Sitka Days

When we arrived in Sitka, it was gorgeous weather.  Sunny and in the 50s.  Light jacket weather.  The next day, still warm but a little overcast.  The next cloudy and cool.  Day 4 rain threatened, and our last day was cold with heavy rain, sleet, hail and brief snow.  Typically in Sitka  there are 14.8 days with precipitation during the month of April.  So, I think we were lucky with the weather we got.

We had rented a “beater with a heater” from our AirBnB landlord for our stay.  The price certainly was right, but the Ford Ranger pickup truck was definitely an older model with no extras.  It took some getting used to, for sure.  It was hard to get into gear, but once that was accomplished Sal drove us around at a pretty constant 25 MPH due to scary noises generated with higher speeds.  We also think calling it just a “beater” is more accurate.  On the last wet, cold day, the heater was nowhere to be found.  But it got us where we wanted to go.

Our flight was Anchorage to Juneau then a 25 minute flight to Sitka.  Our first stop was at the Visitor’s Center for information.  We knew we were in the shoulder season and wanted to check days/times attractions were open.  We had not realized we were arriving just days before the first cruise ship was due in. We found many things were closed in preparation for the crowds expected with the ships.  We had to shuffle our plans around somewhat, but we were able to see almost everything on our list.

First we visited the Sitka National Historic Park to get a passport stamp for Sal.  Nuh-uh.  The Park Visitor’s Center closed for…see above.  We did walk the beautiful rainforest trails in the park, which we loved, but the trails also were lined with totem poles.  Not many were originals because the weather is hard on them, but a master carver is on site at the Park to repair and carve replacements.  

The poles displayed are not native to Sitka.  The 1904 World’s Fair was held in St. Louis to commemorate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase.  Something uniquely American was desired to be displayed.  Totem poles!  Alaskan Governor John Brady, traveling on the Revenue Cutter Rush, sailed around Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska and collected (stole, maybe?) 15 poles from Tlingit and Haida villages.  These were then erected outside the Alaska Pavilion to create a unique and distinctive appearance in hopes of attracting fair visitors.  The poles were later returned to Sitka and became the foundation for the collection of poles seen today.  

We chatted with some interesting folks along the trail, including one of the totem carvers and a bird watcher, who pointed out a new bird to us,  (We, and, as usual, I mean Sally, are trying to become bird watchers.)  We checked into our home for the next four nights, then drove  around some.  We ended up at Harbor Brewing, which conveniently has Campfire Pizza in the same building.  Two thumbs up for each!  We had started the day at 4:15am, so we headed back to reschedule our itineraries to fit in with the new hours of the various attractions. 

Friday we took a great walking tour with Bob Purvis, a retired history professor at UAA.  In addition to pointing out historical sites and sharing history of Sitka, we went into several shops where owners described their locally made products, such as Devil’s Club soap and salve.  Devil’s Club is a powerful plant in the Alaskan forest reputed to hasten healing of a number of ailments.  Also to calm itching.  With our first mosquitoe season approaching, we bought a few things there and hope they live up to their claims.  Alaska Pure Salt Co.’s mission was to produce North America’s first flake salt.  That was a fun stop, sampling the different flavor salts and learning how the salt-making was discovered (on an anniversary get-away with a pot of water left inadvertently on the stove overnight). I love finishing salts and am already enjoying purchases made there.  Everyone in the different stores was very friendly.  The clerk at the bookstore was from Springfield VA.  Her dad was working at the Pentagon the day of the Alaska earthquake in 1964.  She remembers her dad talking about that day, how suddenly all communication with Alaska was cut off.  This was during the Cold War, so no telling what the military was thinking until an Alaska woman was able to start communication by shortwave radio.  Here’s another interesting story.  Bob has given several tours to groups of Russians.  He said they are under the impression that Russia leased Alaska to the US rather than sold it.  Hmm.

