Warning: Bear Country!!

We knew that the Baranoff Island where Sitka is situated upon has a healthy Grizzly Bear population. In fact, as a quick bit of useless trivia, the Baranoff Grizzly is actually genetically different that regular Grizzlies due to being separated from other Grizzlies for a very long time. We accepted the fact that we would need to be careful if we went deep into the woods. We were reassured by the locals that no one has been mauled by a bear around here. With trust in the low statistics of bear sightings and assurance from residents, we headed toward our first hike at Mosquito Cove. The map indicated that it was a super kid friendly hike. We pulled into the parking lot to find 10 cars there, which bolstered our confidence that we had nothing to worry about. We get our gear together, especially our rain gear because it was coming down fairly steadily, and made our way to the commencement of the well maintained trailhead. I casually glanced from side to side 5 feet from the beginning of the trail, and noticed an ever-so-slight errant movement of a skunk leaf move about 40 feet from the trail. It moved again. This time I gave it my full attention while the kids were yelling and Debbie was questioning why I was just standing there. My eyes stayed glued to the dancing plant as I whispered, "just a second Deb." Within moments, a large, brown, fuzzy head curiously looked over the teeming plant life to check out it's next meal... I mean to check out my loud kids. Milliseconds after I told Debbie that there was a bear just beyond a large patch of downed tree trunks, I could have sworn the the back of her head commanded "Hikes over," for that's all I saw of her as she rushed the kids back to the van. I lingered only long enough to see that it was slowly moving our direction before I joined the rest of the family. This was the only photo I managed to take... it's not much of a shot, but how long would YOU wait around for the perfect shot while a large, hungry bear sauntered your direction!!

We managed to keep our cool and calmly tell the kids that there was a bear and couldn't start our hike. That has got to be the shorted hike we've ever done, yet probably the most stimulating!
About a week later, we worked up the courage to try a different hike, away from water and fish. This trail, named Cross Trail actually starts right in front of our house. Unfortunately, while Debbie and I felt more prepared for possible bear encounters with Bear Spray tucked in an easily accessible spot, Cameron was the least certain and asked us if there were any bears on this trail. He must not have believed our disaffirming response because that question must have been asked around 63 times on our hike. Thankfully we did not come across any bears and we all had a great time.

It was a beautiful hike through the rainforest. Unfortunately to Reese's dismay, it was uphill most of the way! :(
We woke up a few mornings ago and saw this guy outside the kid's upstairs window!!

Ok, Ok, so it wasn't outside their window. This picture is from a place called The Fortress of the Bear where they save orphaned bear cubs. While this guys aint no cub, he and his brother are just under 2 years of age. A therapist from my work volunteers there on the weekends and invited us out to go see them. The kids thought it was great to see bears from a very safe and very high location!

After work a few days ago, I asked Deb to drop me off for some quick fishing for I had found out where some Silver Salmon were hiding out! We drove down there to the fishin' spot on Starrigavin Creek and needed a place to turn around before she dropped me off. About 100 yards from the spot where I was going to fish, there stood a mother grizzly and her cub. They were about 50 feet from us on the other side of the creek. The little guy chewing on a dead pink salmon while momma watched from the tall grass at the edge of the bank. We "boldly" rolled down our windows, with the car still running mind you, and tried with all of our abilities to take pictures through the trees of the bear family. It was dusk and difficult. I finally convinced Debbie to let me out of the car so I could walk to a designated Salmon Viewing bridge and get a better shot at the mom and cub. While the mother would lift her head to smell the air, she seemed relaxed. I was only able to managed to get this shot of the little cub on the bank before it was just too dark for our camera.

My justifications, rationalizations, and minimizing of any the possible danger couldn't convince Debbie to drop me off and fish 200 yards from these guys. They seemed so harmless. I'm sure Debbie wonders how I survived this long! Looking back, I grudgingly have to say I agree with her.
So when you all visit (hint, hint), be prepared to have some close encounters of the bear kind! We're hoping they will go away here soon, so that we might enjoy some of the other many hiking trails that happen to be near Salmon streams. In the mean time, we will be spending much of our time our coasts such at this one below, and thus away from potential bear encounters.

Oh, and just for the record, a man was attacked by a Grizzly a week ago about 15 minutes from here. Yikes.