Chapter 6

Bones, Bears, and Berries

Puffy white clouds slowly separate from each other revealing a brilliant blue sky as rays of sunlight glisten on the backs of hundreds of salmon that continue to press upstream near the mouth of Sawmill Creek.  Squatting down on a rock in the stream, I could reach down and grab any of half a dozen pink salmon that are fighting their way against the current just below me.  It is such a beautiful experience to witness this miracle of nature as tens of thousands of fish compete to return up their natal streams to the place of their birth to deposit millions of eggs that will eventually result in becoming the next generation of salmon.

Salmon competing in the annual spawn as they return to their natal Sawmill Creek

Alaska is one of the most amazing places on Earth.  True God country, southeast Alaska has to offer some of the most incredible interactions with nature and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  From majestic whales, bears, and salmon to endless berries, pines, and mosses.  From a vast ocean and islands to rugged snow-capped mountains and glaciers.  Those who visit Alaska often return home changed persons.  I already feel impacted.  The first hike we did and the daily views across Silver Bay have really touched my soul.  But Ben and I want more.  We march down Sawmill Creek Road towards Bear Mountain with intentions of experiencing a more intimate Alaska than what we’ve already experienced.

Ben and I heading straight for Bear Mountain

Near the Herring Cove trailhead a small stream empties into the bay.  Ben and I walk along the rocky shoreline to reach the stream and find hundreds of salmon splashing and flopping in the extremely shallow water of the stream.  I am amazed at how little water flows in the stream compared with the massive numbers of salmon swimming upstream.  In most areas the stream is only four inches deep.  Virtually all of the salmon have much of their backs exposed above the surface of the clear water.  Several natural rocky steps in the stream require the salmon to swim swiftly up small cascades and even leap out of the water to clear the small rocks that otherwise obstruct their swimming path.

Salmon heading upstream from Herring Cove with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background

Ben pets a chum salmon

Realizing that we have brought only trail mix with us and that we are unlikely to find any sources of protein during our backpacking adventure I find the highly vulnerable salmon to be the perfect opportunity.  Besides, I’ve always wanted to do this.  I position my feet on a couple of rocks in the shallow stream, identify my target, and calmly reach down and pick up the salmon of my choice.  It’s a beautiful healthy smooth-skin pink salmon of about seventeen inches in length.  I secure her down on a rock, remove my knife from the sheath, and gently slice open the belly.  I feel slightly guilty as she wriggles in pain from the knife insertion but I know all too well that the native peoples of Alaska have relied on salmon as an important food source for 10,000 years.  The proteins, fats, and oils are essential for good health.  The eggs pour out upon the rock.  After removing the head the fish becomes lifeless.  I carefully cut slices of meat and eat it raw including the fresh orange eggs which I slurp down and also find to be delicious.  Ben reluctantly tries a small piece of meat as well.  I finish off the freshest sushi meal of my life with some sea purslane that I find growing along the shore and off we continue on our goal of reaching the top of Bear Mountain before nightfall.

YouTube video of me catching and eating raw salmon!

Based on reviews of Google maps and studying the physical structure of Bear Mountain from the dock at work Ben and I agree that the best way up the mountain would be to take the trail to Herring Lake and then bushwhack it up the northern slope until we make it above the tree line.  As we continue up the Herring Cove Trail we stop to sample wild blueberries, huckleberries, bunchberries, and the peculiar juicy red fruits of twisted stalk.  Blueberries are well-known for their extremely high anti-oxidant content and I am getting an anti-oxidant overload.  As the saying goes, “Only a fool would starve in Alaska”.

Five different berries we enjoy eating in the forest

The trail gently climbs along the northern base of Bear Mountain offering occasional views through the trees of the towering mountain.  At Beaver Lake the trail turns north towards Blue Lake.  At this point we direct our steps blindly to the east along the muddy shoreline of Beaver Lake (appropriately named since we did see a beaver on the far side of the lake swimming along the surface) and then over a small pine-forested hill.  From this point, unable to judge our exact location due to the lack of a map and the fact that no major landmarks are visible through the thick forest, we proceed on instincts and begin to wander south towards Bear Mountain.  It is mid-afternoon and completely quiet in the forest.  As we trek through a swampy bog of skunk cabbage our boots sink into the soft mud while we loudly speak taunting words to the unseen bears that could very well be lurking in these woods.  We act as if we are playing hide-n-seek with the bears.  “Ready or not here we come.  Wooo-hoooo!  Where are you big scary bears?” and other silly lines we vocalize into the vast wilderness that has now consumed us in an effort to warn bears of our presence.

Beaver Lake

Thick vegetation covers forest floor at base of Bear Mountain

The terrain steepens and soon we are climbing with hands and feet up the steep slope.  The strenuous physical effort causes us to sweat under the weight of our backpacks as we plunge our hands and feet into the steep yet extremely soft topsoil of thick decomposed organic matter that often collapses underneath our feet causing us to slide short distances down the muddy slope.  Often, however, we are able to utilize the roots of pine trees or bushes to climb to the next ledge.  The topsoil is extremely spongy and has high absorption capacity for water.

