Ketchikan, Alaska, August 19-25, 2009

From the dates above one would think we spent a lot of time at Ketchikan, but we arrived late on August 19th and left at 7 am on August 25th. The whole time we were there it rained. It rained every day except one! We arrived in the rain and left in the rain. I think that may have affected our attitude about Ketchikan a bit. :-)

We decided to check out the roads on Ketchikan and drove to one end on Thursday, August 20th. On the way we came across this little pretty waterfall right beside the road. There was hardly enough room for the lady taking the photo and us so we look a little funny as we stand on this wall-like cliff by the falls.

On the way back, we also found an outdoor adventure type spot where they had these totem poles. This was a type of adventure where people could ride zip wires strung through the forest canopy. Again it was pouring down rain! Anyway, notice the backs of the totems are hollowed so that the wood will not split. Then they are erected on separate poles.

This is the front of those totems by the zip wire adventure place. These are obviously newer poles.

Jim is standing by the cross section of a Sitka Spruce tree, prevalent in these rain forest islands.

Friday, August 21st, we drove to the other end of the island to a state park. There they had salmon spawning and had this sign. The hand-written sign says, "Please do not handle fish, spawning season." The fish were almost like a solid mass in the water.

This is a salmon jumping up the waterfall! They would keep trying and trying and often would get washed right back to the beginning again.

This is the waterfall they are trying to get up to spawn where they had been born.

We walked through the woods for several miles and this is Jim by a bridge across part of the creek. I hope you can see how mossy & green everything is in the background, indicating a rain forest. By the way, it is raining here, too!

This is one of several at Totem Bight State Park, Ketchikan, near the waterfalls & trail above. It is done by the Haida natives & is called Land Otter Pole. These poles are reproductions of the originals.

This one is Thunderbird & Whale Totem at Totem Bight.

This one is Thunderers Pole, at Totem Bight.

This is a replica Clan House of the Tlinget peoples. Note the small door carved through the middle totem. The two figures on each end totem are watchmen. On the right, under the tarp, is the current totem being carved by natives here. It is nice that they are preserving their heritage & skills.

This is the inside of the Clan House. Many families would live in this one house. This was their permanent house and they would spend summers at fish camps catching and preserving salmon. When occupied, there would be a lot of stuff in here.

I am standing by an eagle grave marker totem with the drawing of a Tlinget rug on the front. These type of poles were used to store cremation remains of the dead in the back.

This is a halibut pole. Halibut is much like a flounder in that it lies on the bottom of the ocean and has both eyes on one side.

This is a Masters Carvers pole at Totem Bight. I think it is Haida.

Jim is by another pole with a watchman at the top and is from the Nass-Tlingit.

This is a Sea Monster pole by the Haida peoples.

This is Ketchikan Creek which runs through part of the town. The salmon were very thick in this creek and some were trying to get up the rapids and falls here.

See what I mean about fish being thick in the creek!

This is Creek Street, which was once a where all the prostitutes lived but now has nice shops and restaurants.

Another view of Creek Street with the shops built over the creek. This creek is full of salmon.

This is the last view of Creek Street.

Here is our Jeep on another street in the historical part of Ketchikan.

From Creek Street we rode this "Funnicular", a small cable type car, up the hill to the Cape Fox Lodge. Notice the cruise ship in the dock. There were four cruise ships in Ketchikan at this time.

The Cape Fox Lodge had several totems in the front yard. This is one of them with a killer whale as a hat.

This shows the totems at the Cape Fox Lodge.

This salmon was caught off the bridge at Ketchikan Creek.

This is part of Ketchikan's small boat harbor. There are commercial boats here, too.

This commercial boat was leaving to go out for more fish.

This is a pretty commercial fishing boat. It is old, too.

This one is really old, 1914, I think.

There is in bad repair but was built in 1901 in Everett, Washington.

This lady had a cute idea. She ran a "Classy Tour by a Classy Lady in a Classic Car". Her name is Lois Ellen Munch. She is in front of the Totem Heritage Center. In this center they have original totems of 100-200 years old encased in glass.

Near the totem heritage center was the indians hatchery and eagle preserve. These works of art were on the outside of the fence there. This is a killer whale.

This is an eagle in their artwork.

This is a dog salmon in their art work.

This is one of Canada's most common birds, the raven.

This is their wolf.

We took another side road for ten miles and found this pretty lake, called Lake Margaret Hunt.

This is another view of Lake Margaret Hunt.

This is our Jeep by this lake.

On the way back we found this lake & park. It is Ward Lake State Park, originally built by the CCC as a work camp. It was very pretty. It had nice picnic shelters which had fireplaces in them.

Ferry Ride from Wrangell to Ketchikan, August 19, 2009

We finally left Wrangell on Wednesday, August 19th at 2:30 pm. We arrived in Ketchikan at 8:30 PM and found the Walmart for our dry camping experience. We also found the city dump station and water.This carving hangs in the ferry terminal in Wrangell. It doesn't have the depth of the totem carvings but is still very beautiful.

This is the ferry at the Wrangell dock, getting ready to leave. The day was a beautiful one!

This is a distant shot of Wrangell as we ferry away!

We saw this several times; logs floating by with all kinds of sea gulls having a ride.

Lynda is sitting on the sundeck of the ferry, the top deck, looking at the shore with Jim's binoculars.

These are so fast they are hard to catch without a video camera. They are dall porpoises.

This is our ferry! Only kidding; it is a cruise ship passing us as we head for Ketchikan.

The sunsets were fun on the ferry. I have included several of them.

Does it get any better than this? Pretty romantic, I'd say!

One of the last shots of the sunset.

This is a lighthouse we saw as we got close to Ketchikan. There are snow capped mountains in the background, barely seen. Sure wish I could get closer for a better shot. There are not too many lighthouses in Alaska. We've only found two.