In the heat of idleness, I often envision myself in the middle of nowhere, lost in the deep, dark woods, full of magic and mysticism. Taking deep breaths to smell the fresh forest air and damp soil, placing my hands on the trunk of a tree, listening to the ambient sounds of birds, dipping my fingers in a stream to feel the chilled water and soaking up the sublime serenity, I am at the peak of bliss, calm and contentment. Such is the tonic called Nature.
Lured by wilderness, I reserve a seat for the Mendenhall Glacier Hike for my day trip in Juneau. Alaska’s remote capital city with no roads going anywhere, Juneau is the gateway to remarkable hiking trails and massive, awe-inspiring glaciers.
After a barely 25-minute drive from downtown Juneau, my hiking buddies and I are ready to set foot in the Tongass National Forest, the USA’s largest national forest, and part of the Pacific coast temperate rainforest — the largest forest of its kind in the world today — which stretches 2,500 miles from northern California up to Kodiak Island in south-central Alaska.
Our trail begins with cautionary advice: “This is a bear trail. Do not approach or run from them. Keep your food in the pack”. In spite of this warning about how unpredictable and uncertain wildlife spotting is, we casually walk past the signboard, giving it only a quick glance.
After walking just a few steps in the wet, moss-covered rainforest, our passionate guide and naturalist Jim Pfitzer is quick to sense some sort of movement in the foliage behind us. “It’s the bears,” Jim announces. We walk back in silence and decide to wait, hoping bears make a grand entry on the muddy path. Voila! We see a family of three black bears plodding sluggishly, searching for salmon — their favourite delicacy. Yes, bears catch spawning salmon and pull them out on the stream banks to devour the nutrient-rich parts of the fish. While Tongass is reputed for having one of the highest density of black bears in the world, we certainly didn’t expect to spot bears within a few minutes of starting the trail. “There are certain days when we don’t see bears at all. I guess we just got really lucky,” says Jim. Being treated to these adorable creatures in their natural habitat is indeed a rewarding experience.
This is just the beginning. We are yet to unfold the flavour of the forest. After walking only a few hundred meters farther, we have a close encounter with another bear. “That’s 19-year-old Nikki enjoying her catch of the day,” says Jim who succeeds in making us feel strangely comfortable around bears. We sight seven bears in and around the bushes and it’s a wonderful feeling to observe and photograph their behavior without causing any disturbance. I am both inspired and fascinated by Jim’s tendency to affectionately converse with bears, expecting them to understand or respond to his questions and instructions. This brings to mind Albert Schweitzer’s meaningful lines: “Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind”.
Filled with a certain sense of fulfilment, we continue our journey in the Alaskan backcountry. Sunlight filters through towering Sitka spruce, western hemlock and red and yellow cedar trees, moss and ferns cover the ground, and lichens drape many trees. Apart from dwarf dogwood that produces berries, we come across blueberry and salmonberry plants and several kinds of mushrooms including angel wing mushrooms. Lush and inviting, the forest is nothing short of an enchanted world coming alive from folklore, fantasies and childhood classics.
–Shikha Shah
