I’ve never before been to Sitka’s WhaleFest, even though it has been run by old friends. I have missed 16 of them. I’ve always been out on assignment in early November and never thought to rearrange my schedule to be … Continue reading Sitka WhaleFest, 2013.
This has been a wonderful weekend in Sitka. While we see snow on our mountains all year, those closest to the sea are bare in the summer. We had a lot of rain at sea level during the week; in the mountains it was snow. On Saturday it cleared and the near peaks and our volcano got their white snow caps back. “Termination Dust” is what Alaskans call it, the snow that means summer jobs are over. Some of these are shots taken on the water this weekend on a whale watch sponsored by Sitka WhaleFest (the whales I will … Continue reading Termination Dust, Sitka Alaska, November 2, 2013
We decided to come to Chena Hot springs because the resort has built the world’s first year around ice hotel. This takes a little explaining. The resort hauled a high arched Quonset frame surplus from Prudhoe Bay and fit it … Continue reading Chena Ice Hotel and Museum, Chena Hot Springs, Alaska
Alaska Day in Sitka Alaska Day commemorates the day in 1867 when the United States took possession of Alaska from the Russians. It’s Sitka’s day. Up until that time Sitka ran on the Julian calendar and was west of the International Date Line. Sitka jumped ahead about two weeks in an instant when the American flag hit the top of the pole on Castle Hill. In most Alaska communities Alaska Day is just a substitute for Columbus Day, which is a federal but not a State holiday. In 1980 when I worked at KTOO in Juneau, we did a vox … Continue reading Alaska Day in Sitka, Alaska, 2013
The weather obliged with rain during “Running of the Boots” this morning but the clouds broke and the sun broke through a dramatic sky mid-afternoon. Suzi and I decided to run up to the top of Harbor Mountain for much of the afternoon. The autumn has progressed, the colors are a little more vivid than they were earlier in the week when I posted. Continue reading Harbor Mountain Redux, Sept 2013
Today Sitka celebrated the “End of the Season” with 19th annual “The Running of the Boots.” Why not? San Fermin, Spain has its running of the bulls. We don’t have bulls on our island, or even bull moose, but we … Continue reading Running of the Boots, Sitka, Alaska, Sept, 2013
Our trees do not turn to the colors of the hardwood forests in the East, but alder leaves do turn yellow and the alpine tundra in the mountains above Sitka turns red, gold and brown while the spruce, hemlock and cedar lower on the slopes retain their different shades of green. On Tuesday the skies unexpectedly cleared, the weather bureau was caught off guard, and we had sun through Wednesday afternoon. I got in the jeep and drove 2,000 feet up Harbor Mountain both to watch the new weather front come in from the Gulf of Alaska and walk through … Continue reading Harbor Mountain, Autumn 2013
Fall has come to Sitka. I arrived in a storm, typical for the season. Holland America canceled the last two cruise ships of the season because winds and seas made it difficult to put a pilot on or take a … Continue reading Fall in Sitka, 2013
Visitors to Anchorage who come by cruise ship dock in Whittier. Whittier was a secret port on Prince William Sound built during World War II. It was almost always covered with clouds so the Japanese planes could not see it most days. It worked. It was on no Japanese charts or maps. One of the town’s unofficial slogans is “It’s Sh!@#ier in Whittier.” Whittier is connected to Anchorage by rail through a long tunnel that goes from Whittier to Portage Lake where Portage near Portage Glacier. The tunnel is now open to cars and Whittier is where many people from … Continue reading College Fjord, Glaciers in Prince William Sound.
In 1991 I took my mother to visit the Portage Glacier an hour drive south of Anchorage. We went to a program at the visitors’ center, heard the lecture and saw the movie on glaciers. At the end of the performance the ranger opened the curtain behind her and there was a close up view of Portage Glacier including a lake filled with little ice burgs. By the time Kevin was married in 2007 and we brought the wedding party to Portage Glacier the glacier was no where to be seen in the vicinity of the visitors’ center. … Continue reading See Alaska before it melts! Portage Glacier
In 2008 Suzi, Kevin and I took a flightseeing tour of Denali. We flew on a K2 Aviation Otter from Talkeetna and landed on a glacier. It turned out that this was the last day of the season where the planes could land on a glacier because as the summer progressed landing became unsafe. This is another post from the archives. Continue reading Denali Flightseeing.
