On deck bright and early this morning for our arrival in Ketchikan, Alaska. This will be our last stop before heading into Vancouver and flying home across the country and the world.

I am particularly interested in this stop for several reasons. Ketchikan and area are situated in a “Temperate Rain Forest”, an interesting factoid, given that it is in Alaska. But don’t that fool you! We’ll talk about that a little later. Then there is the fact that this place has named itself “Salmon Capital of the World”. Hmm! And finally, a large part of the town is built over the water and we’ll visit that area later today. So we have a very busy day again today and it looks like it will drizzle most of the day as well as being a bit cool. It’s only 15 or 16 degrees F – a real heat wave for Alaska but for “southerners” it’s a bit chilly. So dress for the weather!

On coming into Ketchikan, I noticed one  thing and it sort of puzzled me.

What is going on here? Is there some kind of trouble. There are about 10 of these dinghies buzzing around. US Coast Guard? Have to think about this for a minute. Then, the penny drops: “Duffus, you’re not in Canada, you’re in the United States of America”.

Remember, we’re in the United States of America and the Coast Guard, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, is everywhere in their dingies. They’re rushing hither, thither and yon, with no seeming sense, rhyme or reason. They’re just there, and they’re following every one of the cruise ships as they enter a port and then, they  zoom around the ship – I guess to inspect it the ensure there are no terrorist plots happening that could damage or harm the Republic which they are sworn to protect.  The crews on these dingies are in full combat gear and are armed to the teeth – check the machine gun on the bow of the boat. As far as I’m concerned it’s a little overkill, but hey, we’re in the US of A.

Then we spot the town in the distance through the heavy mist.

And then, all of a sudden, it looked and sounded like we were in the middle of an airport. There were what looked like 10 to 20 small seaplanes constantly landing on the water and taking off.

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As we are pulling into the dock these are the scenes that we catch…

Of course the Cruise Ship business is another major business in town. The town hosts between 3 and 4 cruise ships daily during the cruising season from May to late September. A huge business when you consider an average of 1,400 people are dropped on the town by each ship and they have lots of dollars to spend, And spend they do on all sort of goods and services. I have once heard that with the arrival of each ship the cash registers in town can ring up sales amounting to 5 to 6 million dollars per ship…an unbelievable number for sure – but if true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then the tourism business although seasonal is quite lucrative in Ketchikan.

You can’t forget that a large part of the business in the place is ‘fly-in’ fishing where fishers from around the world congregate here for the amazing variety of fishing and fish species available to the visiting anglers. In fact, Cam, selected the fly-in fishing expedition as his excursion for the day and Robert, selected a fly fishing trip. They were both successful and thoroughly enjoyed their respective days. Pierre and Allison, chose to try a kayaking adventure among the whales and other marine wildlife in the area. Roselyn, Marc, Kathleen and I chose a more sedate visit to the Rain Forest and the  Indian Village at Totem Bight State Park as well as the Totem Heritage Centre with some free time later on for exploration and of course the mandatory shopping. Janet chose to go solo and headed for the Misty Fjords National Monument.

Fishing:

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Kayaking:

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Misty Fjords:

Misty Fiords National Monument (or Misty Fjords National Monument) is a national monument and wilderness area administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Tongass National Forest. Misty Fiords is about 40 miles (64 km) east of Ketchikan, Alaska, along the Inside Passage coast in extreme southeastern Alaska, comprising 2,294,343 acres (928,488 ha) of Tongass National Forest in Alaska’s Panhandle. All but 151,832 acres (61,444 ha) are designated as wilderness. Congress reserved the remainder for the Quartz Hill molybdenum deposit, possibly the largest such mineral deposit in the world. The national monument was originally proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter in December 1978 as Misty Fiords National Monument, using the authorization of the Antiquities Act and became a part of an ongoing political struggle between the federal government and the State of Alaska over land use policy and authority that finally led to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. In that law, it was statutorily established as Misty Fjords National Monument.

John Muir compared the area with Yosemite valley for its similar geology and glacial morphology. Light-colored granite, about 50 to 70 million years old (Eocene Epoch to Cretaceous Period) has been sculpted by glaciers that gouged deep U-shaped troughs throughout the monument. Many of the glacial valleys are filled with sea water and are called “canals”, but they are not man-made in any way; the walls of these valleys are near-vertical and often rise 2,000 to 3,000 feet (600 to 900 m) above sea level, and drop 1,000 feet (300 m) below it.

