Hike up Sharatin

[brooks]

6/29/13
Went for a hike up Sharatin to see if I could find any goats. The meadows on the way up have some nice flowers

The snow is melting and making some great waterfalls



On the way up I saw a healthy sow and three cubs. They were a decent distance ahead and I could see when she caught my scent so I felt pretty comfortable with continuing the hike.

Tracks in the little bit of snow left

At the ridge

In the time it took me to make it to the ridge, they had made it down the other side and were taking a nap. Its incredible to know that those cubs (born roughly 6 months ago) are infinitely more physically fit than I am.

Some goats decided to enter the picture

I had been laying low to avoid bothering them but somehow the stars aligned so that their path was right through me. When I stood up to back away we were 5 feet apart and she was not very pleased.

So she decided to charge.

She came incredibly close but in the end she never made contact.

I had left my pack and bear spray when I moved so I had to wait to go back and get it. Interestingly, she didn't leave and we spent roughly 20 minutes watching each other. Here you can see her smelling my tracks trying to figure out what I was.

The way back down seemed extra great on this hike.

[Philip]

Gorgeous shots.

Gotta love Kodiak critters. We have some of the best wildlife viewing opportunities I have experienced anywhere.

[fourflys]

awesome!

[brooks]

I headed up Sharatin for a hike on the 4th. There is a pretty impressive collection of animals up there. The first sow I saw had three fat roly poly cubs, the second had 1 cub and the third sow I saw had 2 cubs that were playing and rolling down the hill. I only had my point and shoot so no decent pictures of the bears.
The flowers were pretty impressive on the way up.







Still looks skiable for the dedicated on the backside

[Philip]

That seriously has to be some sort of record for the number of bears seen in one hike on the road system.

[brooks]

There must be some buffet of plants right now on the Elbow Cr. side as that is where they seem to be centered.

[brooks]

7/15/13
Sharatin is absolutely beautiful right now. The trail has many parts that are grown over by tall grasses and a lot of the hike must be done by braille as there are rocks and alders at your feet that just can't be seen.
The flowers are in full bloom












Everywhere you turn there are streams or waterfalls



So far, I am batting a thousand seeing bears and goats on this hike. The bears sit, nurse and eat on the elbow creek side. You can sit up on the Sharatin ridge and watch the bears without encroaching on them or affecting their behavior. All of the bears I have seen this year have been sows with cubs. This day I saw three different sows all with cubs.




Here is the nanny that wanted a piece of me a couple weeks ago.

I was concentrating on my nanny friend so much that I didn't notice how close I got to the rest of the herd. This is after they scurried off.



It really is breathtaking on the ridge

[brooks]

7/18/13
Another hike up Sharatin. I forgot my camera so only iphone photos to share.
A new flower is blooming- Star Gentian I believe.

This is what a lot of the trail looks like. It has become hard to find in many spots

A sow and her cubs up there munching away

This is what they were munching away on- lupine

I found some goats

On the way home

[patrick]

7/27 I took an audubon hike up the trail today. Too foggy to make it to the summit but we went up into the big bowl. I could see your tracks in the trail. After our 10 person crew went up the trail it is now officially beaten in. It should be easy to follow the trail. GREAT fireweed.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38764165@N06/9381503986/" title="P7274997 by KodiakArch, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/9381503986_e842a23c85_o.jpg" width="3968" height="2976" alt="P7274997"></a>

[brooks]

7/29/13
I did an after work hike up Sharatin. It is still really nice. A lot of the wildflowers have come and gone but there are still some left

The fireweed is above my head in places
This guy let me walk right up to him

No bears this time. I am guessing they have moved down to take advantage of the salmon buffet. I have not seen one deer on Sharatin this year on the red cloud river side or the elbow creek side. But the goats are always there and seem to love to stare.

[brooks]

8/25/13
Headed up Sharatin today. I expected to see some hunters up there but there were no cars at the pullout. I guess it makes sense since the area appears devoid of deer. Even after this hike, I still haven't seen a deer up there. It seems like the opener of Mountain Goat season has scattered the herd as well. But Sharatin keeps delivering.
On the way up



I made it out to Shelley Lake which this picture does not do justice.

Anybody know what this is? I found it, picked it up, read "Danger - Explosive" and decided to leave it where it was.



Does this qualify as tsunami debris?