kootznoowoo

[wendigo]

We did the cross Admiralty Island canoe traverse via packraft, but just prior to that we did the Baranof cross-island route that goes from Sitka to Baranof warm springs



heading out





get's bushwacky pretty quick


but the lake is rad




into the jungle








trail vanished at times









camped for the night, scoping out where we are going the next day





pretty steep





nice to break out on top



onto the icefield







weather window collapsed, we were in a whiteout on an icefield, pouring rain, and windy. some cool terrain (when we could see it).
hiked until 2 am with lots of hollering 'hey bear"



yard sale dry out



but there is a nice hotsprings to enjoy







plane couldn't pick us up so we enjoyed slug races and more soaking time in the springs for another day

[wendigo]

We followed that trip up with the cross Admiralty Island trip through the Kootznoowoo wilderness.
Kootznoowoo roughly translates to "Fortress of the Bears" in the Tlingit language - the Russians called it "Fear Island" because there are so many huge brownbears.

We got a boat drop off on the north end in Oliver's Inlet, then hiked/packrafted south then west to the village of Angoon.



packing all the goods - it was our anniversary hence the classy underwood bubbly rosé



heading down the kayak tram



put the boats in the water at the end of the tram, paddled out a little ways and turned around to see bear # 1



wind came up a bit so pulled out to hike a bit



calm winds and outgoing tide makes for nice packrafting
bear count: 2






stopped for the night



excellent conditions in the morning





stopped out at Pack Creek bear viewing area to visit a friend , also saw some bears









bear count: 11

headed toward our next camping spot

bear count: 12



camped in this 3 sided shelter, woke up to a bear scratching its back on the tree about 15' in front
bear count: 13



figured that was our cue to checkout so made breakfast and packed up, 30 seconds after starting we ran into this bear
bear count: 14





spooked two young bears out in this tideflat
bear count: 16



bushwacking ensued



had a very close encounter with a rather large male bear, followed by a bear coming towards us in a creek, an unseen bear splashing in the river just behind and out of sight through some brush, a sow w/her cub up a tree groaning and jaw popping. all while doing some of the worse bushwacking i've had the misfortune to encounter.
it was a huge relief when we got to the lakes and the bearanoia could ratchet down
bear count: 21



plus it was hot and calm









so hot that paddling in underwear was the order of the day





loons



the cabins were excellent





starting some of the portages



at the last stop before portaging back to the ocean we thought about staying at this shelter but the horseflies were pretty bad so we headed down the 5 mile portage



glad i wasn't dragging a sea kayak or canoe



we popped out at Mitchell Bay, stayed the night there then headed for Angoon

[wendigo]

the tide is big here and makes large areas of standing waves, this was just as the tide started to change





tide was incoming so time to hike



bears will shit anywhere



cool rock features





we were able to ride the back eddy and make about 4 miles an hour





we were going to stay the night in Angoon, but a plane landed just as we pulled in so we were able to catch a ride within an hour of showing up

[406]

Wow

[detrusor]

That’s incredible. Nicely done.


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[Danno]

That looks amazeballs. Thanks for sharing.

[abraham]

Thanks, looks like a great trip in wild country.

[rudy]

As others have said trip looks amazing. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[Jong Lafitte]

As others have said trip looking amazing. Thanks for taking the time to share.

X2. Awesome!!


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[rudy]

Did you ever get comfortable being around bears since it seems like a frequent occurance or was it a hair raising experience every time?

[wendigo]

my wife teased me that i was pretty bearanoid after that trip.
having a huge male brown bear staring at you <10' away, giving a big woof/huff, while you are laying on the ground cause you backpedaled and tripped over a log will do that though...
a couple years ago was a very bad bear year (poor fish and berry year) so tend to carry bear spray more regularly since then.

went to Katmai and was ok being this close



but those bears are pretty chill

[Kootenai]

That is every kind of amazing, thanks for sharing.

[garyfromterrace]

Just stumbled upon this.

I am not worthy.

Kudos!

[TBS]

Thanks for bumping this Gary
Amazing trips @wendigo

Way BITD, I spent a season logging on Admiralty- before it was turned into wilderness. The photos brought back memories- esp the swamps, the 6’ tall devil’s club and the bears.

We had a brown bear come into our camp (bunch of single-wides on skids). He Tore the door off the cook shack, then the door off the locked chest freezer, took a bite or several of all the food, then left thru a wall. Shot him when he came back next day, buried him with a D8. Lotsa fun salvaging what we could before we could get a new cook shack and provisions towed in.

Again, very cool. Thanks for the memories