Across from the Salmon River and Portland Canal and the settlement of Hyder, Alaska, small glaciers occupy high areas of the northeast part of the monument. Soule and Through Glaciers cover high plateaus and valleys in the Lincoln and Seward Mountains, where one peak rises to 6,250 feet (1,900 m) above sea level. Most mountain tops in the monument are in the 4,000 to 5,000 foot (1,200 to 1,500 m) elevation range. Tree line is usually around 2,700 feet (800 m).

Western Hemlock, Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedar dominate the prolific rainforest vegetation; wildlife in abundance includes both grizzly and black bears, many species of salmon, whales, mountain goats, and deer.

Because of the remoteness of the area, most visitors arrive by cruise ship or fly over the monument in tourist aircraft from Ketchikan or Juneau, Alaska.

Ketchikan’s economy is based upon government services, tourism, and commercial fishing. The city is known as the “Salmon Capital of the World.” The Misty Fjords National Monument is one of the area’s major attractions. Ketchikan is named after Ketchikan Creek, which flows through the town. “Ketchikan” comes from the Tlingit name for the creek, Kitschk-hin, the meaning of which is unclear. It may mean “the river belonging to Kitschk”; other accounts claim it means “Thundering Wings of an Eagle”. In modern Tlingit this name is rendered as Kichx̱áan. Ketchikan creek served as a summer fishing camp for Tlingit natives for untold years before the town was established by Mike Martin in 1885.

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Ketchikan is located on an island, named Revillagigedo in 1793 by Captain George Vancouver. The region was first visited by Europeans in 1793 when George Vancouver explored up Behm Canal, the prominent sea-filled glacial trough along the western margin of the monument and separating it from Revillagigedo Island. Vancouver discovered New Eddystone Rock, a 237 foot (72 m) tall column of basalt in the middle of Behm Canal. It was formed within the past 5 million years by volcanic activity, evidence for which is scattered sparsely through the monument, including a lava flow high above Punchbowl Cove, and at Blue River in the far northern part of the monument near the Canadian border.

Ketchikan’s ZIP code is 99901. Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles, found throughout the city and at four major locations: Saxman Totem Park, Totem Bight State Park, Potlatch Park, and the Totem Heritage Center. Most of the totems at the two parks are replicas of older poles, a practice that began during the Roosevelt Administration through the Civilian Conservation Corps, while the Totem Heritage Center displays preserved 19th-century poles rescued from abandoned village sites near Ketchikan.

Totem Bight State Park:

We said earlier that Ketchikan is in a Temperate Climate Rain Forest. The vegetation in the forest in mind boggling as can be seen from the few photos we have attached:

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The vegetation is also quite varied:

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The vegetation aside, this is where there is one of the largest collection of standing Totem Poles in the world.

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Raven – The mercurial trickster of Northwest Coast Native lore. Curious and mischievious, often misbehaving but never boring.

Sea Turtle – This totem is representative of Mother Earth.

Thunderbird – A mythological bird known to manifest the rolling of thunder while beating its wings and creating lightening when blinking it’s eyes.  Known to kill whales.

Eagle – Intelligent and resourceful.  He rules the sky and is able to transform himself into a human.

Wolf – Very powerful totem who can help people that are sick or in need.

Bear –  A teacher symbol as it  is believed that Bear taught the People to catch salmon and pick berries.

Frog – Known for bringing wealth and is associated with Copper Woman.  In another myth, frog was held down in fire, when it burst lava flowed and engulfed an entire village.

Otter – The otter is a mischievous creature that is also a symbol of laughter, curiosity, grace, and empathy.

Salmon – The salmon symbolizes instinct, persistence, and determination.

Owl – The owl is a very respected animal and is thought to symbolize the souls of the departed.

Killer Whale – Whales are honored as strong and brave fish. The mythology of the killer whale is that is will bring food and assistance to a chief or other important person lying helpless and/or wounded.

After having visited the park with all the totem poles we have the opportunity to visit a Tlingit Longhouse

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We had passed over 2 ½ hours on site and it was getting late. We headed into the downtown area of Ketchikan and we dropped off on the dock, ship side, so that we could continue to explore the town of get back on board for the balance of our time here.

We head off in the direction of the sign. The first stop is at the Rock Monument on the dock itself. It is an impressive work of art and represents: Dave Rubin’s bronze monument “The Rock” which was unveiled at Berth 1 on Sunday, July 4th, 2010. It features 7 life-size figures from Ketchikan’s past: Chief Johnson, a logger, a fisherman, a miner, an aviator, a Native woman drumming, and an elegant lady in her 1890s finery.

We make several other stops along the way at the various shops we encounter during our on-going exploration of town..

We ultimately end up at a dead-end or at least what appears to be a dead-end except that there is a narrow board sidewalk over a rushing stream. Hum…interesting, let’s take a look. We cross the little bridge and ‘land’ in a magical little enclave called Creek Street. Interesting and quite beautiful.

