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

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

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

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

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

One of the reasons to come home to Sitka every June is the Sitka Summer Music Festival.  Every Summer for 42 years it has graced our town.  Suzi and I have attended since 1981.  The Festival presents chamber music in … Continue reading Sitka Summer Music Festival, June 2013

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

One of the joys of living in Sitka is getting out on the water.  We were out twice in June, once on a cruise sponsored by the Sitka Summer Music Festival, where we listened to Schubert while anchored in a … Continue reading Crusin’ Sitka Sound, June 2013

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