[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBLQfMke9FI]
“The Proposal” may very well be one of my most favorite movies in existence. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are unspeakably funny together and have some seriously genius comedic chemistry going on. This movie certainly wasn’t the reason we decided to honeymoon in Alaska, but let’s be honest, the scenery was impressive. We were a little excited that the ship we’d selected cruised to Sitka, a quaint and rather refreshingly un-touristy little town where very few cruises or sight-seers bother to go. We didn’t learn until just recently that while Margaret Tate and Andrew Paxton travel to Sitka, AK to meet the parents and the break the news of their engagement, that Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds traveled only to the oh-so-exotic local of Rockport, Massachusetts to shoot the film. We probably should have researched this ahead of time because we definitely trolled the town looking for familiar sights.
For all the reasons that Juneau was our least favorite port of call, Sitka was our favorite port of call. We loved Sitka. We liked its Russian roots and architecture, totem poles, the quiet main drag, mountainous backdrop, friendly folk, adventurous outdoorsy activities and the tiny little port where everyone docked their personal boats that are, undoubtedly, used as transportation from the little island nooks where their homes are located across the Sitka Sound and into town for work, groceries or socialization. Furthermore, while we liked the town itself, we also had a fabulous excursion experience and it was the only one of our Alaskan ports where we were treated to beautiful weather. We were in port from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (less a half-hour each way for tendering), but we found it wasn’t enough time to do all that we had wanted to do. I’d still like to see the Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center one day. Not to mention the Sitka Sound is littered with little islands to explore! Many of these islands are residential – as in, the only thing on the island is your gorgeous house, but many are just teeming with bears, eagles, and lush and intriguing forest plants. Also, please click to enlarge picture #8, because I want that house immediately!
So, what did we do in Sitka? Well, Sitka is home to an ancient, once-active volcano named Mt. Edgecumbe located on Kruzof Island. Funny story: The last time Mt. Edgecumbe erupted was in 2220 B.C. And in 1974 when a local prankster named Porky Bickar threw 100 old tires into the crater and lit them on fire, sending black plumes of smoke spiraling into the air and frightening the residents of Sitka into thinking their volcano wasn’t quite as dormant as they thought. Now there’s a local with a sense of humor!
Is there a better way to explore Mt. Edgecumbe than by ocean raft and 4×4? Nope! So we booked an excursion with Ocean Raft Adventures to shoot across the Sitka Sound in a high-speed raft (and see great wildlife along the way) to Kruzof Island and then bump up to the top of the volcano in a Yamaha Rhino 4×4.
This was some serious FUN. Glacier trekking was amazing, but this was just crazy, wild fun! We had such a great time! We would gladly book this adventure, or a different one, from this company again. Our guides were kind, funny, and had biology degrees so when we stopped along the trail to check out a small clot of salmon running downstream, or to see porous, spongy moss ground cover and huckleberries in a clearing on the island, they could tell us all about it. Another thing we loved about this excursion was that there were only six of us plus our three guides. A nice, small group is definitely the way to go! We started out at their little hidden headquarters shack off the main drag of Sitka to suit up in mustang suits (tip: pee before you put the suit on). Once properly geared up like astronauts we walked to the dock, piled in the ocean raft and took off for a high-speed, bumpy ride across the Sitka Sound. The weather was just incredible and highlighted how completely breathtaking this part of Alaska is, but the waters were still a little choppy that day which made the ocean raft even more fun! We’d hit big waves and be instantly airborne, flying through the air until our raft plopped down on the water again with a mighty splash. It was so much fun – we were all laughing and totally enjoying it. Our raft captain would stop the raft every time we spotted a sea otter, eagle’s nest, geographical point of interest, or school of flopping fish so we could get a good look. Fun fact: Did you know that the reason fish jump out of the water and belly flop back down is because they are pregnant and trying to break the sack in their bellies that the baby fish are in so they can give birth? We saw lots of that! The 45 minute raft ride to the island gave us a lot of time to enjoy the scenery and check out the wildlife.
When we pulled up to the island the rest of the guides were ready and waiting. They gave us helmets and showed us to our two-seater 4×4’s. After a five-minute safety briefing about how to operate the 4×4, the emergency breaks, what to do if steam comes pouring out of the engine, what to do if a bear attacks the caravan, where the bear horn and bear spray are located, what to do if you flip the 4×4 while bumping up the mountain and how to hold your body in the event of a rollover and other such comforting information (at about this point I started to wonder just what we’d gotten ourselves into…), we loaded up in our 4x4s with a guide in the front of the caravan and another guide in the back and off we went, up the volcano! Again…so much fun!! The island used to be, and I guess still is, used for a little bit of military stuff. So the first little stretch of roadway (the “practice course”) is somewhat paved. I use that term loosely. At a certain point there is a little bridge over a stream where you can watch the salmon run and, if you’re lucky, spy a bear who is also watching the salmon run. After that bridge though the road goes away and becomes an extremely rocky, uphill path with huge boulders to topple over, deep trenches to sink unevenly into (as you wonder if this trench will be the one to roll your 4×4), massive mud puddles to splash through, low hanging tree branches to get whacked by and sharp curves to screech across. You can see how this was totally awesome, right? We were throttled and jostled up the volcano for another hour, stopping to check out more wildlife, great views, or neat plants. At one point we came to a lake of mud. Yes, a lake. It was really that big. I joked how wild it would be to drive through it, not knowing that our guide had every intention of actually leading us through it! We reached the top of the mountain, covered in mud and still vibrating from the motion of the 4×4.
The view was tremendous! Our guides unpacked a snack of homemade jelly shortbread cookies, cheese scones, and a thermos of creamy tomato soup for us to eat while we took in the view. There was a patch of wild huckleberries nearby so we snacked on a few of those and learned more about the Alaskan landscape. After the break we rolled back down the volcano, splashing through more mud puddles and getting whacked by more tree branches that we drove too close to (Ted claims it was to avoid boulders or trenches, but I’m not so sure about that…) and then we rafted back to Sitka.
Totally worth every penny! Please take this excursion if you go to Sitka. Or better yet, you can treat us to this excursion again if you’re feeling generous :-)
In case you’re wondering what the heck some of this stuff is, allow me to explain. The sweet little thing swimming is the water is a friendly sea otter who was showing off his tricks, an eagle with her nest is pictured in the next photo, and if you look closely at the photo that looks like nothing but shallow water and rocks, you can see two dark gray salmon swimming center. The craters are volcanic ash. I’m making a face in the picture with the huckleberries in my hand because Ted and I both spied a prime, fat and juicy huckleberry at the exact same moment and he beat me to it, leaving me with the dinky ones. The lighthouse is another one of those little island treasures scattered throughout the Sitka Sound and the last picture is that same house, which I still want, by the way.
In a dream world we’d pick up and move to Sitka, get a little island house and a small boat, and start our own theatre company in Sitka. Oh, what a world it would be!
Up next: Ketchikan and crab fishing!
