A bit of this, a bit of that

I've been enjoying the rain and solitude these past few days. It has been very nice to go out kayaking for an hour, or not. Same with hiking and biking. No hurry, no pressure to go down this path or into that bay. I can go back.
It is also best to stay out of downtown when the cruise ships come into town. Luckily there is a calendar to see when they dock. Usually not too bad, except on days when the big ships are in town or there are three ships in town. Then the downtown area erupts with tourists, and all of a sudden, the goods for sale are outside on racks and lots more locals are visible (even down to the girls selling lemonade and local jellies in little stands in front of their houses).
Anywho, here are a few pictures of this and that around Sitka.
The first three pictures are of a very overgrown, unmarked  cemetery up a little hill that Barb took me to see. She has lived here 30 yrs and just discovered it a month or so ago, even though it is almost directly across from her work. She doesn't know who these people were, but is going to research the names.
06/18/10 Note: Barb asked me to remove the pictures of the grave markers out of respect for the Tlingit culture.

This is a Russian cross marker and it reads: 17 PERSONS

It reads: YENA-CHIEF, Died May 21, 1889, Aged 50 yrs

It read: KOO-SE-TAN

Leaving the cemetary, we passed by these steps that used to lead to a restaurant called 57 Steps Restaurant. It's no longer there, nor are all of the 57 steps. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of zoning laws or enforcement of derelict properties here. Things are allowed to just deteriorate completely if the owner feels like letting it be.

Saw a bed of flaking granite(?) at one little beach I visited.

I was struck by the contrast of the green and the black of the rock. This little picture does not do it justice. I've noticed that the plants and flowers here are very vibrant. More so than I remember them in other places. Maybe its the overcast skies that give them there "snap" of color.

Found this washed up on shore. It is a weight for a pot, weighing 10 pounds! On a side note, I have found only two things washed up on shore here. I am surprised, given the strong tides, that I haven't been able to see more items washed ashore (not even wood).

Here are a duck and a hootch of ducklings at Swan Lake. I plan on kayaking this lake as soon as I can. It isn't very big, but completely sheltered from the wind and has acres of lily pads to paddle through. I counted 18 ducklings in this photo.
Got my plans set for Ketchikan. I've changed it up a bit as I realized that I would have to spend 10 days of paddling to and from Misty Fjord to Ketchikan and only get a couple of days in the monument itself. Soooo, I dug deep, and I mean deep, into my dwindling nest egg, and arranged for a drop off and pick up close to the entrance of Rudyerd Bay, at Winstanley Island. I will be staying at a forest service cabin that night, then paddling up into Punchbowl Cove and spending 4 days deep in the fjord, camping wherever I can find dry land. Then I will paddle back to Winstanley Island and spend three days there, exploring the island and surround area and staying in the cabin again. Then on the 2nd of July, I will be picked up and taken back to Ketchikan. I will hang about there until the 4th, when I leave on the ferry back to Sitka.
Peace my friends.