Here is a sign that greeted us as we crossed into the ‘community’.

The buildings are built over the water because, in the old days, it was much too difficult and costly to blast away at the side of the mountain to make room for new buildings than it was to simply sink for supporting piers and build out over the water.

Ketchikan doesn’t have hell raiser like “Soapy” Smith was in Skagway. Ketchikan does however affectionately pays tribute to a prostitute from the old days in the person of: Dolly Arthur.

Thelma Dolly Copeland was born in Idaho in 1888. She had an unhappy childhood and left home at thirteen, moving to Montana and then to Vancouver, B.C., where she worked as a waitress. A Junoesque beauty, she soon collected a retinue of male admirers and candidly admitted, “By the time I was 18 or 19, I realized that I could make a lot more money from the attention of men than I could waiting on tables.” She moved to Ketchikan, changed her name to Dolly Arthur, and set up her establishment at 24 Creek Street in 1919.

Every night was party-time on Creek Street. Miners, fishermen, loggers and townspeople gathered to carouse, drink and visit the clapboard bordellos built along the boardwalk. Music floated out over the water and lights glowed from the windows, while the girls paraded, titillating and semi-nude, behind lace curtains. Although drinking was against the law (no one paid much attention to this) prostitution was legal, and the “sporting women” of the red light area of Creek Street, registered their businesses with the city police. Creek Street-set against wooded slopes of Deer Mountain-its hookers, and Ketchikan itself, roared through the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s.

Today, Creek Street is one of the most popular areas of the town boasting first class shops and boutiques as well as a hotel and several very interesting restaurants and bars.

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And here I was also able to take four or five photos that I really love and think are really well done. What we, in our family, would call “Calendar Pictures”, here they are:

We’ve seen everything that needs to be seen, we think…let’s get something to eat, please!! The ship is just a few minutes walk away, so let’s go, I am dying of hunger.

We are back at the dock and spy this wonderful looking restaurant in we go…but it’s a fish restaurant and as our regular visitors already know, I personally don’t do fish…She Who Must be Obeyed insists…so in we go. OK. so let’s take a look at the menu.

I can probably manage something here…so we sat down and had a wonderful late, late lunch…it was pretty good. The prices are a little steep however, but it appears that the quality is there – so no problem.

And now a word on the weather here in Ketchikan.  Ketchikan has a climate greatly modified and moderated by its maritime location, featuring an oceanic climate which is likened to Scotland or Northern Ireland though with much more rain. Winters are cool but far milder than its latitude alone may suggest: January has a 24-hour average of 33.6 °F (0.9 °C). Summers are mild, as August’s high averages 64.4 °F (18.0 °C). Another feature of the area’s climate is the high amount of rainfall, with an equivalent average of 153 inches (3,900 mm) per year, falling more heavily in autumn and winter. The climate is so moderated that even Tallahassee, Florida has recorded an all-time record minimum—−2 °F (−19 °C) in February 1899—lower than that of Ketchikan, although Tallahassee averages around 22 °F (12 °C) warmer over the year.

The record high temperature in Ketchikan was 89 °F (32 °C) on June 20, 1958, and August 14, 1977. The record low temperature was −1 °F (−18 °C) on December 15, 1964, and January 5, 1965. The wettest year was 1949 with 202.55 inches (5,145 mm) and the driest year was 1995 with 88.45 inches (2,247 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 42.69 inches (1,084 mm) during October 1974 and the most rainfall in 24 hours was 8.71 inches (221 mm) on October 11, 1977. The most snowfall in one month was 45.1 inches (115 cm) in January 1971.

We’re soon re-boarding the ship and looking forward to our second last night on board and our arrival in Vancouver in two more sleeps.

We cast off at 6:00 PM right on schedule. And we’re heading out to sea to cruise the inside passage for the day tomorrow and arrive in Vancouver bright and early the next morning.

They’re Back!

Uhun, they’re back…and following us again…

Hey, outta the way, we’re coming through!

The Regional Hospital is on the Hill in the background and the US Coast Guard Station is in the foreground …

And there are some very wealthy people living here in Ketchikan, judging from the size of the yachts and homes.

One cruise ship pulled out ahead of us…guess they want to be first into Vancouver. She’s actually pulling in her anchor. We shall see!

 

Oh, I was forgetting about the ‘boys being back” here’s the proof.

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We’re planning on having a quiet supper tonight and maybe some drinks in the bar afterwards.

 

Episode 12 of our magnificent Alaska Adventure of Discovery will follow in a few days, make sure to come back soon.

This work by Fergus JM Ducharme is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at www.historicphilippines.com.
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