Baby Bear Lake on Starrigavan Ridge.
Located at in a saddle on Starrigavan Ridge at the transition between forest and subalpine meadow, Baby Bear Lake is a great place to visit on a warm sunny day. The snow-melt fed lake is pleasantly cool after the 2000 foot hike from the valley below, and the lakeshore meadow is just right for laying in the warm sun while drying off.
I was first told about the lake by Wolf Corduan some years back. Although as far as I know, there is no official name, he gave me the name Baby Bear Lake (which had been given to him by someone whose name I don’t remember) and I have used it since.
Baby Bear Lake on Starrigavan Ridge.
Baby Bear Lake on Starrigavan Ridge.
Baby Bear Lake is located in a saddle on Starrigavan Ridge. Katlain Bay and Nakwasina Sound are visible in the distance.
I love this lake. I always used to walk by without going down to it, on my way up to the peak and the lake a little higher up. But this one is way nicer for swimming. What a gorgeous place. I find myself looking around, thinking I’ve just seen a hobbit move in my peripheral vision.
The mix of straight trees, krummholz, and variously vegetated open areas around the lake is really fascinating to me; definitely hobbit-looking country.
I didn’t actually swim Friday, but I went up to about my neck and also dunked my head in. The upper lake still had quite a lot of snow at its edge, and it was getting pretty late, so I didn’t do any more than wade in the shallows this time.
Wolf is married to my cousin, but I heard about Baby Bear Lake through your website years ago, awesome place, and thanks for the photos. I need to make it back to Sitka soon!
That’s an interesting coincidence! I heard about the lake from Wolf because of a website he had some time ago. I can’t remember if he had pictures of it, but we corresponded a bit via e-mail after I found his site Sitka photos while I was in graduate school in Washington.
What a beautiful little lake. In one of your pictures I thought I noticed a little stream feeding the lake, or is that snow run off? The reason I ask, is I’m curious as to whether or not there are any trout in the lake. Either way, I have to do the Starrigavan ridge hike and see this little gem first hand.
It is a little stream, but basically it’s from snow run off. I wouldn’t expect there to be any trout in the lake. It’s fairly high up and too small to fly in to, so it seems unlikely that anyone tried to stock it with fish.