We visited The Fortress of the Bear, a facility set up in an abandoned pulp mill to rescue bear cubs, bring them back to health and provide a long life full of enrichment.  The state of Alaska has no bear rehabilitation program in place, and orphaned cubs are routinely shot by the Department of Fish and Game.  Eight bears are permanent residents here.  Alaska doesn’t allow bears to be released back into the wild.  The bears here were raised from cubs.  Most know some sign language.  We saw a bear signing “more” just before feeding time.  They know their names, and we saw one stop his play and look up when his name was called.  We were fortunate that the founder of the sanctuary, Les Kinnear, was on site when we visited, and we spoke at length with him about the bears, the trials of getting the facility started and his hopes for Alaska bears.  They have sent orphaned cubs to the Bronx Zoo and other bear sanctuaries, but hope laws will change so bears can be returned to the wild.

We also had a great visit at the Alaska Raptor Center.  Sal had called to verify they were open; closed for cruise ship training until Monday, but open Monday.  Got it.  On Monday when we showed up, guess what…closed.  But they were very nice and let us walk through with no charge, so we gladly made a donation. We were able to watch their eagles in the flight center through one-way glass.  Eagles, as we know, can be released back to the wild so they try to limit human interaction.  They have a nice facility in a lovely location along the Indian River.  We were going to walk more, but a prominent bear aware sign made us head back.  I had asked on a couple of our walks; yes, the bears were waking up.  I didn’t want to risk running into a hangry bear.  We were, again, lucky in our timing.  A volunteer approached us to say she was getting ready to bring out her horned owl, did we want to see?  So glad we stayed.  We spoke with her and Narwhal, the owl, for 30 minutes or so, until Narwhal had had enough.  We have been so lucky at many places to have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with people with various areas of expertise.  We’ve learned so much!

We went to the Sheldon Jackson Museum, founded in 1888 by the Reverend Sheldon Jackson, who was  Presbyterian missionary and General Agent of Education for Alaska.  He features prominently in James Mitchner’s “Alaska,” which I’m currently reading.  It houses a great collection of Alaska Native ethnographic material gathered by the Reverend Jackson.  I had to look up “ethnographic.”  It’s “relating to the scientific description of peoples and cultures and their customs, habits and mutual differences.” Yes, the museum had that, attractively displayed in a unique building, Alaska’s first concrete building.

We were not able to go into St. Michael’s Russian Cathedral, the first Orthodox Cathedral established in North America in 1848 by St. Innocent, the first bishop of Alaska.  We were able to tour the Russian Bishop’s Hone, which is part of the National Park Service.  It was beautiful inside, both the living quarters and the chapel, so we were able to get a sense of the icons and other religious relics that would be in the cathedral.

A quick but moving stop was the National Cemetery in Sitka.  We saw soldiers graves from WWI, WWII and Vietnam.  In another area were older graves from the mid-1800s with Russian names.  It was interesting.

We ate well in Sitka.  We visited several coffee shops for afternoon recharging, and when we walked past a young guy carrying the most delicious-looking ice cream concoction, we had to stop him and make inquiries.  He was so enthusiastic about the old fashioned soda counter at Harry Race Pharmacy, we had to try it, twice, actually, for hot fudge and banana/caramel sundaes.  We loved the restaurant Beak and went twice, enjoying dinners of salmon and halibut and their Sunday brunch, and we also went twice to Pel’Meni for Russian dumplings.  

We got a chuckle out of this intersection.  

This Jeff Davis was an officer in the US Army during the Civil War.  He later became the first commander of the Department of Alaska and established a fort in Sitka in 1867.  He ordered Russian residents to leave their homes, maintaining they were needed for Americans.  From what I’ve read, Sitka and Alaska did not fare well during those early years after the US purchase.

BOW (04-29-2023)

Bow Wow...No.  This isn't a post about dogs.