When I posted the Autumn pictures from the MatSu valley and the archive pictures from the Alaska Highway I began thinking of fall experiences in Alaska. In August 2008 Suzi and I took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali Park. By late August the colors in Interior Alaska had started to change. Continue reading Autumn on the Alaska Railroad
This year we are in a high Aurora cycle. These pictures were taken during the last high period in the winter of 2004. The first pictures are from near Glennallen. The later pictures are from Earthquake Park with the lights … Continue reading Aurora, 2004 (Glennallen and Anchorage.)
We have only driven the Alaska Highway in the winter and the autumn. In the summer there is dust, there are potholes and there are mosquitoes. In the winter the potholes are filled with water and frozen over, there is … Continue reading Alaska Highway, Autumn, 2004
These pictures are all taken within the Anchorage City Limits. The first two show Anchorage on Sunday, without “termination dust” (snow) on the near mountains, the second taken on Thursday shows the termination dust has taken hold. Both were taken … Continue reading Anchorage, Sept 2013
We got to spend two days driving with our friends Dave and Carol Lam, one through the Matanuska-Susitna valley (MatSu) and one down Turnagain Arm to Girdwood. We enjoyed the last days of summer and the first of fall in Anchorage and environs. The colors up on the mountains had turned and the mountainsides were red, rust, yellow and green. When we arrived the tops of the near mountains were clear of snow. When we left “termination dust” the first snow dusting the mountain peaks, had arrived. Alaska had a hard winter and a glorious summer. When I posted pics … Continue reading Mat Su Valley, Sept, 2013
This year Sitka hosted its second annual Highland Games as part of the Sitka Seafood Festival. The festival had a parade, marathon and booths selling fresh seafood and local crafts on the Sitka Fine Arts Camp Campus (former Sheldon Jackson College.) Continue reading Sitka Highland Games, August, 2013
St. Lazaria is a volcanic island off of Cape Edgecumbe. Mt. Edgecumbe forms the backdrop for this island. Some historians day the island is the top of Edgecumbe when it exploded several thousand years ago. The island is now … Continue reading St Lazaria National Wildlife Refuge, Sitka, Alaska, August 1997
2013 may be a record year for pink (humpback) salmon. On August 1 Thousands of Salmon wait for the tide to turn at the mouth of Starigavan Creek before they begin their final fatal swim that holds the promise for the … Continue reading Pink Salmon Run, Sitka, Alaska, August 2013
This is a sequence of a whale sounding in Sitka Sound, August, 2013. Continue reading Whale Sounding, August, 2013, Sitka Alaska
This year is shaping up to be a good year for Pink Salmon. Seiners, Trollers and other creatures are enjoying the abundance of Sitka Sound. Continue reading On the Fishing Grounds, Sitka, Alaska, August, 2013
I have posted a lot of photo blog pages from Sitka this summer and wrote a letter for family and friends. This letter is the best way to introduce you to my home town and guide you to the picture pages in this blog. August 19, 2013 Sitka, Alaska Dear Friends, Such a summer! It is hard to believe that the “Back to School” section of The Sentinel is out. But the days are getting shorter. Sunrise today was at 5:38 and sunset will be at 8:31, just under 15 hours. We are losing 4 minutes a day. I’m sitting … Continue reading Sitka, Alaska, Home Base
The Harbor Mountain road takes you to the 2,000 foot level of Harbor Mountain and connects with trails. The road was recently rebuilt. It was originally built by the military in World War II. At the top of the mountain sat a super secret radar site which scanned the seas for Japanese ships. For more on Harbor Mountain, please see Harbor Mountain, Autumn 2013 and Harbor Mountain Redux, Sept 2013 Continue reading Harbor Mountain, Sitka, Alaska
Several of you have sent me emails or even called asking if Suzi and I are ok. We are more than ok. When home I don’t write, I am just too busy enjoying the best Sitka has to offer, in both activities and weather. The Sitka Summer Music Festival, the Sitka Fine Arts Camp, Jazz on the Waterfront, the Alaska Raptor rehabilitation center, walks in the National Park and the Starigavan Estuary, visits to the cathedral (father Michael opened the iconostas so we can see the beautifully carved altar, the glorious change bell ringing at the cathedral, a series of … Continue reading Sitka, Alaska, June 2013