Prince Rupert to Ketchikan

Frustrated...yesterday I had the post already to go and erased it when making final adjustments. So here I go again. Let me start back in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

As we enjoyed getting acquainted with the town, we captured photos of some of the murals and art.

The wolf is one of my favorites.

Cow Bay

This part of town is called Cow Bay because when the first herd of cows were brought to this island there was no dock for unloading so the animals had to swim for shore. Where they came onto the land was named Cow Bay.

               

A totem or crest pole in the town square.  It is hard to really capture the beauty and meaning of these poles.  Each tells a story of part of the history of the First Nations people of the area.

Prince Rupert Harbor

      Crab pots waiting to be put in the water.

       One of the freight liners waiting to come to port to be loaded/unloaded.

Butze Rapids Trail

Our days in Prince Rupert were rainy and cold but we decided to hike anyway and went to a spot called Butze Rapids, a place to see more of the rainforest and to watch the tide reverse over the falls.

We loved the trail that took us through bog, forests and along the shore of the bay.

     Labrador Tea

    Salmon Berry

     When we got to the end of the trail, we found this sign!

Finally, the Alaskan Marine Highway

It seemed like forever since we started saying we are going to Alaska, but here was the day, May 27, 2014.  

Waiting in line to board.

The Matanuska ferry is named after a major glacier in Alaska and our voyage was the 3100 trip!

We got to enjoy a piece of the cake made for the celebration.  The captain cut the cake to start the party!

     Above and below are some of the sights as we traveled along.  (We did see several whale spouts, one rounded back of an Orca, and two large groups of porpoise swimming and leaping incredibly fast alongside the boat.)

    

     Arriving in Ketchikan! Tourism has taken over as a major source of income in this town known at one time as the "canned salmon capital of the world."

There were many large cruise ships in the harbor and were amazed that so many people were in this town at the same time.  It gave it quite and international flavor.

Our camp site on Clover Pass.

Our friends who have traveled this way before us encouraged us to get off the ferry at a few towns and spend some time enjoying the culture.  We took their advice and decided to spend five days here.  We arranged to camp at Clover Pass.  Our site was right on the coast, so when we were in the campground we got to watch for whales, seals, eagles as well as the local mink that lives in the rocks of the shoreline.

    Here is our site. See if you see at least six eagles that are in the picture above.  Smile!

    We have seen more eagles in a 24-hour period than I have seen in all my years put together.

They are literally everywhere.

     One of the sights at low tide.

Walking in the Settler's Cove SP.

    A new bird for me - an American Dipper feeding along the bottom of the shore of the stream.

There was moss on everything and the trail was board walked almost exclusively.  We had a hiked a trail like this in New Zealand (Stewart Island) that was almost all boardwalk.

A visit to the town sights

  We wanted to see this area where it is said that every house was at one time a house of prostitution for almost fifty years.  We were told by "Dolly" that there was 100 men for every woman in Alaska, so it was a very prosperous business on Creek Street.

A beautiful salmon statue along Ketchikan Creek.

Next we made a visit to the Southeastern Alaska Discovery Center to learn more about the life of the First Nations people and the Tongass National Forest.

We found this display at the Center and thought it was quite an illustration.  We have just begun, starting on the small narrow strip covering part of the Carolinas.  Today we take our next step as we get back on the ferry and head to Wrangell for an overnight there.

Last night's sunset.

In a few hours, we get back on the ferry and head for an overnight in Wrangell. It is hard to share all the special moments, but hopefully you can get a flavor of this area. The eagles are flying around us right now, the Harbor Seal keeps popping up, and the fishermen are loading the boats hoping for a good day on the water. Time to pack up the van and head off ourselves!  We send you our best!