Sitka

We finished 3 days in Sitka on Friday. Sitka is definitely our favorite town so far in Alaska. It is the most picturesque of all the towns we’ve stayed at with multiple mist shrouded islands off the mainland and beautiful vistas, a number of excellent museums and wildlife facilities and terrific hiking trails to explore.

The Sitka National Historical Park has a lovely trail with 18 totems collected over the years from around Alaska. The main focus is the history of the area, first with the Tlingit settlements and then the Russians. The pole below is about the battle in the early 1800s between the Tlingit and the Russians, which the Tlingit lost.

The Raptor Center for rehabilitation of eagles and other raptors was fascinating. They have a flight training center for the birds large enough for them to live in full time with realistic landscape, openings to the weather and a running stream to mask human sounds so they have as little exposure to humans as possible. They put out lots of dead fish for food so the birds don’t fight with each other. Birds were there recuperating from multiple types of injuries, including one hurt in a bear attack! They also house raptors that are permanently unable to fend for themselves in the wild. I loved the owls.

There is a fish hatchery at the science museum in the downtown area. We got a tour and then saw all the pink salmon leaping in the harbor – apparently the heavy rains has them thinking it’s time to spawn so they are coming in. The hatchery had to close the waterway so the fish don’t come in early.

We also toured the Sheldon Jackson museum with innumerable artifacts and exhibits collected and preserved from all the native groups in Alaska in the late 1800s by this Presbyterian minister. I was impressed with level of detail and artistry in the implements used in daily life for sewing, cooking etc. I was somewhat horrified by the idea of wearing clothes made from fish skin, even if they were waterproof. The most surprising item for me was this complete suit made from oogruk (bearded seal) that was waterproof and somewhat bouyant. It was worn for whale butchering since the whale was left in the water while being harvested. A precursor to our modern dive wear.