SATURDAY, JUNE 29

SATURDAY, JUNE 29:

     Treated ourselves to delicious coffee cake and gourmet coffee at The Back Door, a little coffee shop at the back of the local bookstore.

     Highlight today was a 3-hour boat cruise through Sitka Sound, with an emphasis on spotting wildlife.  The sea was beautiful and calm.  I can’t believe how many times we’ve heard from the locals that they’re so enjoying this weather – it isn’t always like this!  Once again, we’re so thankful that Providence arranged for us to come up North THIS year.

                                                               Our boat - the Sea Otter Express

     The boat was only half-filled at most; this is a tour strictly for non-cruise boat folks.  Even some locals take it occasionally.  Our naturalist was a young gal from Kansas.  She volunteered one summer during college to work on a marine research project up here, and never looked back . . . been here 14 years now (most spent in Anchorage; this is her first year here in Sitka).   Her own variation on a theme we’ve heard at least a dozen times.

     We spotted several whales – a grey and a few humpbacks.  They gave us a pretty good show – several flukes raised, and one full breach out of the water.  That was pretty exciting to see – even our naturalist lost her cool and shouted, “OhMyGosh- Look at That!”  Unfortunately, to capture a classic close-up shot of a fluke with the mountains in the background, Bill would need a multi-hundred $$  telephoto lens.  So we settled for what he could get.

 

     We also saw a few sea otters.  Learned why they were so valuable to the Russians who came here in pursuit of them in the late 18^th, early 19^th centuries.  Their pelts are the thickest known to any animal. They need a thick pelt since they live in this cold climate, and they don’t have any blubber like whales do to keep them insulated and warm.  If you laid a postage stamp on their body, it would cover ½ million to 1 million hairs (in comparison to a German Shepherd, who would only have about 40,000 hairs in a postage-size stamp area).  The Russians called their pelts “soft gold,” and would command huge prices for them since they were in demand by both their own people and the Chinese. 

  

      The other highlight of the trip was floating around St. Lazaria Island.  It’s a National Wildlife Refuge, and thousands of birds nest here each summer.  Neither one of us is a great birder, but for those on the boat who were, it was a thrill.  The island itself is lovely – almost a tropical-looking island in the cold blue sea.  Lots of caves, carved shapes, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mt. Edgecumbe in background

  We thoroughly enjoyed this trip – spent most of the time on the outside upper deck, relaxing and enjoying the scenery and getting excited when someone spotted a whale. And it was a reasonable price.

 

                                                 Coming back to the dock 

 

                                                               Iconic skyline of Sitka - St. Michael's Cathedral 

     Afterwards, took an impromptu drive down Sawmill Creek Road, which abuts Totem Park and leads out of town northeast.  The road is a mess – major construction going on, but many beautiful views of the ocean and mountains behind. 

     When we got back into town, we went into a seafood packing place and got some prawns and one huge crab leg.  They’re considered fresh, even though frozen.  I think the term they use is “flash-frozen,” which I believe means that everything now is quickly put on ice on the boats, and frozen almost immediately after the catch.  Anyway, when we got home, we put the crab leg on the grill, along with glazed corn-on-the-cob, and what a feast!  Soooooo delicious!