It’s the views that makes all the blood, sweat, and tears of hiking Sitka mountains worth it.
I’ve been pretty focused on getting through pictures from summer 2012 in an attempt to see if I made my 1000 species goal (more on that in a future post), but I took some time outside today to go look for a Wandering Tattler Connor mentioned was between the science center and the park.
It was not raining when I left (though it had been earlier), but I wisely took a rain coat, as rain had resumed by the time I got down to the beach. At first I did not see the bird, and thought maybe the visitors wandering down on the beach had scared it off. However, I happened to catch a large-ish shorebird fly out and then back to the rocks on the park side of Sage Rock, and was able to find it there.
This afternoon, Connor, Rowan and I made a conditioning hike up to the first viewpoint on Verstovia. Rowan and I were (mercifully) delayed when we spotted a toad around the big turn from the old Russian charcoal pits. It’s the first one I’ve seen away from a lake or other standing water source in some time. Hopefully it is a sign that the population is recovering.
I ended up making it to the viewpoint in just under 30 minutes – about 7-8 minutes off the pace I went the last time. Despite the slower pace, 61F with high humidity left me a bit wrung out. The chocolate I had as a snack wasn’t salted, but the sweat pouring down my face added a bit of that flavor anyway.
