Category: Alaska

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See Alaska before it melts! Portage Glacier

Rich McClear

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

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Mat Su Valley, Sept, 2013

Rich McClear

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

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Sitka, Alaska, Home Base

Rich McClear

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

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Harbor Mountain, Sitka, Alaska

Rich McClear

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

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Sitka, Alaska, June 2013

Rich McClear

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

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Sitting by my window, June, 2013

Rich McClear

One of the great joys being home in June is just sitting by my window and watching.  Ships pull into my front yard, fish start jumping and the eagles come in for the kill, fishermen make their evening set outside my window, storms roll in, as does the fog.  In the morning we often hear the fog horns of a ship making for anchor.  This is an active months, the Fine Arts Camp, the Music Festival, boats to ride, hikes to take, meals with friends, but I always leave enough time to sit by my window and watch.  I have … Continue reading Sitting by my window, June, 2013

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Piano Four Hands, Sitka Summer Music Festival, June 2013

Rich McClear

One of the delights of the Sitka in June is the Sitka Summer Music Festival.  We have wonderful performances and we can sit in on some open rehearsals.   Here Natasha Paremski and Navah Perlman Schubert’s Fantasy for Four Hand Piano.  It was fascinating watching them work out body movements so that they don’t collide because they are both very active and expressive players.  They marked up the score as they went and practiced until Natasha cried out “Nailed it!”  And in performance they did. Continue reading Piano Four Hands, Sitka Summer Music Festival, June 2013

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A 460 Year Old Tree Comes Down, June 2013

Rich McClear

The wind brought down the top of an old Sitka Spruce in Sitka National Park.  The Tree was named Methuselah.  It stood when the Jamestown was founded, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, and when Bering and Cherenkov sailed from Russia to the new world.  The tree was two centuries old when our nation declared independence.   It was two and a half centuries old when Baranof fought the battle of Sitka with the Tlingit near where the tree stood.   Because of the danger the tree posed the National Park Service cut the rest of it down.  An old friend is … Continue reading A 460 Year Old Tree Comes Down, June 2013

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St. Michael’s Cathedral, Sitka, Alaska, June 2013

Rich McClear

At noontime we were heading for an organ recital at the Lutheran Church.  We were stopped in our tracks when the bell tower of St. Michael’s erupted in glorious change bell ringing.  I had not heard the bells in years, mostly because we have been out of Sitka for years.  The Lutherans had to wait while we enjoyed the joyous sound.  We arrived at the recital late.  After the recital we noticed a sign on St. Michael’s Cathedral saying that for the first time we could see the altar.  Each time in the past when I had been in the … Continue reading St. Michael’s Cathedral, Sitka, Alaska, June 2013