Ferries, Flowers & Totems

Once again we boarded the M/V Matanuska for our ferry from Petersburg to Ketchikan.  We knew exactly where we wanted to sit for this 11-hour ride . . . in the lounge at the front of the boat so we could see everything as long as we had daylight.  This sailing goes south out of the Petersburg docks, through the very narrow Wrangell narrows, across Sumner Strait, with a brief stop at the town of Wrangell, and then continues south down Stikine and Clarence  Straits to Ketchikan.  This would be our last ferry ride and Ketchikan would be our final stop on this 3+ week’s Alaskan journey.  The first leg of the ferry route would parallel the 32 miles we had driven on the Mitkof Highway, the day before.  It was nice to know what we were looking at . . . or what we might have been able to see if the weather had been more cooperative.  It was raining, again, and visibility was poor.  We felt sorry for the crew mate who had to stand out on the bow of the ship and provided hand signals to the pilothouse.  I can only assume the signals were to aid the Captain in steering down the very tricky Wrangell Narrows.  The channel was indicated with buoys and markers.  It took about four hours to get to the docks at Wrangell, a distance of about 50 miles. 

Bow of ferry 

Wrangell Narrows

Approaching Wrangell

We were eager to see Wrangell, if only from the dock.  Originally we had planned for a couple days’ visit to Wrangell and had hoped to go on the excursion to Annan Creek to watch bear.  However, the normal ferry was taken out of service and we could not rearrange our plans to fit in Wrangell.  We’ll have to hope for another trip and plan on going to Wrangell.

The ferry continued toward Ketchikan and we decided to stretch out on the lounge sofas and catch a few winks.  We were surprised that it was pretty comfortable and the rumble of the engines soon had us asleep.  It was nice to catch a couple hours of rest before we entered the Tongass Narrows, the last stretch to Ketchikan and docked about midnight.  Fortunately, our hotel was literally across the street from the ferry docks so we were able to walk over and check-in with no delays.

After a good night’s rest we took the motel shuttle into downtown Ketchikan and immediately saw three large cruise ships in port.  The shuttle driver called it a 3-ship day and told us tomorrow will be a 4-ship day.  We later learned the day after we leave will be a 5-ship day.  The local newspaper, Ketchikan Daily News, (www.ketchikandailynews.com/) gives the cruise ship schedule daily including the ship’s name and the passenger count.  Ketchikan is small, maybe 14,000 people but that number will jump by 3100 – 9300 on any day this week.  The weather was not very cooperative during our visit; it rained.  But apparently that is pretty normal for Ketchikan which gets about 150" of rain/year!

Liquid Sunshine!

Like most of the other towns up and down the Inside Passage, Ketchikan is a fishing town.  It calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World.  There are indeed lots of salmon swimming upstream where they will spawn, lay their eggs and then the females die.  I wonder what happens to the males?

Ketchikan Harbor

Fishing boat

 Creek Street, now a popular eclectic shopping area, was once known as Ketchikan’s “red-light district”. During Prohibition this district was also busy with bootleggers who supplied Canadian whiskey to the working houses along Creek Street.  Much of the town was built on wood pilings over the water and Creek Street is a boardwalk along Ketchikan Creek; it’s a great place to watch the salmon spawning.  According to a sign on Dolly’s House, the men had much in common with the salmon.

Infamous "working house"

Men & Salmon!

Creek Street

Fish Ladder

Salmon & Bald Eagle on Ketchikan Creek

Look carefully - salmon spawning

Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles.  South of town is Saxman Totem Park and north of town is Totem Bight State Park.  Both these locations have many totems that are re-carvings of poles that have decayed and fallen over.  The renewed interest in carving the totems is a result of the CCC in the 1930s when funding paid for the Native elders to teach their skills and traditions to the younger generations.  In the central part of town, the Totem Heritage Center houses 19^th C totems that were rescued from nearby Tlingit and Haida villages.  We spent most of the day visiting these totem sights and enjoyed reading the history and meanings of each.  There are several types of totems, used for different purposes.  These include story totems, family heritage totems, mortuary totems to honor special people, heraldic totems used to support buildings, and shaming totems for wrong-doers.  The Native tribes take great pride in being able to honor the traditions and skills of the totem carvers.  The efforts to preserve the culture are worthwhile and a real treasure to the Alaskan community.

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 One of the more beautiful aspects of our Alaskan trip has been the wild flowers painting the landscape.  We’ve enjoyed seeing flowers and flowering shrubs throughout the state.  We’ve also noticed that gardening seems to be a popular pastime.  Walking around parks and neighborhoods we were always noticing flower boxes, beds, and baskets.  I suspect everyone goes all out over the very short growing season.  Beautiful!

Honeysuckle

Delphinium

Peonies

Columbine

Goat's Beard

Fireweed

Ketchikan is our last stop in Alaska.  Both of us agree we wish we had booked the non-stop ferry from Ketchikan to Bellingham, WA but instead we are flying from KTN to SEA on Alaska Air.  It will be nice to get home, and tomorrow is our son’s birthday so we will get to celebrate with him.  However, the ferry system has been such an enjoyable experience for us we wish we could continue traveling that way.  (www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/)

Our Alaskan and Yukon journey has come to an end.  We flew 2109 miles, drove 1933 miles, spent 37 hours on ferries, and were gone 3 ½ weeks.  We appreciate having seen new places; the scenery amazing, the wildlife impressive, the history interesting and the best part of any trip is always meeting new people.   We met a couple from SC (near where we lived 2007-11) who commented, "Isn't retirement great?"  He's right!   Our retirement is not just in sight . . . we are enjoying it.

Me and my bearded man!  July 2015