Monumental Moments

Local Tlingit Indians call this "the Fortress of the Bears," and with good reason. Admiralty Island's brown bears outnumber humans three to one in a remote offshore bastion perfectly stocked with prey and plentiful habitat. The 90-mile-long island, south of Juneau in the heart of southeastern Alaska's massive Tongass National Forest, also hosts the world's largest concentration of nesting bald eagles.

The canoe season here runs from mid-May to mid-September, so budget a couple of weeks to explore the shorelines by canoe or kayak, stopping to hike and camp on beaches where your only company will be harbor seals, whales, mallards, and those keepers of the fortress, brown bears. A 25-mile canoe/kayak route connects eight lakes across the island's interior. While a few portages are difficult, most provide easy passage through a gently rolling forest of thick hemlock and spruce framed by distant mountain peaks. Lakes and streams offer good catches of cutthroat trout, salmon, steelhead trout, and dolly varden.

With 180-day advance registrations you can overnight in Forest Service lakeside cabins, several rustic shelters, or a commercial lodge, where the evening solitude is interrupted only by loon calls and the chatter of other wildlife. Camping is available in selected areas, ranging from primitive to relatively developed.

For the ursine-obsessed with less vacation time to burn, hop a float plane in Juneau and fly into the Pack Creek Bear Viewing Area, where you can safely watch Admiralty's signature brown bears feasting on salmon. Viewing season is June to early September, with the summer high season predictably bringing the most visitors. The flight from Juneau takes about 30 minutes.

The stunning scenery of Alaska's Inside Passage is a bonus en route to the island from Juneau. Experienced canoeists, kayakers, and private boaters sometimes make the trip in their own vessels, or you can hook up with several operators that offer excursions out of Juneau. Otherwise, take a ferry to the community of Angoon (pop. 600), the only permanent settlement on Admiralty. Expect few visitor amenities, but if you're looking for a wild, remote Alaskan experience, this is it.