[Baranof island, Alaska, Aug 1, 2024]

After Chichagof Island, we moved south to Baranof Island. We were only 20 air miles east of Sitka, the largest city on this otherwise sparsely inhabited island. The Russian names of these islands remain from the time Alaska was a Russian colony. Russians are believed to have arrived in the 17th or 18th centuries and were the first non-native people to come here. They encountered the native Tinglit but they never fully colonized Alaska, nor could they make it profitable. This incentivized them to sell it to the United Sates in 1867. However, many of the Russian names remain.

We spent our morning at Hidden Falls Hatchery. The hatchery is the largest one operated by the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (NSRAA). It captures fish that have returned from the wild to spawn, fertilizes their eggs and nurture their fry. It then release them back into the wild, where they go to the ocean and live their entire lives as wild salmon. In this way, it supports the natural ecosystem and replaces much of the stock that is depleted by commercial fishing.

Because of the amount of salmon near the hatchery, this is also a prime bear viewing spot. After yesterday’s disappointment, I was looking forward to some bear encounters! I saw my first bear just a few minutes after we docked!

When we got to the hatchery, we saw a momma bear and a cub way in the distance in the area where salmon who make it upstream are corralled.

Then, all of a sudden, a bear appeared from our right and headed for the contraption that captured salmon that made it “upstream.” This bear was maybe 20-30 feet away from us at most! He paid no attention to us at all as he was focused on getting some salmon! Another bear also appeared across the bay on some rocks. The people who’d chosen to kayak over to the hatchery enjoyed watching it from the bay. It was definitely enough to feel vindicated after yesterday’s bear drought!

At lunchtime, we got to watch some whales near the boat. A couple of them breached and I still did not get it on video! This all happened as the boat moved a little bit farther south to Takatz Cove, which was the location for our afternoon activities. Here, we were treated to an open paddle, as opposed to a guided one. We were free to paddle wherever we wanted within the boundaries our guides provided. It was nice to go at our own pace and venture out to whatever spot in the cove struck our fancy. The water was so glassy! We could see reflections of the peaks around us in the water. We saw eagles, marmots and another bird I don’t remember the name of that was an amazing diver.

The shore was very rocky and steep, though. We were wondering how the bushwhackers would even make their way with all the steep cliffs along the shore.

After dinner, the boat went into Red Bluffs cove. It was right around sunset and the light was beautiful.

We approached an amazing waterfall. It seemed small at first, but our captain got us super close to it and we could see how tall it was!

There was a log halfway down the waterfall. My mind immediately thought of a scenario where there is other debris upstream from the waterfall that we cannot see, and it comes down on us while we are obliviously admiring the waterfall. Our boat would be damaged and we’d have to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. Wild, I know!

While we were admiring the waterfall, one of our guides, Matt, talked about the permits required to operate here in the Tongass National Forest. Pretty much everything in Southeast Alaska that’s not in Glacier Bay National Park is in the national forest. On the islands, there is a permit needed for every person stepping on land above the mean tide line, for every skiff boat. This is part of what made our guides’ job rather complicated at times, if more people wanted to be on land as opposed to the kayaks. As the season nears the end, boats trade permits if possible to make excursions on land happen. It was all very interesting. He also mentioned that auroras were possible tonight. With the skies being clear overnight, it looked promising that we would see some northern lights!

Indeed, around,1:20 am, the captain came on the PA system to announce that the aurora was visible. I was so sleepy but went outside anyway. The aurora was very faint but it was visible! Without all the light pollution on the mainland, the night sky was breathtaking! I couldn’t believe that I’d seen the northern lights twice in once year. What a treat!