This article in the March 25, 2023 edition of the Anchorage Daily News caught my attention:    

A Welcome Alternative to the 'Do as I Say, Not as I Do' Approach, This Women's Outdoor Group Embraces Beginners.

The Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) program is a cooperative effort between the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska.  BOW workshops are designed primarily for women; however, anyone 18 years or older may participate. (Yes, even men).  Classes are topic-specific and geared towards beginners.  There is a wide variety of classes, such as hunting, fishing and trapping skills, bear safety and outdoor sports like snowshoeing and cross country skiing.

I reviewed the class schedule. Two classes the weekend of April 29 and 30 interested me:

Survival

Don't get caught unprepared in the wilds or just out of town. Our instructors are experienced outdoor survivors. You'll learn how to face a survival situation with the right attitude, the right tools and with confidence.

Map & Compass

A map and compass can keep you from being lost, if you know how to use it. Our instructors will help you learn to read a map, take a bearing, plot a course, and follow it.

Neither class was open for registration when I reviewed the schedule in March.  When I followed up in April the Survival class was open, however the Map & Compass wasn't.  BB and I sign up for the Survival Class.  When I check back on the Map & Compass class it is full.  I put my name on the wait list.   We didn't make it off the wait list for the Map & Compass class.  Bummer.

We were up and out early yesterday.  Class starts at 8:00am at the Hunter Education Building at Rabbit Creek Shooting Park.

Class starts with introductions.  Our instructor is Adam Bowens from Straight Ahead Rescue.  After introducing himself, Adam asks each of the 25 participants to say what we hope to learn in the class.  A majority of the participants are new to Alaska, like BB and I, and want to learn how to be safe in 'Alaska outdoors' (as opposed to 'Virginia or lower 48 outdoors').

Adam uses classroom time to explain several survival rules:

The Rule of Threes

*Mental Capacity:  take 3 seconds to get your head straight.  Accept the situation and believe you will survive.

*Oxygen:  if you don't have oxygen, get it within 3 minutes or you are dead.

*Water:  Find water within 3 days.  Or again....dead.

*Food:   Humans can go 3 weeks without food.  Or again....dead.

 

Initial 10 Minutes  

*Evacuate:  Get to a safe place 

*Evaluate:   Injuries / Health of you and crew/bystanders.  Is the scene and situation stable?

*Inventory:  Whatcha got?

*Environment:  How is the weather?  The terrain?  Is wildlife a worry?

*Fire:  Gather the materials needed to start a fire.

The Golden Hour

*Shelter:  Plan how, when, where and who will build it.

*Calories:  Plan how to acquire food.

*Heat:  Plan how to start and maintain the fire.

*Water:  Look for sources.  Find ways to collect, clean and carry water.

*Rescue:  Determine whether to stay or go.  Identify ways to signal to rescuers.

Our classroom:

Class isn't all indoors.  We go out to set off smoke and signal flares.

 Adam demonstrates less known ways to start a fire; such as with steel wool and a battery, hand sanitizer, and petroleum jelly.

Then we practice!

Several years ago Adam taught a class and had the participants build shelters in the woods beside the Hunter Education Building.  Some of the shelters are still there.  Adam took us on a walk to look at them and discuss the various types of shelters and materials used to build them.

Adam assured us the shelters looked better when they were first built!

For our final test Adam has us divide into groups to solve this winter plane crash exercise.  Based on the scenario we are to rank 15 items in order of importance to our survival:

 The 15 items:

The scenario:

Depending on how well the group did Adam told us whether all or part of the group survived or whether everyone in the group died. Everyone in our group survives!  If you want to see how you would do send me your answers and I'll tell you how you did.

Sal

Sitka - The Paris of the Pacific

Maybe it was true in the 19th Century, but no one would compare Sitka to Paris today.  However, after spending five days here, I have to say “I ❤️ Sitka.”  Maybe because it’s been in the 50s, flowers are blooming and there’s not a snow pile in sight, but I think it’s more due to incredible beauty and fascinating history of the town.

