Sitka.
There are so many beautiful uninhabited little forested islands and shorelines here. At first, it’s surprising and motivating and you nearly start looking at real estate listings until you remember that it’s August and you are bundled up in layers with a rain coat on top.
Tiny Islands flank Baranoff Island on which Sitka sits.
We have an excursion planned in Sitka - a tour including history, totem poles and native dances, and a bus. A full school bus is the closest we have been to strangers since the pandemic started, and not everyone is skilled at wearing masks. It seems like a pretty simple procedure, but we have all learned over the last 18 months that not everyone is cognizant (or concerned) with where their nose is in relation to their mask. And we know that everyone who CAN be vaccinated is vaccinated, but we also know there are exceptions. The exceptions, despite my stated preference, do not have forehead tattoos, nor are they required to wear full-face motorcycle helmets. I break out my strongest KN-95 duck face mask.
I tried to book only excursions run by local natives. Our guide today is a little new to the guiding racket, but his bona fides are real - he is half Tlingit and half Haida. His father spent time in the Russian-founded orphanage in town. He grew up in Sitka and had many stories that may or may not have had anything to do with the planned excursion curriculum.
[Read TLINGIT, say KLINKIT and you will be closer (but not spot-on) to the native pronunciation]
He told the bus driver to take us into the forest to see several somewhat small-diameter-trunk trees which were leaning onto neighboring trees, which he said was the result of global warming, as weather patterns have changed from a consistent amount of rain to huge downpours, which weaken the trees’ root systems. I wasn’t able to find confirmation of this on Google, but I have no reason to doubt him, other than the forest in which he was pointing seemed to be over-planted and may have been in need of a good thinning. I’m not sure about this part of the tour being in the plan, especially since the more experienced bus driver needed some detailed driving and parking instructions to find his leaning trees.
Majestic
Alaska Bald Eagles. So much more awesome than Oregon Bald Eagles.
Next we went to see a meadow by the river (namely the Starrigaven Recreational Area and Wildlife Viewing Site), in which there were recent reports of bears. No bears. My first in a series of bear-related disappointments. There were, however, amounts of salmon heading upstream to spawn that could legitimately be categorized as “teeming.” We also saw an eagle in a tree. I took a photo of it even though there are eagles where I live. It was the excitement of the moment, I guess.
Teeming
It was salmon spawning season. The best time to see bears in Alaska. So they say.
Next we stopped at a park with a bunch of interpretive signs that told the story of the time when the native Tlingit tribe ran off a fort full of Russians. Our guide asked us to read the signs. I admired this labor-saving guiding device.
Dammit.
Next we stopped at Sitka National Historic Park. The Totem Pole Trail was closed due to bear activity. Disappointed by bears again. I want to see the totem poles but I really want to see those bears. Bears. The cutest deadly animal. I just want to see them in the wild being wild. Is that too much to ask? You will soon know the answer.
I won’t explain the significance or the meanings of the totem poles further, because the National Park Service does a very good job here. https://www.nps.gov/sitk/learn/historyculture/totem-poles.htm
These are the ones they keep inside for conservation reasons. There are lots of totem poles outside as well as inside. A not-to-be-missed stop on any visit to Sitka.
Next we went to see a the Naa Kahidi Dance Show. The show is performed in a newish building purpose-built as a community building for the Sitka Tribe in the traditional Tlingit Clan House Style. Although the dance show was definitely a tourist attraction, it had an air of community theater about it. The dancers were mostly women, one who adorably danced with her tiny infant in whatever the Tlingit version of a Baby Bjorn is, and pre-teen boys, also adorably trying to keep their masks on their too-small heads. It appeared to be a skeleton crew, but they gave it their all and we had a good time. I bought a travel coffee mug in their gift shop to help the tribe and to help soothe my coffee needs on these coffee-strained cruise ship mornings.
Safety first in the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kaahidi
After a careeningly abbreviated tour of Sitka streets as the guide shouted out highlights, like the the Russian Bishop’s House and the place where he used to go to school, the bus parked in the library parking lot and we were invited to scram. That left us a couple hours to explore downtown Sitka before we had to climb into a shuttle bus back to the ship.
Ah, back to Kobang and Mikhail. We didn’t eat much in excursion towns because we love Kobang and Mikhail and we have never been served SO HARD. And the food is good. The steaks are fork tender, the seafood is fresh, and the appetizers are cute and tasty. We went out to a fancy restaurant recently for our actual anniversary date and between the Covid-driven lack of service personnel and the fact that we will never again have double doting waiters, the experience was disappointing. JUST LIKE THE BEARS.
And another day at sea comes to a majestic end. Like an eagle.