July 3, 2026
We’re in Sitka, on an island with three times as many bears as people. We took a private van tour of all 14 miles of roads. We didn’t see any bears, but we saw a seal at a distance and some possible bald eagles in a tree, and lots of beautiful scenery. We found and sampled some wild salmonberries.
This remote town was, surprisingly, the capital of Russia’s North American colony in the 1700s.Then it became the first capital of Alaska. There is a lovely onion-domed church in town. We toured the home of the Russian bishop who gave the Tlingit a written language. Then back to the ship to get out of the rain.