

After we finished our hike, we checked out another nearby salmon stream and got a closeup view of this brown bear catching and eating salmon. Check out the claws on this one!

This half-eaten pink salmon was left here by a bear. Pretty unnerving for the guests, knowing that a bear had killed and eaten a salmon right where we were walking.

Just up from the beach, the entry into the forest was a bit of a scramble. My group handled it well.

Downed trees are a given in these old growth forest. It rains here so much that these trees never burn. They just slowly rot and decay over many decays. That can make hiking more like a jungle gym, going over some and under others.

Peggy's boot disappears into some BSM, (boot sucking mud.)

This hike up the ridge at Ell Cove can be a thigh burner, but the group did well, and took their time to safely make it back down the steeper parts.

Our skiff tour looks so small from up here.

Angela, near the top of our hike, finding a spot to take it all in.

Sandy and Richard taking in the view over Chatham Strait, out to Admiralty Island in the background.

These are sundews, a carnivorous plant that lives in muskeg bogs. The little water droplets at their edges are really a sticky liquid from the plant that traps little bugs for them to digest.