Marty's Moving On: Ketchikan

Yesterday, we used our day at sea to explore the ship. We found a couple of interesting bars and many little nooks where we can read if (when) we tire of our balcony (like that's goiing to happen!) We attended a marvelous lecture by Goleta, the ship's naturalist about glaciers, in antiicpation of our upcoming trip to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. Interesting fact: the ice at the front of Mendenhall is snow that fell over 200 years ago up in the Sitka Mountain Range. Sad aspect of that fact: by 2050, the Mendenhall Glacier will no longer be visible from the visitors' center as global warming's effects are causing the undearneath ice to melt faster than it can be replenished by snowfall way up north.

As we sat on our balcony enjoying the evening sunset, Goleta annonced a pod of humpback whales on the port side. Of course, we are on the starboard, but we were blessed by a maverick loner which surfaced right off our balcony. I couldn't get to my camera quickly enough to get a really good shot, but he is framed by the sunset on the Inner Passage.

We rose this morning at 5:30 AM to breakfast before meeting our tour bus at 7:20 AM. Also, we watched our ship come into the Inner Passage port of Ketchikan. B and I agreed that almost all fishing towns look alike, except for the ones on the Mediterranean, according to her.

I'm pleased we chose this early tour of Lighthouses, Eagles and Totems as we had only 17 people on our tour and the one after us had 42! Riding the bus to the tourboat on Hardy Bay, we learned it rains 12-13 FEET in Ketchikan each year! Also that the dockside area of the city, including the parking area and roadways are built on pylons sunk deep in the bay because there is so little soil around here. The timber all around us has no tap roots due to lack of soil, so the roots grow sideways, intermingling to sustain the growth. When one tree falls, the domino effect leads to chaos.

Our tour took us into the bay which fronts the Tongass National Forest. The weather was extraordinary: calm seas, gentle breezes, mostly cloudy and warm, nearing 60! We didn't get chilled until the way home, despite the excellent hot chocolate served by the crew, which Barbara hated to finish!

We must have seen more than two dozen Bald Eagles. When I figure out how post a video to this blog, I'll share the 28 seconds of Mama Eagle protecting, sharing and eating her salmon catch. For now, here are a few of our feathered moments:

We saw harbor seals lounging on rocks watched over by Bald Eagles:

We never did see whales, despite Captain Rob calling them on his "whale horn!"

The totem poles at Totem Bight are amazing! Though our astonishment may have been affected by the knowledge that the paint was made by women chewing and spitting our salmon eggs which substance was the basis to which colored powders were added! Ew!

Back to the ship at 10:30, we strolled the portside, finding Whale's Tail quilt shop, The Hive yarn shop and Cariloha which sells shirts, socks and sheets made from bamboo. Yep, you read that right! They are so soft, I even bought a shirt! We walked bavk along a salmon ladder:

We discovered no one who could tell us the botanical name for "fire weed," so called because it is the first plant life after any fire:

We departed Ketchikan bound for Juneau via the Snow Passage, where we saw humpbacks. I didn't catch any on camera, but Barbara and I are becoming experts on spotting spouts as they burst in the air. We had a great day out of doors exploring our first Alaskan town. Even the weather cooperated as the skies cleared about dinner time as we continued up the Inner Passage.