Alaska 2

Our first city in Alaska was Ketchikan. This is city of totems,you can find them almost everywhere. There are museums, a hatchery(salmon),and many parks. One of the most impressive was "Totem Bight." You can investigate a community house, and there are 13 totems overlooking the Tongass Narrows. If you want to see the Saxman totem park, you must take a tour from town.

One of the biggest attractions is "Creek Street." The street is built on pilings over the creek. In late Aug. you can see salmon in the creek. Creek St.was a famous "red light district." Many of the houses have been restored; many are now gift shops. Also one of the former brothels is a museum of sorts;it's called "Dolly's House" and you can tour it for a fee. You can spend,(use both ways)a very enjoyable afternoon here. There are cruises to Misty Fjords Nat. Monument. You can fish, hike and picnic. The hiking trails are beautiful; watch for wildlife. We rented a car and traveled on every road we could find. There are two main roads and many side ones all going up. Most houses are built on the mountainsides that surround the city. If you have the time you can explore the islands of Metlakatla and Prince of Wales. We spent four enjoyable days in Ketchikan. Now it's time for our next adventure ---Taking the ferry to Sitka.

We boarded the ferry "Columbia," found our cabin, stored our luggage and went up to the sitting lounge to watch getting underway. Of course we were a hour late getting started.

We sailed up the Tongas Narrows,the scenery was fantastic. We were thrilled when we saw three small whales pass by, going the other way. The Captain announced the sighting and did so the rest of the trip. Now we are in the Clarence Strait on our way to the Strikine Strait ,and into our first port of call.

"Wrangell"----This is a small city, largely dependent on fishing and lumbering. We couldn't get off because of the late departure. From what we saw coming in it looks like a nice place,well kept homes,neat harbor. This also were the cruise ships have to head out to sea, to reach Sitka. Now on to the next port of call.

"Petersburg"---We travel up the Wrangell Narrows, and they are narrow. You can see land on both sides. A ranger on board gives lectures on the land and animal life in the area. A couple of grizzly bears were spotted on the shore feeding; they were big, very BIG. Again that missed hour gave us no time to explore. LeConte Glacier can be reached from here. The city is very Norwegian, you can see it in their churches, museum and the homes. We ate our dinner in the stern deck restaurant and watched the harbor activity and are our departure on our way to our first landfall, our next port of call.

Sitka---Leaving Petersburg we go thru Frederick Sound past the village of Kake and into the Chatham Strait. On our right we pass the town of Angoon, our ferry did not stop at these last two towns. They have a ferry that stops at all the small towns if you the time to spend. We turn left into Peril Strait, now I can see why the Captain was in such a hurry to reach here on high tide. The strait starts out ok, but we soon turn into the part going into Sitka. I thought the Narrows out of Wrangell were narrow, these were even narrower. We were twisting and turning,at times we were so close to land you could reach out and touch the trees. This is were we got our first look,up close,of a grizzly bear. He or she was eating fish on a small beach. This entrance to Sitka was very exciting and beautiful, it is one of the things that you don't get to see on the cruise ships, as they come in from the sea side.

We are now in the city of Sitka. It is a beautiful city, the Russian influence is seen everywhere. There are Russian,churches, cemeteries, museums and a fort. Shopping in Sitka is very easy as most of the stores are in easy walking distance of each other. The fishing and hiking are both good. By having a rental car, we were able to get into the countryside and to the national park. Be sure to visit the Raptor Rehabilitation Center. The admission is $10. when we were there but it was worth even more. You get to see eagles, hawks and owls up close; also you see how they repair and nurse these birds back to health so they can be released back to the wild. And as I said before, if you get the chance stay at the "Alaska OceanView B&B, on a scale of 1 to 10 it's a 10++. Well our 4 days are up(much to fast) and it's time to head to the harbor and our next ferry ride---to our next port of call.

We leave Sitka the same way we came in, thru the the narrow channel into the Peril Strait. This time thru we only saw 2 black bears and a few deer. We are on our way to the state capital and the city of the inside passage, the city of Juneau. Juneau is a beautiful city, as are most cities of the inside passage surrounded by mountains and a glacier, the Mendenhall. This glacier can be reached by car and is worth the trip. The city was a fair size. We did a lot of shopping and sightseeing; we went to the museums, took a trolly car ride, and visited the Alaskan Brewing Co.

The HIGHLIGHT of our Juneau stay was a trip aboard the "ADVENTURE BOUND" to Tracy Arm Fjord. The capt. took us right up to the glacier were we watched it calving; we were right in amongst the icebergs and on these were hundreds of seals and their pups. On the way the captain spotted some whales, many eagles, some sea otters, and some mountain goats up high. He also got us some terrific pictures of a black bear, the bear was on a rock eating who knows what and the capt. put the bow of the boat right on the rock where the bear was standing. In fact he stopped for every animal that could be seen clearly and pointed out the rest. If you can plan for about a 10 hour trip this is the one. It is a family run business and they treat you like one of the family. The boat is THE ADVENTURE BOUND and the company is Sawyer Glacier Cruise in Juneau at 1-800-228-3875.

I guess it's about time for our last ferry ride for in 5 hours we reach the mainland at the city of Haines where we pick up our rental car for the rest of our trip. So on to page 3 and the rest of Alaska.

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