The last few days have included an attempt to view the Hubbard Glacier, our final Alaskan port, Sitka and our first Canadian port, Prince Rupert Island.
Weather wise we've had a pretty mixed bag. We were not able to get up to the Hubbard Glacier due to a dense fog/drizzle combined with heavy ice in the inlet. It would have been nice to get up close but not at the risk of us being the modern day version of Titanic. I'm glad the weather cooperated earlier when we visited Glacier Bay, especially since seeing the glaciers were high on the list of so many people we've visited with over the past twelve days.
Sitka is a town of around 9,000 people which is fairly large by Alaska standards. Sitka we heard was the largest city in the US....by land mass. Now I was always told the largest city by land mass was Jacksonville, Fl. I guess I'm going to have to do a little fact checking when I have internet. I'll let you know what I find.
Our weather in Sitka was a slight upgrade over the Hubbard Glacier weather. We had a little chill in the air, some drizzle and fog but not enough to cause any disruption in our plans, especially since we really didn't have anything specific on the agenda.
Having visited Sitka before we knew we were surrounded by snow capped mountains. They weren't visible because of the low hanging fog. This fog gave everything a different look which was pretty interesting as well.
After walking around downtown which is far less "touristy" than most we visited the Sitka National Historical Park. We listened to a woodcarver who was a member of the Tlingit (pronounced "clink-it") tribe share a fascinating story on the meaning of one of the totem poles on display. The park is full of trails through a dense forest which served as a natural canopy from the drizzle.
Once we returned to the ship we were treated to a great show. Just off the back of the ship we saw a full grown sea lion (they can get up to 2000 pounds) with a large fish in his mouth. I'm not sure if he was trying to kill the fish or tear it into smaller pieces but he was shaking it like crazy from side to side. The fish slipped out of his mouth and landed about ten yards away. As he lazily swam over to it an eagle swooped down, grabbed the fish and was gone. It was a thrill for us. A meal for the eagle. There are more fish in the sea for the sea lion. The real loser in this National Geographic moment was that particular fish who at great personal sacrifice played a key role in this event!
The sunshine returned yesterday for our visit to Prince Rupert Island. This was our first visit to this city on the northwest coast of British Columbia. Even though it was our first visit we didn't actually discover it. They have found evidence that the area has been inhabited for around 10,000 years. The towns biggest industries are related to the port and mainly focus on shipping and fishing instead of tourism. We roamed the sleepy downtown a bit before heading back into the neighborhoods in search of the McClymont Park Trail which followed Hays Creek down to the seaside.
Once we got down to the port area we stopped in a small pub with outdoor seating overlooking a marina and the harbor. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and we were enjoying a beverage and snack when suddenly we heard the shrill scream of a woman "help!", "man overboard!". We looked up and sure enough a guy had fallen overboard from a commercial fishing boat tied to the dock. He was able to swim around to the dock and hold on patiently while they found a ladder for him to climb up. After climbing out of the water the possible cause of the fall was still floating near the boat. I'm making a few assumptions here but it looked like a beer can to me and I'm betting since it was late in the day that it wasn't his first.
