Ketchikan Alaska

It is Tuesday, September 14th 6:00 pm Alaska time and we have just left Ketchikan.  I watched our arrival at 6:30 am this morning from the observation lounge on deck 10.  The sun was shining brightly which is unusual as Ketchikan gets on average 163 inches of rain per year.  The scenery was gorgeous. The town looked like the tourist center it is.  A huge cruise ship, the Sapphire Princess, had already docked and let off thousands of passengers. The streets were full.  Michael and I were inclined to avoid the gift shops and explore further afield.

Michael had been here before. The shore excursions seemed similar to those in the rest of our Alaska stops so we did not schedule any special activities.  This turned out to be a good decision as Michael is fighting a cold and probably would not have appreciated any strenuous activity today.  We took a walk around the town . Historic Creek Street featured old houses built on pilings over the creek.  Most have been turned into gift shops and a former brothel is now a museum.  We found a small funicular (inclined cable car) that went up the mountainside to a lodge at the top.  We had good views of the town from above. 

There was a steep stair down the backside of the hill.  A road lead to the creek, much further upstream.  The waterway was filled with thousands of salmon fighting their way upstream to spawn.  I tried several times to get a picture that showed the abundance of fish in the water.  The road along the creek led us to the native American fish hatchery and eagle sanctuary, a totem pole museum and a pretty little city park.  We watched the salmon some more and met some interesting locals.  We discovered a woodsy walk back along the creek to the center of Ketchikan.  A highlight was a conversation with a gift shop owner who looked like a rustic Santa Clause but turned out to be quite a philosopher.

After we had lunch and a short nap we went back out and walked along the shoreline for a look at the Sapphire Princess and the northern section of Ketchikan.  On the way back we stopped to admire Ketchikan's only traffic light.  We visited a fur store, a craft store and a gift shop.  The local staff are clearly anticipating the end of the season in a week or so yet are still very friendly.  A peak into a museum and we were done. The day was warm and clear so it was easy to see as we pulled away from the docks why Ketchikan is described as a town three blocks wide and ten miles long.

I didn't quite finish this Tuesday.  My entries may take some time to post as I'm trying to conserve relatively expensive Internet minutes.