Sitka, on the outer coast of Alaska’s Inside Passage, lies at the foot of glacial-carved mountains on Baranof Island facing the Pacific Ocean.  With a population of around 10,000, it is the fourth largest city by population in the state.  By area, it is the largest city in the United States, four times the size of Rhode Island.  I found that hard to believe; turns out water is included as well as various islands.  Sitka is accessible only by air or sea.  There are 14 miles of roads in Sitka, with the town located right in the middle. 

Mount Edgecumbe is a dormant or “historically active” volcano about 15 miles west of Sitka. According to Tlingit legend, it was the smoking beacon that brought the original native Tlingit Indians to Sitka 5,000-10,000 years ago.  They called it L’ux, meaning “to flash” or “blinking.”  Captain James Cook sailed through the area in 1778 and named it Mount Edgecumbe.  It last erupted about 4,000 years ago; however, there was an eruption scare on April 1, 1974.  Porky Bickar of Sitka decided to fool his neighbors into thinking the volcano was waking up.  He chartered a helicopter from Petersburg AK (local charters passed on the job) to fly over the volcano and dump tires, rags and fuel, starting a fire in the crater.  An April Fool message was spray painted on the snow.  Porky had thought to alert the FAA and local police but neglected to notify the Coast Guard, who reacted to the black smoke coming from the crater.  Alaska Air Lines allowed its flight crews to divert over the crater to watch the fire and view the message.  I read nowhere that he got into any trouble for his stunt, which seems incredible to me, but there you go.  In any case, Mount Edgecumbe is a stunning sight which can be seen from many parts of Sitka.

The Tongass National Forest is the largest forest in the national forest system and the world’s  largest intact temperate rainforest.  At 17 million acres, it encompasses nearly the entire Southeast Alaskan panhandle.  Sal and I walked forest trails most days and we were awed by the beauty of the huge trees, the Sitka spruce, many moss-covered or dripping with a Spanish moss look alike thing called Old Man’s Beard.  Sitka spruce can grow up to 330 feet tall with a trunk diameter that can exceed 16 feet.  It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth largest conifer in the world, behind the giant sequoia, coast redwood, kauri and western red cedar.  Its name is derived from Sitka, where it is prevalent, but it is also found on the western coast of Canada continuing down into Northern California.  The trails have reminded me of Muir Woods and the Redwood Forest in California, and my pictures absolutely do not do justice to these woods.

Sitka is rich in history.  The Tlingit were here for thousands of years before sea otter fur trade brought the Russians to the area.  The Tlingit were warriors and fought the harsh Russian takeover of the land, but following the 1804 Battle of Sitka, the Tlingits were forced to the other side of the island and Sitka became the capital of Russian America, renamed New Archangel.  A fort, school, hospital, orphanage and cathedral were built.  The Russian Bishop’s House is one of the few surviving examples of Russian Colonial architecture in the US.  St. Michael’s Cathedral is the earliest Russian Orthodox Church in America and the green domes and golden crosses are a prominent landmark in downtown Sitka.  Castle Hill was the site of the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States.  The transition did not go smoothly.  On October 18, 1867, 150 Russian troops and 200 American troops, along with Prince Maksutov of Russia, the US representative General Rousseau and other dignitaries, assembled on Castle Hill for the transfer ceremony.  The Russian flag became wrapped around the flagpole and could not be lowered.  After much tugging, a Russian soldier shimmied up the pole, the flag was ripped off, floated down and became entangled on the bayonets on the Russian rifles.  Eyewitness reports say the fiasco was such that Prince Maksutov’s wife fainted.  The United States flag was raised with no issues.

The Russian Bishop’s House

St. Michael’s Cathedral

View from Castle Hill with the Cathedral in the background.

When we were there, the Alaska flag was wrapped around the pole, much like the Russian flag must have been.

