Medvejie Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Medvejie Lake | |
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| Location | Baranof Island, Alaska |
| Lake type | Glacial lake |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 1 mi (1.6 km) |
| Max. width | .2 mi (0.32 km) |
| Surface elevation | 243 ft (73 m) |
Medvejie Lake is a long, narrow, snow-fed lake on Baranof Island just south of Sitka, Alaska in the Alaskan Panhandle.
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[edit] Name
Medvejie is derived from the Russian word meaning "bear." Most likely the lake's name comes as a holdover from Russian colonization of Alaska and the Sitka area.
[edit] Geography
Medvejie Lake and the Medvejie Lake valley is nestled between the hulks of Bear Mountain and Cupola Peak at 243 feet (or 73 meters) of elevation. There is very little forested land in between the mountains and the shores of the lake, and most of it is riddled with landslide or avalanche shutes coming from one of the two mountains. The geography of the area with steep, cliffed slopes precipitiously leading into the lake valley also creates a narrow, winding, natural wind tunnel making blowdowns very common inside the valley. In the winter, with little or no water flowing into the lake due all precipitation in the lake's watershed coming in the form of snow, the lake usually freezes over and slowly shrinks into itself abandoning shards of ice that are strewn on the exposed former lakebottom. Medvejie Lake's outlet stream emptys into Bear Cove, Silver Bay, and the Pacific Ocean.
[edit] Temperature
The temperature in the Medvejie Lake valley, partly due to the lack of sunlight which gets blocked by surrounding peaks but also because of the air cooled by snow from surrounding mountains and icefields that flows into the valley basin, is roughly five degrees colder than Sitka or the Medvejie Fish Hatchery's temperature. The Salmon Hatchery sits at the mouth of Medvejie Lake's roughly mile-long outlet stream.
[edit] Outdoor opportunities
Medvejie Lake serves as a recreational gateway to inland destinations such as Peak 5390 and Indigo Lake. Medvejie Lake is also the beginning (or ending) section of the Baranof Cross-Island Trail. While there is an untidy and bouldery hunter's trail on the north side of the lake, there are also an assortment of communal canoes and paddles kept at the outlet of the lake for anyone wishing to use them. Most people choose, if the opportunity is given, to paddle up the lake instead of hike as it takes about half the time. The Medvejie Hatchery staff and the City of Sitka also collaborate to maintain a well-kept trail up to the outlet of Medvejie Lake.
