Alaska Cruise: Ketchikan II (7/31/2019)

Wednesday, July 31, 2019 (continued)
After lunch at O'Sheehan's, we left the ship again to see the town. Ketchikan was once the "Canned Salmon Capital of the World" (first cannery in 1885), but now is the First City of Alaska as he initial port of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, and the first port of call for cruise ships.

Stained glass-type banners, with a swan couple and flying bald eagle

Masonic Temple (1947-1950, in Art Deco style) of Ketchikan Lodge-19

The first Masonic flag raised in what is now Alaska was in 1876 in Russian America. When Alaska became a territory, then state, the Masonic lodges were under the jurisdiction of the state of Washington. It was not until 1981 that an Alaska Grand Lodge was established.

The largest building is Ketchikan City Hall

Pete at the Ketchikan Welcome Arch (1996)

Alaska Native-inspired footwear? (KSS)

St John's Episcopal Church (1904, built by Alaska
Natives without blueprints; felling of the trees, milling
and transporting the lumber, as well as construction
was done completely by hand)

Street of Stairs is a continuation of Edmunds Street

View S from bridge of Ketchikan Creek Falls
and a fish ladder

View N from bridge of top of falls and fish ladder (to the R)

Lots of steps to reach the front door of this house

Married Man's Trail along the creek

Cape Fox Hill Funicular was "out of order"

Creek Street is a boardwalk along Ketchikan Creek (Erich, Pete, Kent)

20 Creek Street was part of the notorious Red Light District and
owner Beatrice Greene was the last of the working women

Pete, Kent, and Dylan point out our whale of the day

Creek Street with the lime green Dolly's House, parlor of
the most famous madam of early Ketchikan, who also had a trapdoor in
the floor to receive deliveries of bootleg whiskey during Prohibition

Chief Johnson's Totem (1989 replica of 1901 totem)

Totem poles were created to represent stories or important events. Some poles depict the clan or status of a family and others are a memorial to honor clan members.

Ketchikan Federal Building/Courthouse
(1937-1938, by Garfield, Stanley-Brown, Harris
and Robinson firm in International style) was
the city's tallest building until 1953

Whale Park Billingsley Clock, the oldest
timepiece in Ketchikan, once stood
outside the Knox Brothers Curios Store

Whale Park Chief Kyan Totem Pole (1993 replica of 1880s)

We visited the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center:

Salmon swim under the ceiling

A Tsimshian and a Tlingit Totem Pole

Bowhead whale skull

Pete takes a break

The Rock Monument (2010, by Dave Rubin) with figures
from Ketchikan's history: Chief Johnson, a logger, a fisherman,
a miner, an aviator, a Native woman drumming, and
an elegant lady in her 1890s finery

Ketchikan Duck Tour vehicle

Sourdough Bar, recommended by Rich Lee

The locals at Sourdough Bar

This might be a photo of a boat Rich Lee salvaged

Much of the town of Ketchikan was built on pilings and later
areas were filled in, such as Front Street with City Hall

We set sail once again.

See the rainbow? (KSS)

Dinner tonight was at the Garden Café.
Next: Juneau.

Alaska Cruise: Ketchikan I (7/31/2019)

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Docking in Ketchikan, AK

Knowing there is no guarantee, we wanted to increase our chances of seeing bears swiping salmon out of rivers. We hired a private tour guide, Rich Lee, of Aurora Tours, and met the Tlingit native shortly after the ship arrived in Ketchikan, at 7:15. He drove us SE around Deer Mountain Point, then N to Herring Cove. We saw bald eagles and their nests.

Haliaeetus leucocephalus/Bald Eagle (EHS)

Perhaps because the tide was out, there was less salmon activity in the shallow water of Herring Cove. One bear kept going behind a turn farther upstream near the fish hatchery. Another picked berries way back near trees behind a large grassy area surrounded by a boardwalk.

Erich, Pete, and Dylan search for bears

Bear footprints below us

Tamiko, Dylan, Pete, Kent, Erich (photo by Rich Lee);
note black dot above Pete and to the L of Kent's head: a black bear;
yes, it was drizzling rain

Ketchikan has one of the highest average rainfalls in Alaska at 141 inches.

That Ursus americanus/Black Bear did eventually come to the water's edge

(Video by EHS)

Dylan and Pete watch two black dots, I mean bears; one chased the other away

Next stop: Whitman Creek waterfall,
with Pete, Erich, and Dylan

Pete, Erich, Dylan, Tamiko, and Kent (by Rich Lee)

Oh, did you want to see the waterfall?

Heading back towards town, a stop to see fishing boats ...

Dylan and Erich, Pete and Kent walk out along
the floating dock, which is basically sitting
on the bottom of the boat harbor at low tide

The tide change seems to average about 12 feet, but has reached nearly 24 feet!

Nereocystis luetkeana/Bull Kelp

Another bald eagle (EHS)

Another stop to see a) how thin the topsoil is in Ketchikan, and b)
the gap where winds come storming in at over 100 mph;
the construction is of a house to replace one crushed by a wind-blown tree

One of many toppled trees along this stretch of the road

Another stop for a better view of the access to the Pacific Ocean

Original chief's totem at 2760 S Tongass "Highway;"
it has plants growing out of the top

Saxman Tlingit (pronounced kling-kit) Village,
where Rich Lee grew up, with replicas of totems

We were driven back along S Tongass Highway, made a right turn at Deermount Street, and a left around City Park.

Because the town sits on granite, the football/soccer field
is covered with gravel instead of grass;
playing field lines are drawn the day of a game

The money the city earns on tourism is used for the benefit of the citizens, with new schools and community centers, a trade school, hospital additions, etc. Continued along Schoenbar Road.

Hilltop view of West Ketchikan and the airport across the waterway;
one must take a ferry to the airport (KSS)

Striking (7/24-8/4/2019) Alaska Marine Highway ferry system workers,
who had been working without a contract since 2017

Trying to get a photo of the Norwegian Jewel

We were dropped off at the ship.
Next: Ketchikan II.