Alaska Newsflash: Invasive species causing mayhem in Homer AK

Sal and I subscribe to the Anchorage Daily News, published six days a week, no Saturday edition.  It’s a small paper, typically running 14 pages, and we enjoy it.  Some issues are universal, of course, and politics, education and sports are frequent topics here as in cities down south.  However, occasionally there is story that strikes us as so unique to this state that it’s worth sharing.  Such was a lengthy article on page 4 of Sunday’s paper.

An invasive species arrived in Homer as a stowaway in a shipping container two weeks ago.    Upon discovery, the local animal shelter was contacted, who in turn reached out to the state Department of Fish and Game for advice.  Traps were set out.  The animal was caught, but escaped.  There have been posts on social media by the animal shelter and the Homer Police Department.  Word spread quickly about this invasive stowaway, and Homerites have become heavily invested in the fate of the … opossum.

The opossum, not an attractive animal, not an animal thought of fondly by many, certainly is a common animal to Virginians.  Who hasn’t woken up to cans rattling outside and thought, “There’s an opossum in my trashcan.”  In fact, the only opossum species found in the United States is officially named the Virginia opossum.   And, the word is taken from the Powhatan language meaning “white dog or dog-like beast,” and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith and William Strachey in the English settlement of Jamestown.  Who knew?

Anyway, opossums are invasive to Alaska and it is illegal to own them as pets.  Despite the known potential danger of introducing an invasive plant or animal to an area, Homerites are divided as to the fate of Grubby, as he has been christened by locals, having last been spotted on Grubstake Avenue near the police department.  Grubby for Mayor and #FreeGrubby are appearing on tee shirts and social media.  

The police department has joined in, issuing a Wanted poster.

WANTED

Name:  Grubby “Squeeks” Greyback

Age:  Don’t know

Weight:  Not much

Height:  About an alley cat size

Eyes:  Beady

Caution:  Too cute really, maybe a little hiss or two when cornered, might fall over

Crimes:  Stowaway, trespassing, looting, heinous mayhem, stealing your hearts, falsifying mayoral candidacy

Rewards:  Absolutely nothing

The mayor’s concern with the opossum is that he could pass diseases onto the local wildlife.  And, while I’ve been referring to Grubby as a he, another concern is that it is a female carrying young.  And, “The last thing we want is to establish a population.”  Best case scenario is that the animal be found and trapped so that Fish and Game can dispose of it.

Brother Jack has a simpler solution.  Homerites just get in their cars and drive the roads.  Ha!  They would soon learn cars and slow-moving opossums are not a good mix.

April showers are not supposed to be white!

Looking out the door Sunday, Sal commented, “Looks more like Christmas than Easter.”

It started snowing on Saturday.  And snowed and snowed.  We had had warm (high 30’s, a few low 40’s) temperatures the previous week, so it took a while to accumulate, but according to the newspaper, Anchorage received 8-1/2 inches before snow stopped on Monday.

A couple headlines in today’s Anchorage Daily News were weather related.  “Weekend snowfall pushes city’s season total more than 100 inches.”  And “At least 16 roof failures reported, and winter isn’t over yet.”  It’s not?  Kinda hated to see that in print on the front page.  But yeah, according to my weather app, 100% chance of snow here in the next hour with 1.1 inches of snow expected.

Last week the Department of Public Safety issued an emergency order extending the deadline to remove studded tires by two weeks for both the northern and southern parts of Alaska.  In a separate announcement, the Municipality of Anchorage said it’s pushing back its deadline to May 14.  Usually drivers here are required to be running tires with no studs from May 1 through September 30.  We’re keeping the appointment we have and will be switching our tires on Friday.  

By the way, the above picture was taken Sunday night at 11:18.  There is a street light outside, but the days are definitely getting longer.  Sunset tonight is at 9:11 and then dusk will linger.  Quite often we will comment on how light it is outside.  And also frequently wonder when we might start seeing grass.

