November 10, 2006

It was a three day weekend and we had a $50 companion fare to burn. We took our first venture to the Southeast. Our destination, Sitka, the fifth largest town in Alaska.

Sitka is a small town on a large mountainous island.

Sitka is best known for its totem poles preserved in a national park.

An awesome looking dormant volcano, Mt. Edgecumbe, towers over the town

Main street splits into a circle around the Russian Orthodox Church. Sitka was a popular location for Russian fur traders which was not necessarily good for the native people or otters.

With about 20 miles of roads and a top speed limit of 45 mph, one might question the need for a car. With the airport on a smaller island, one might consider this to be a bridge to nowhere.

Oddly, the surf was up on Friday. Air temperature was in the low 40’s.

Sitka also enjoyed a history as a logging town. 500 year old perfectly straight spruce trees tower over the moss covered forest floor.

Oddly twisted root systems create gaps and holes.

A perfect place to be a squirrel.

The trees provide good bridge building options for the local trails, although terrifying for some. We’ll give her the excuse of the snow and ice making things really slippery.

We found a lovely waterfall about 4.5 miles up the Indian River.

Sunday was the clearest of our three sunny days in rainy Southeast Alaska. The clear sky left us a beautiful frost covering of ice crystals.

Our wildlife experiences were limited, but we did see some interesting birds. A heron.

A pair of Hooded Mergansers

A raven

Harlequin Ducks

A couple more pictures