Town of contrasts

Over the past ten days, there have been many contrasts in the weather.   (you may have noticed that I mention the weather a lot!)  The rainforest life has been a bit of a challenge to adjust to.   But, thankfully, there are glorious days that seem to occur just when you think you can't bear another day that is grey and rainy.   Last weekend provided that reprieve.  The sun came out on Friday and stayed out all weekend and into Monday.  The sunset on Friday nite was the prettiest I have seen here.

Saturday started out with a cup of coffee across the street on the waterfront promenade and some visiting with folks from San Francisco and Louisiana. 

A little later I attended the St. Gregory's parish picnic with some  of my co-workers.   The food was plentiful and there was a dunking booth that provided a few laughs. 

The rest of the day was spent strolling around town and doing weekend stuff.

On Sunday, I was at Fisherman's Quay at 6am ready for a nice boat ride to Kruzof Island and a hike up Mt. Edgecumbe, an extinct volcano.   We jumped off the boat onto the beach, and immediately saw two brown bears in the river closeby looking for Salmon. 

We watched for a bit, took pictures, then started our hike. We hiked through muskeg, which is an Alaskan terrain that is somewhat swampy with lots of short shrubs and short trees. 

Our group was composed of Dave and Lee Ann Alexander, whom I work with, their sons Cole and Bailey, 18 and 16, Lexie, the chef at the hospital (about 28) and me.   These folks are great friends and wonderful hiking buddies.   The boys were in the lead most of the time, but their Mom, Lee Ann, is a great hiker and she could lead us all!  She is planning to hike the Pacific Crest Trail solo when she and Dave get back to the lower 48.  I have no doubt she will do it!  She is a great encourager for me and I enjoy her company.

 

We hiked with a few short breaks for three hours.   I was pooped and at a place with a spectacular view, so I stayed put while the others took the last leg up to the summit.   I was glad I stayed as the rest of the trail was slippery and very steep.  Two of the hikers fell, one ended up doing nice roll down the hill past his mom!   Anyway, in addition to being steep, the wind increased the higher up the volcano.  We guessed the wind was at least 40 mph.  It was blowing us all over the place.   And it was cold!   So, the hikers made the summit and quickly came back to where I was waiting for them.   We hiked back to the beach, where we saw some sea lions while we waited for our boat to return.  On the ride back to Sitka, we saw one humpback whale.  We were all pretty excited!   What a great day!

Work is good.  We stay very busy, so the time goes by quickly.   We are getting a lot done and our work team is really bonding.  I will miss these ladies when I get home.  I have learned a lot and I have been able to help lots of folks do a better job with their infection prevention practices. I have extended my contract until the end of October, so I will be back in NC October 30.  

I took a little walk around town tonite.   I took a photo at the neat Welcome to Sitka sign at town dock.   I took a photo here when I first arrived in town.

Here  is the same scene this evening.

Sad to say, there are lots of days like this.  I don't take too many pictures of these days!   I prefer the gorgeous, sunny ones!