Sitka

We've spent the last few days in Sitka, enjoying amazing weather. The first day we went out on a boat trip with Paul Davis of Gallant Adventures to St. Lazarius Island to see nesting puffins and murres. The island is the eroded core of an old volcano, and looks rather otherworldly with basalt cliffs covered in greenery. We also saw sea otters, humpback whales, and a pair of minke whales while out on the water. Quite the morning!

After spending the morning on the water, we took a walk through the totem park, which has a collection of Haida and Tlingit totem poles.










We've taken a couple of kayaking trips around the sound, visiting islands and enjoying the scenery. The first trip we paddled from the harbor and out to Middle Island, with a couple stops for lunch and snacks.

This is a view from the water looking back towards Sitka. The little rock in front is covered with Gulls and Cormorants.
Mount Edgecombe is an old volcano across the sound from Sitka.
The second trip we took, we launched from the beach near our campground at Starrigaven bay and paddled around another group of islands (the name escapes me at the moment) to the north. We were on the water only a few minutes when these four sea lions came to investigate us. They spent several minutes checking us out before moving on.
Lots of eagles in the Sitka area. We saw one catch a fish right in front of us on the water and then carry the fish to its nest.

This is one of the beaches we stopped at. We nick-named it clam beach because the beach was a mix of broken clam shells and black gravel. Each beach we found was different, but it was wonderful discovering these little secluded private spots. I don't think the picture does it justice.

On the water!