It all depends on your perspective. We were in the middle of a forest on Baronof Island in Southeast Alaska hiking to Lake Eva. I would be amazed if more that 100 people a year hiked this trail yet it was perfectly maintained with a gravel path and platform bridges all the way to the lake. You can only get to the trail head by boat and there was no one else on the trail or for that matter anywhere in the immediate vicinity. We took all the precautions for hiking in Alaska. Bill carried his shotgun followed by Jackie with the air horn. Sarah was third in line with the bear spray (pepper spray on steroids) and I took the rear. Bears don’t like to be surprised so I jangled my keys and talked loudly to make sure if there were any bears they heard us coming.

About 20 minutes into the hike Jackie said, “It’s so pretty here, just like a fairy land!” To which Sarah responded, “Really, because I feel like I am in the freaking Hunger Games. We could be attacked at any moment”. We all laughed at the opposite perspectives each girl had. The hike was amazing and while we saw lots of signs of bears, thank goodness, we didn’t actually see one.