Sitka - July 25, 2008

Sitka Sound, Sitka, Alaska

After our eventful day at sea the day before, we were more than happy to arrive in Sitka and get off the "boat". Sitka does not have a dock that can support large cruise ships, as the Carnival Spirit is. Therefore, we needed to be shuttled back and forth to Sitka using the emergency craft Carnival Spirit carries; this was call "tendering" and the boats were referred to as "tenders". We were actually late arriving into Sitka due to the weather we experienced the previous day; our stay was extended and the cruise line was scrambling to get everyone to their excursions, especially those people whose excursions had already left!

We had an wildlife excursion mid-afternoon so there was not a lot of time to explore Sitka. Thankfully, there was not much to explore. I choose to visit the Sitka National Historical Park, as did a few other people. Most of our group stayed in the touristy area of town until the excursion.

Sitka was originally a Russian settlement that was acquired by the United States after the U.S. bought Alaska from the Russians. I am leaving out the native peoples here but there are a big part of this as well. Some of the natives, the Aleuts, allied themselves with the Russians. Others, such as the Tlingits, resented the intrusion. The Historical Park was established in 1910 to commemorate the battle between the Russians and their allies against the Tlingits in 1804.

The Park proper exists on Baranov Island, to the east of the actual city of Sitka. Baranov Island is named after the Russian colony's first chief manager.

All of the literature, however, references buildings within the city as well, so I feel that the city is part of the Park as well. I was only able to visit Baranov Island and not Castle Hill or the Russian Bishop's House or even Saint Michael's Cathedral.

Baranov Island and the Visitor's Center for the Park were about 1/2 mile from where the tenders dropped us off in the city. I walked over, in the rain, and then walked on the path commemorating the Battle of Sitka. Along the path were several totem poles, of which I have included a couple of pictures here.

The totem poles along the path are actually replicas of the originals, which are being preserved in the Visitor's Center from further deterioration. And not all of the totem poles at the Park are from the immediate area but from the entire southeast of Alaska.

Totem poles last about 100 years or so due to the elements. The ones along the path were very intricately carved and decorated - you could tell it had taken a lot of work to create them. In fact, there was a workshop at the Visitor's Center which had several totem poles in various states of creation.

From the path, I could look out over the water and see both the Carnival Spirit and the Sound. The picture at the top of the page is of the sound and, yes, it really was that overcast.

I spent about 2 hours over at the Park and then walked back to the dock to catch the boat for our Wildlife Quest Excursion. I believe by this time most of us had had enough of boats but the Excursion was free (included as part of the trip) and free is always good. The Excursion was also running late, so we ended up waiting another 1/2 hour for the catamaran to arrive before we were able to depart. And then we departed, in the rain.

I must say, usually when I go on trips to view wildlife, I don't see any wildlife. Okay, maybe some squirrels and birds but nothing larger than that. I did see wildlife on the Wildlife Quest Excursion. The excursion operators pratically guarantee that you will or they will give you back $100.

The catamaran motored out from Sitka to the open sea (again, I did not really want anything to do with the sea at this point after the previous day and I actually got a bit nauseous on this short trip from Sitka Sound out to the ocean). But, once there, I got to see a lot of humpback whales, sea otters and bald eagles. (I believe this ship's naturalist said that Eagles are not all that endangered up in Alaska.)

The crew of the catamaran also fed us - hot chocolate, salmon, fudge, and other goodies I cannot remember.

My pictures of the wildlife are a bit fuzzy and out of focus so the picture of the otters, below, is not from me. Similarly, the picture of me and my friend, Marty, wasn't taken by me either and did not reside in my camera - it comes from my friend Timon (pictured on the left from that very same Excursion and this picture I did take!).

Wildlife Quest Excursion

Cathleen and Marty on the Wildlife Quest Excursion, Sitka

Otter, Wildlife Quest Excursion, Sitka

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