Horizons

Just minutes from downtown Sitka is Harbor Mountain Road, built during the Depression during the military build up prior to WWII.

At the top, after a steep, but relatively short hike, are some of the most beautiful, panoramic views in the area.

The waiting fleet

Sunset casts beautiful colors over New Thompson Harbor last July. Sitka's fishing fleet is a main source of "new" dollars coming into the Sitka economy as well as contributing many "colorful" characters to the public scene.

Sitka Sound Sentinel

Mt. Edgecumbe sits on Kruzoff Island, about fourteen miles from downtown Sitka and highlights one of the most beautiful settings of any town in Alaska.

Surf's up!

Just two miles from downtown Sitka, a hardy group of locals come out in any kind of weather to practice their surfing techniques as Mt. Edgecumbe looms across the sound.

Bishop's House

Ivan Veniaminov, later canonized as St. Innocent by the Russian Orthodox Church, spent more than a decade in Sitka during the early 1800's. This building, the oldest in Sitka, served as his residence.

http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi668.htm

http://www.nps.gov/sitk/historyculture/russian-bishops-house.htm

Snowcapped

This awesome view of Mt. Edgecumbe is from a newer subdivision out Sawmill Creek Road.

Runway, or driveway?

Coming from the south, Sitka's runway looks much smaller than its six thousand foot length, nearly three times the distance needed for a 737 to land in a pinch.

They served us well.

Sitka's National Cemetery, one of the earliest west of the Mississippi, is located at the old city limits. It's occupants include the first governor of Alaska, John Brady, Charlie Paddock, once known as the "world's fastest human" and Archie Van Winkle, Alaska's only native-born Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/sitka.asp#hi

Santa Rests

My father-in-law Pete Karras takes a welcome break during the Christmas season from his duties as St. Nicholas.

St. Peter's By the Sea

Overlooking Crescent Harbor, St. Peter's Episcopal Church held it's first service on November 26, 1899 and has an active congregation to this day. Read more about it at: http://members.tripod.com/~Southeast_Seafarer/stpeters.html

A Jewel at the End of the rainbow

St. Michael's Orthodox Church provides a wealth of comfort for a congregation that dates back in Sitka to the early 1800's.

I will set my bow in the clouds

Downtown Sitka got a special treat last September.