Time to Leave Sitka

So, yes, I did see a bear in Sitka. The only way I wanted to see one.

When you're a tourist, your time at each destination is limited.  And the clock was telling me that it was time to leave Sitka.  Good-bye Saint Michael's Orthodox Cathedral.

One last cool thing about my visit to Sitka is that I've set a new mark for my "farthest west" journey I have ever been.  At 135 degrees, 20 minutes, 19 seconds, Sitka is the furthest west line of longitude to which I've traveled, besting my old "furthest west" of Tofino, B.C., Canada, by a whopping 10 degrees of longitude.  I like setting new "furthests."

Time was limited in Sitka, but there was time for a walk through the Russian Cemetery.

This is basically an old cemetery.  In a forest.

And it's more forest than cemetery.  Which makes for a nice walk.  During the daylight hours.

But death symbolizes change and it was time to change locales.  On to the "high speed ferry" for the four and one-half hour trip to Juneau for the second half of this mini-vacation.

Taking the ferry from Sitka to Juneau is what I call "the poor man's Alaska cruise."

Farewell Sitka.

Farewell to you and to my new friends.

I wonder if a trip to see real actual live bears at "Fortress of the Bear" would have left me smiling like this more gentle bear encounter did?