Greeting from the moist northern temperate rainforest of Sitka and southeast Alaska. After a wonderful autumn, winter and spring of Petsitting I’m back to my seasonal gig of leading nature and walking tours in Sitka. Southeast Alaska lies within the Tongass National forest, the largest national forest in USA and probably the world. Our location 1000 miles from Seattle and 1000 miles from Anchorage , yet our climate is more like Seattle, rainy snd mild 50-degree to 60 degree temperatures in the summer, so if you need a break from the heat this is your place.
Sitka is unique as we’re the only town in the southeast located on the outside waters and the Gulf of Alaska whereas all the other’s lie on the inside passage just a hop, skip and jump from British Columbia. At roughly 8350 year round population we’re the 5th largest city in the state. Alaska which is 2.5 x the size of Texas with a population of 720,000 people and largely remote wilderness. Most people make there way here via cruise ship, although we have a splattering of independent travelers many on fishing charters and some by ferry.
The name Sitka derived from the word Shee ( meaning on the outisde in the indigenous Tlingit* language ) . The indigenous people here have thrived for 10,000 plus years despite the invasion of Russians who came here in the late 1700’s with the primary intent of hunting Sea Otters for their pelt. Thankfully to many efforts the Sea Otters have made a comeback from being close to extinction.
So, if you’ve ever wanted to embark on a adventure, southeast Alaska has a plethora of amazing nature, from the abundance of rich forest , to tidewater glaciers descending into the ocean,
and a variety of animals it is a unique adventure.
