Sitka, Alaska

It is too bad Skagway got cancelled because the long Yukon Territory tour and train ride was one of my favorite excursions.
But Sitka will be fine. We enjoyed the Raptor Center/ Eagle Hospital. We walked the Totem Pole Trail in the park which is pretty.

Sitka is an historic place and a lot of the important historical sites are still there - the Russian Bishop's house, the Russian Orthodox church, the battlefield from the war between the Russians and the Tinglet Indians. Everyone who goes to Alaska should read James Michenor's Alaska book. In it there is a fascinating chapter about the war. The battlefield is right in town and being familiar with that chapter can really make the history come alive, especially if you have a good tour guide to point things out to you.

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It is too bad Skagway got cancelled because the long Yukon Territory tour and train ride was one of my favorite excursions.

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Pretty awesome little town. The Rockslides are on the Railroad Dock, the main berth for cruise ships.

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I love Skagway.

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Me too. I spent the summer of 09 there, lived in a little place on 16th and State. I miss that town, its a lot of fun in summer with all the tourism workers there.

Skagway has had a rough few years. Covid stuff, now the Alaska Hwy is closed around Watson Lake, and the Railroad Dock is shutdown in town.

I've done the Chilkoot Trail a couple of times, and taken the train back from the BC side.

Sitka is the only port on the outer coast, Sitka is an incredible place to kayak if you're into that. Hiking Harbor Mt from downtown is fairly easy and really great views.

I don't think he'll miss the Skagway stop that much, but I love that railroad, particularly the history of it.

I've heard. Never been along for the ride with him.

Used to be some characters up there. Buckwheat Donahue performed in the Days of 98, read Robert Service Poetry. He started the annual Buckwheat Ski Classic in the 1980's so that fit, attractive women from Juneau and Whitehorse would go to Skagway in winter. DId a lot of interesting things.

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Beginning on October 1, 2005, he walked 5,300 miles from Miami, Florida to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, paddled a canoe on the Yukon River 2,200 miles to Kotlik, Alaska, then walked the remaining distance to Nome, Alaska as a fundraiser for The Heartbeat Trail, an effort to provide necessary equipment for the Dahl Memorial Clinic, the only hospital within 110 miles of his home base Skagway.[5]The adventure took 327 days

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Take the creek behind the raptor center and walk up it a ways. Saw a brown bear last time I was there. There's a trail you can take along the stream. When the fish are in, bears will be around.

Ran into Larry Czonka last time I was at the Raptor Center. He's got a place in Wasilla.

Is it a good idea to walk on trails populated by brown bears?

I don't know if I would want to be so confident about that.

One time on the White Pass Railroad excursion to the Yukon Territory from Skagway, we couldn't get off the bus for a long time because there was a bear in the parking lot of the train station.