Sitka

This is such a nice little town. It is a mixture of some tourism and a real town with fishing and wildlife as its focus. Population is about 8900 year round residents. Lots of history as this was the Russian capital and then the first US capital of Alaska. There are a few buildings to tour of the Russian era. We saw the Russian Orthodox church which is smack dab in the middle of the main street and the Bishop house with original antiques and artifacts.

We have hiked in the rain forest hoping to view momma brown bear and her 2-6 month old cubs without success, fished for pink salmon that are jumping in the sea water near the mouth of a river, and picked blue berries, all within a few hundred yards of our camp site. We have the constant chattering of bald eagles and ravens in our ears. We have now had 3 consecutive days without rain, and today I cleaned the mold and mildew off the inside of the trailer!

There are many conservation efforts going on here. There is a center for orphaned brown bear cubs and another for injured birds of prey, mostly bald eagles. Many Tlingit Indians remain in this area. One named Tommy Joseph proudly showed us the totem pole he had just completed. It will be placed near the grave of a well respected Japanese wildlife photographer who was killed by a bear while sleeping in his tent in Russia several years ago. It took 3 months to complete, but he said it usually takes 6 months or so to complete one.

I would definitely say that Sitka is a favorite of ours!