July 13 Juneau to Sitka

July 13, 2013

Early rise to catch the ferry to Sitka.  Trek seems ok.  We had to be at the ferry 6:30 for an 8:30 departure and were again late departing.  Another foggy, rainy day so not a whole lot of scenery. 

No open seas, as we wove our way among islands and then had a stop at Angoon, which took a while.  This ferry is smaller and many of those riding are locals.

Talked with a woman from Anchorage going to Sitka to hear a music recital by the students at a music camp, one of whom is her 15 year old son.  She has been in Alaska 25 years and had some good information and suggestions.

Passed through Peril Strait and The Narrows and both were appropriately named..  The ferry terminal is a few miles outside of town, so we headed to town aroud 3:30.  There were no cruise ships in town, so about a third of shops, restaurants, etc. were closed – including the visitor’s center and St. Nicholas church.

 We walked around town a bit and then went to Totem Park.  There is a very nice visitor’s center with lots of information about the Tinglit Indians and the making of totems. 

  Outside there was a trail which went through huge Sitka Spruce and other trees, along side the water.  The rain has stopped and things have lightened up a bit.

There were lots of Ravens, Eagles and other birds around and the word cacophony really comes to mine.

  Ravens are great mimes, so some sounded like crows cawing, others like a person screaming, and other assorted sounds, plus the eagle calls and some trilling and tweeting thrown in.  Great!

We stopped at Japonsky Island across from town, but their parking lot RV park was ridiculous at almost $40, so we drove to Starrigavan State Park and found a nice  dry (no hookups) spot for $14.  Good night.

July 14, 2013

Woke to sunshine and 51 degrees! Yeah!

Started the day with a few salmon berries.  A man at the artesian well near our campsite told us about them – they are red and look rather like raspberries.  Not a lot of flavor, but worth a try. They are all around our campsite.

 Our first stop was Halibut Point, which offered a great view.    We made our way over the rocks to the shore and were rewarded with lots of star fish, one huge white one and lots of red, pink and orange.

Out in water we saw a sea otter and a sea lion patrolling  for breakfast and fish jumping out of the way (they hoped). Lots of kelp, barnacles and other small critters.

 

Next we stopped at our favorite wi-fi .  This McDonald’s has the most beautiful view of any I’ve ever been in!  We drove through town and  out Sawmill Creek Rd.  Sitka is basically a long skinny town along  Sitka Sound and has a main road that goes 14 miles or so in either direction from downtown, plus a few more roads around downtown.  We stopped at an overlook called Whale Point, though we didn’t see any whales – nice views, though. 

view from McDonalds

 There was construction, including blasting, so we had about a 20 minute wait, and then continued to Green Pond and the end of the road (plus a little). These flowers were just alongside the road while we waited on traffic.

 

Green Pond

On the return we stopped at Fortress of the Bear, a place that rescues and raises orphaned brown bear (grizzlies near water all called brown bears) cubs, which are normally put down. They had 5 bears who ranged from 3 to 6 years old and weighed from 500 to 900 lbs!  And they continue to grow throughout their 25-40 years.  Baranof Island, which is where Sitka is located, has only brown bears and a higher density than anywhere in the lower 48. 

From here we went out on Japonsky Island to find John Brown Trail.  It wasn’t easy to find as there aren’t signs and it is tucked in beside a US Coast Guard/Homeland Security facility.  It turned out to be a nice trail which ended at a small sandy beach where a few folks were enjoying the water!  Two little kids played and got really excited when a boat went by and they got waves!  We stopped at Totem Park again  and walked but it was quite different from yesterday – busier and quieter – still a great place to exercise as we saw many families or moms with strollers, a few runners and cyclists.

We came back to downtown and parked near this park where lots of folks were out enjoying the warm, sunny day. 

We joined in by having a black cherry ice cream while we walked around town.  Went to Baranoff’s Castle – a hill where the purchase of Alaska from Russia took place.  Also walked by the Block House that used to separate the Tinglit village from the Russian Settlement.  The relationship wasn’t all that good and there were several battles fought, with the result that the Tinglit’s were outgunned and forced to give up their territory.

Walked through the Russian Cemetery which is  a large area on a hill above town.

It is in a rainforest setting with Tombstones and crosses dated from the 1800’s to recent years, in seemingly random groups.   Drove to Pioneer Park and then Estuary Park, both of which had nice trails.

Getting late, so we headed to McDonalds because they have wi-fi and we need somewhere to hang out until our 1:35 AM date at the ferry!  Wi-fi slow, even after the Mom with 8 kids, 2 computers and 2 cell phones left and then froze, so accomplished nothing.  Went to the ferry at 10:45 and checked in.  Ferry was early so we boarded and got our little room. 

Bunks and a small bath with shower.  Goodnight!