Southeast Alaska has places that tenaciously grip your mind and overwhelm you with their beauty. The trail to Lake Eva is one of those. The path winds through old-growth forest with some Sitka spruce trees that are so large that it takes more than four people stretched hand-to-hand to encircle them. The creek flows slowly along in a broad flat stream. The water picks up speed and then tumbles down a cascade to finally spread out over a barnacle-encrusted tidal flat.

This creek and its fish deliver the lifeblood to a diverse biological community. In a few weeks the dorsal fins of sockeye, king, and pink salmon will slice through the surface of the water in this photo. These fish will spawn and die and bring the marine nutrients to the many eagles we watched as we hiked and kayaked here. They will also provide the much-needed nutrients to the sow and two cubs and the lone bear we watched this morning. In a few weeks the bear scat we stepped over will have fish bones sticking out of it rather than digested grass. It is a well-known fact that bear droppings enrich forest soils near streams. When fish remains are present, the scat becomes a much more fertile marine-based fertilizer. Rotting salmon carcasses will feed the aquatic insects that will feed the dippers and mergansers we watched. Later rainbow trout will voraciously tear the remaining bits of salmon carcasses to pieces. Southeast Alaska awaits the salmon.