“Look!  Are those bear tracks?”

Ben points out a distinct trail of large round footprints.  We follow the prints in the soil and they seem to follow a path frequently traveled by some large creature with a sizable foot.  The size and shape of the footprints are definitely not that of a man.  As we climb further away from the trail we talk louder and louder as we become more and more convinced that these are the prints of a bear.  Things get even more mysterious when we step over a log and find a small pile of bones of some kind of a mammal.  Are these the remains of a lost hiker?  Who knows.  I’m not a forensic expert and I don’t know how to distinguish human bones from those of mammals but it is quite a spooky find out here in the quiet Alaskan wilderness.

During the course of a couple hours we climb steep soft earth and walk carefully along narrow ridges eating berries we find along the way until finally reaching the top of the tree zone.  Here the pines suddenly end and sunlit earth brings forth a thick carpet of low-growing grasses and bushes with various shades of greens and some with yellow or red flowers.  The slope is less steep but after hiking most of the day and physically weakened from the long working hours and improper nutrition my body is nearly incapable of continuing on.  Ben, on the other hand, is far ahead of me as he races towards the top of the mountain.  This is indeed Bear Mountain.  The sky dims as the sun begins to set.  I breathe deeply trying to feed my weary muscles with much-needed oxygen.  I gaze far down the mountain at the small lakes surrounded by thick green forest.  Beaver Lake, Herring Lake, Blue Lake, they are all visible.  I turn around when I hear Ben calling me from high above.  I can barely see him standing on top of a rock then he disappears as he continues climbing.  I somehow muster together the strength to go on.  On all fours I climb up the slope covered by a bushy ground cover and then notice tiny berries growing on the plants that I’m trampling upon.  Black, red, and even blue berries appear all over the carpet of foliage below me.  I pull out my edible plant guide and discover that these are crowberries, red bunchberries, and bog blueberries.  All being edible species and frantically gobble up as many berries as I can find to try to satisfy by growing hunger and need for energy.  Unfortunately, no matter how many berries I eat they just don’t seem to give me the nutrition I need for this physical challenge.  Nonetheless, they are very tasty and provide at least some calories and important vitamins and anti-oxidants to help keep me healthy.

Black crowberries and red bunchberries above tree line on Bear Mountain

Each step becomes more burdensome as my strength continues to fade.  Fortunately the slope is becoming less and less steep as I near the top.  Ben is still way ahead of me but he is waiting for me to catch up.  When I finally do catch up to him we enjoy an amazing sight as the sun slowly falls behind Mount Verstovia, that mountain we climbed nearly two months earlier.  The scene is breathtaking.  At an elevation of almost four-thousand feet we can clearly see much of Silver Bay and Sitka Sound with dozens of tiny islands crowding the waterway including Mount Edgecumbe that volcano of particular interest to us that stands between Sitka and the Pacific Ocean.  Parts of the town of Sitka are visible as well as the Silver Bay Seafoods.  For weeks I felt like a prisoner and spent my breaks staring at this mountain and now we are here.  What a change of perspective.

Sunset view from Bear Mountain overlooking Silver Bay

With the warmth of the sun now gone we can feel the temperature dropping and know that we must hurry to find a place to set up camp.  Me being the feeble old man I would rather just remain here for the night but Ben wants to get to the top.  Reluctantly I hoist my ruck on my back once again to continue the journey up the mountain.  An unusual series of steps go up a short hill.  It appears to be a commonly used foot path with compacted soil in steps the size of a really large foot.  I’m reminded of the story my mom shared with me about actor Charlie Sheen’s visit to Sitka just last week.  He arrived in his private jet to search for the mythical Kushtaka.  Tlingit stories say that the Kushtaka creature is a shape-shifter, capable of changing from the form of an otter to a human, and uses this ability to trick people to approach them after which the person is violently attacked and killed.  Charlie and his team were unsuccessful in their attempts to find Kushtaka and according to TMZ Charlie reported, “It obviously knew our group was far too skilled to be snowed in this fashion so it stayed hidden like a sissy.”  I think to myself, “Could these steps be those of Kushtaka?”  “Are we on the trail of what Charlie Sheen failed to find?”  After about half an hour of hiking darkness is setting in and Ben locates an open grassy dry flat a short distance below the snow-capped peaks of Bear Mountain.

TMZ report on Charlie Sheen searching for Kushtaka

Now it is time to test out our tent alternative.  We lay down the plastic tarp, fold it in half and weigh down three edges with rocks.  We then slide inside and pull our backpacks in with us.  Ben slips into his sleeping bag but I chose to not invest in a sleeping bag and instead I dress in three pairs of pants, two sweaters, an undershirt and jacket and two pairs of socks, although one of those pair is wet.  Then I cover my head with a beanie and curl up to try to keep warm.  In the cold stillness of night and sedated by the physical exhaustion of the day’s hike I doze off hoping and praying that we won’t be startled by a grizzly during the night.

…continue on to Chapter 7