We Get Sick (03-11 to 03-16-23)

 We took turns....Jack, Ann, BB then me.

Fairbanks: Museum of the North (03-10-2023)

 We leave Chena Hot Springs by 8:00am.  Fairbanks here we come!  It is cold with snow showers.  We arrive in Fairbanks around 9:30 and head for the  Museum of the North  located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

We arrive a few minutes before the Museum opens at 10:00.  We use the time to drive around the UAF campus.

An aurora forecast site I often check is generated by the Geophysical Institute at UAF.  I got  kick out of seeing the building.  

Another thrill we encounter while driving around campus is this sign with information about the planet Uranus.  I, and the rest of my family, have a sophisticated sense of humor.  We think Uranus (pronounced: your-AN-us) is hysterical.  We stop to take a selfie.

 

(One Friday night at the UAA planetarium we asked an astronomy professor the correct way to pronounce the planet's name.  Is it your-AN-us or YOUR-an-us.  He said educators tended to say YOUR-an-us because it is less giggly).

It is 10:00 now so we go to the Museum.  We watch the 11:00 showing of the movie Dynamic Aurora in the Museum's theater.  The movie explains the science behind the aurora and contains Alaskan Native cultural perspectives/beliefs regarding the aurora.  BB and I have attended programs at the UAA planetarium on the aurora borealis.  We have a good understanding of the science behind the aurora borealis is generated.  The Geophysical Institute describes it like this:

The aurora is a luminous glow seen around the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. The light is caused by collisions between electrically charged particles streaming out from the sun in the solar wind that enter Earth’s atmosphere and collide with molecules and atoms of gas, primarily oxygen and nitrogen.

When the electrons and protons from the sun collide with oxygen and nitrogen in the Earth’s atmosphere, they gain energy. To get back to their normal state, they release that energy in the form of light. The principle is similar to what happens in a neon light. Electricity runs through the light fixture to excite the neon gas inside, and when the neon is excited, it gives off a brilliant light.

The dancing lights of the aurora are seen around the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres because the electrons from the sun travel along magnetic field lines in the Earth’s magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is a vast, comet-shaped bubble around our planet. As the electrons from the solar wind penetrate into the upper atmosphere, the chance of colliding with an atom or molecule increases the deeper into the atmosphere they go.

The composition and density of the atmosphere and the altitude of the collisions determine the colors. The aurora is most often seen as a striking green, but it also occasionally shows off other colors, ranging from red to pink or blue to purple. Oxygen at about 60 miles up gives off the familiar green-yellow color, oxygen at higher altitudes (about 200 miles above Earth’s surface) gives all-red auroras. Nitrogen in different forms produces the blue and red-purple light.

The Museum's Gallery of Alaska consists of  five regional galleries representing the major ecological regions of Alaska.  Each gallery highlights the distinct natural and cultural history of these regions.  The five regions are Southwest, Southcentral, Southeast, Interior and Western and Arctic Coast.

 Otto the Bear stands at the Gallery of Alaska entrance.

This is Blue Babe,  a 36,000 year-old mummified Alaska steppe bison.

The Place Where You Go To Listen  is an exhibit in a sound proof room on the Museum's second floor.  The description sounds interesting: 

The Place Where You Go to Listen is a unique sound and light environment created by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams. This constantly changing, never repeating ecosystem of sound and light, tuned to the geophysical forces of Interior Alaska. The composition is guided by the seasons, the time of day, changes in the phases of the moon, and moment to moment fluctuations in atmospheric haze, wind, aurora activity, and Alaska's earthquakes.

Jack tells us he met the composer during one of his adventures in Alaska.  (I think they met at a bush pilot's house; sleeping on the floor and waiting for the weather to clear).  I check out the exhibit.  I try to appreciate it; however am not successful.  

The Museum Lobby.

We have a mid-afternoon flight back to Anchorage.  We drop off the rental car, check in at the Fairbanks airport and have an uneventful ride home.