Ketchikan

Our weather in Ketchikan was great.  It was overcast, but Ketchikan gets rain more often than not.  With an average of 165 inches per year.   We didn’t get a drop.

Ketchikan was my favorite port.  And that’s probably because we had to change plans at the last minute.  I tried booking a The Deadliest Catch excursion.  Where they take you out on a boat (from the TV show- which I have never seen) and they catch sea creatures, and you look at the sea creatures, then they throw them back (I’m assuming to be caught again a few hours later when they come around again).  My real goal was being on a boat (love it) and hopefully getting to see wildlife.  Unfortunately, I got an email a few days before we departed, saying they didn’t have room for us at 8:00 and wanted to move us to an afternoon trip.  I didn’t think this would work with our schedule, so we had to cancel.  It took a lot of back and forth emails to accomplish all of this.  I was disappointed, but Ketchikan is small and I thought we would have fun just walking around. 

All the houses are clustered here along the water because there isn't really anywhere else to go.  Many building are on stilts out over the water.

One cool thing Celebrity offers is an educational series called “Beyond the Podium”.  During one presentation, a nice lady dressed up as a “lady of negotiable affection” and told us a little about the history of Ketchikan and its memorable residents.  We would later learn that “Miss Amanda” had a way of “Miss-representing” things.  She mentioned hiking the Rainbird Trail and while I had seen the trail marked on a map I had given it little thought.  Ketchikan is in The Tongass National Forest.  It is a temperate rainforest and I was excited to hike through it…even if it was a short hike.  After all, Miss Amanda said it was an easy 10-minute walk from port.  That lady must walk really fast.  Luckily, I researched the trail just before we disembarked.  I learned (thanks Google) that the best entrance to the trail is 2 miles from the port up a very steep hill best reached via Taxi.  We met hikers coming in the other direction who probably wished they had come the other way.  We immediately grabbed a taxi and headed through town over to the University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan Campus and found the trail head.  It was 7:00 am and the forest was dark and misty.  It was perfect.  That being said.  It wasn’t an easy hike.  Considering most of the audience at the presentation were easily 10-20 years older than my husband and I -Miss Amanda probably should not have suggested this trail.   I hiked a bit in my 20’s and this was the hike-i-est trail I have ever been on.  The trail was not well marked or maintained.  It had lots of lose rocks and rocks to climb over.  I had to stop often to “take photos” and maybe catch my breath.  But it was lovely and I am thrilled that we did it.  I’m also thrilled that we didn’t get hurt or get lost.

I love moss and the rain forest didn't disappoint.

Miss Amanda warned us not to eat berries along the trail.  But I felt pretty confident I could spot a Salmon Berry.  To date "D" and I have not died from sampling them along the trail.

Not only was it dry but it was quite warm.  We took off our jackets almost immediately.

This trail is not maintained.  But we did find a section of the trail that looked like it might lead to a hobbit house.

Prior to this cute area, we had completely lost the trail-because there was no trail. 

Luckily we still had AT&T

 

I loved the bright little wildflowers

We reached a part of the trail that overlooked the water.  I have never seen so many float planes.  I know they take people to great places...places I will never see because I refuse to go up in one.

The only wild life we encountered was a slug.  But it was a beautiful way to start our morning.

Alaska Black Slug

We made it down the trail and back towards town.  We decided to keep walking over to the river and to the Totem Heritage Center.

Along the way we saw an Eagle in the stream.  

  Hi majestic Eagle

 

 He saw something....

We were excited to see him catch a fish.

 Just like National Geographic

Poor Mr. Eagle...it was trash.  He flew off in disgust and I don't blame him a bit.

I wish we had made time to go to Totem Bight.  The Totem Heritage Center is just a little sampling and it made me want to see and learn more.

I really would encourage you to learn more about this historical art form and the meanings behind the different types of Totems.  From Celebration to Mourning to Shaming...totems are very versatile.

Sadly Christian missionaries gathered and burned many of these beautiful and irreplaceable totems because they mistakenly believed the totems were idols meant to be worshiped.  This is completely untrue.

After the Totem Heritage Center we walked back into town.  These guys were fly fishing...not sure for what.  Salmon don't eat once they return to spawn.  But I really have no idea what else there is to catch.

Here is "Dolly's House".  Dolly wasn't just a "lady of negotiable affection"....apparently she was a very good one.  She became quite wealthy and invested in real-estate.  She was a wise business woman.  Its really interesting to learn about the role of women in building these Alaska towns.  I dare say they were some of the more influential pioneers.

The skies had cleared and it was a beautiful day.  I was excited to be back to the tunnel where we started the day.  I had saved my appetite for Alava's Fish and Chowder.  Then we learned that is isn't uncommon for a business to close on an uncommonly beautiful day.  I was out of luck for lunch.

 

I could not take enough photos of this darling town. 

And if I couldn't enjoy lunch...I could at least enjoy watching people queue up to get back on the ship.

The ship offered an excellent vantage point.

I hated to go.

 

After a while we cam across this other Celebrity Ship. It helps to demonstrate why a cruise to Alaska can be pretty great.  However we did have pristine weather.  I heard the crew saying the week before they had so much rain and mist and fog that the passengers missed seeing a lot. 

Good night Ketchikan.  We have to get to bed early because we have a special invitation tomorrow at 6:30 am.