Day 6—Sitka

Curious flowers.  Unidentified.

Sitka was one of the first places the Russians settled when they began exploring Alaska in the late 18^th Century.  Fur in Russia was being overhunted, and harder to come by, and the early explorers found the sea otter’s fur to be a hot new favorite!  They agreed with the locals to set up a trading post about where the dock is, seven miles from the local village (near current downtown).  Of course, when the trading post looked more like a fort, and they hunted the otters from hundreds of thousands down to just a few thousand, things got rough between them and the locals (the Tlingit people).  As the source of fur became harder to find, and Russia had more financial issues, selling it off to this “United States” seemed like a win.

The tide goes up to the black lichen line.

The huge leaves are "Devil's Palm", and is used for assorted
medicinal purposes.

I think it is cool how the leaves seem suspended!

Kind of a cool tree on a small island.

We began our morning with a boat tour to see sea otters and whatever else may show up.  It was a good tour, with beautiful scenery, several groups of otters, and even a little bit of a whale sighting. 

The "dead" trees are Yellow Cedars, which can stand for hundreds
of years after they die, since they are very resistant to rotting.

Sea Otter.  Can be up to 4-5 feet long.

Sea Otter that did not want to be caught on camera.

Bald Eagle (obvious!)

He looks sinister!

Check out the wingspan compared to the body length!

Eerie scene?

Seal on the rocks.  A few moments later, the waves knocked him off his perch!

Humpback whale waving good bye!

We had a little break in between tours, so we toured the downtown area.  We checked out the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, St. Michael the Archangel, and a few stores nearby.  There were some tempting food options, but we held off. 

A Mexican restaurant in Alaska.  OK.  With the well known
Mexican dishes of Pizza and Fish and Chips?  Ooookaaayy...

St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral

Finally, we gathered for our second tour, a speed raft.  It sat six passengers, each on a stanchion with a buoy as a seat.  It actually worked pretty well, since as we bounced along the water (at 25 mph), the buoy was a great cushion. 

Climb aboard!!  Our Captain for the afternoon!

We stopped a few spots to check out birds and sea otters.  It’s a little different seeing them at almost eye level instead of from 15-20 feet above the water.  We continued to St. Lazaria Island, a bird sanctuary about 10 acres in size.  The island was a collapsed volcano caldera, but the kind of volcano that just oozed lava.  So, it was a beautiful rock structure, covered with moss, lichen, and sea life at the bottom, and foliage at the top.

Weeeeee!!!!

Wait, this looks like Jurassic Park!

Puffin!

St. Lazaria Island (Spelling?)

At one spot, we went into a cave and explored the starfish and anemone and urchins.  Around the island, we saw puffins (which are VERY cool, but not close enough for good pictures), cormorants, guillemots, and other random things we can’t recall.  There were a few stray bald eagles, too. 

We went into this cave.

And found starfish, anemone, and urchins.

More island.

Birds on the brow of the overhang, in the water, and in the air!

A mix of cool and creepy!

Back on the boat, we made a stop at the coffee shop, and enjoyed some fancy coffees before dinner.  We had dinner reservations at the specialty (steak) restaurant on board.  There were some gaff in our first visit, so they invited us to try again.  Their specials tonight were halibut and a Kobe beef steak.  We couldn’t pass on them!  (Best Kobe steak Bill ever had!)  We wrapped up the night with “Name That Tune”, as our last entertainment venue for the evening!  Our team came in third.  Bill contributed by fetching drinks.