Our first port of call is Ketchikan, Alaska, The Salmon Capital of the World.  Visit any of these southeastern Alaskan cities and you will learn all about the five species of salmon found here.  Using your hand, your pinky represents Pink Salmon; your ring finger represents Silver Salmon; your middle finger represents King Salmon; your pointer finger represents Sockeye Salmon; and your thumb represents Chum Salmon.  If you want to send home some canned salmon or carefully packed fresh halibut, there are places in town that can help you.   If up to travel a little by boat or plane, you can head to Misty Fjords National Monument for glaciers, rainforests, and waterfalls.   Locally, you will find outfitters to help you if you want to zipline, fish, or kayak.

Ketchikan is sometimes referred to as the First City of Alaska because it sits at the southern end of the Inside Passage and is often the first stop for cruise ships traveling north from Seattle or Vancouver.  It is also well known for the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles from the native people of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes.  You can see the totem poles on visits to Totem Bight State Historical Park, Saxman Native Village, and the Totem Heritage Center which is where we went our first time here when Rocky was young.

The native peoples have been here for over 10,000 years, but Ketchikan was first otherwise settled with the construction of a salmon cannery in 1885.  Later the logging industry became part of the local economy.  Given the industry in the area, it is not surprising that one of the more successful ventures in Ketchikan was the Creek Street brothel district where a number of establishments operated in structures on stilts along a wooden boardwalk beside Ketchikan Creek.  Creek Street was in operation as a red light district until 1954.  You can stop by Dolly’s House or the Preacher’s House to catch a bit of this history.  Today it is the most photographed area of the city attracting hordes of visitors to the buildings that now house art galleries, souvenir shops, bookstores, and restaurants.

We are going to the Tongass Rainforest to do some canoeing and hiking.  At nearly 17 million acres, Tongass National Forest is the United States’ largest national forest covering most of southeast Alaska along the Inside Passage.  It is considered a wonderful option if you want to see eagles, bear, and spawning salmon.  It is also home to several varieties of endangered and rare flora and fauna.

Ketchikan experiences 162 inches of average national rainfall, so be prepared for a cloudy or rainy day.  Having scheduled our excursions prior to leaving home (the common method of booking excursions now), I knew what to pack and wore wet shoes and my raincoat. I also brought along a dry bag for our things while on the canoe.  I had a sleeve for my phone, but fortunately it was not raining and I could use the phone to take pictures without the protective cover.  I do recommend a raincoat and dry bag while traveling in Alaska.  We were also colder than we thought we would be due to the rain and clouds.

Our young guide got us set up with life jackets and wooden oars.  Boris elected to add a rain jacket provided by the outfitter.  We entered the “war canoe” from a dock.  Fortunately, it didn’t have its traditional design where warriors would be packed in and sitting on the bottom.  We sat two to a bench.  Today war canoe racing is a popular Canadian sport with some competitors coming from the northwest United States.

Instead of the river we anticipated, we were in a lake, Harriet Hunt Lake to be specific.  It is named after a local pioneer.   The claim is that it has excellent trout fishing.  The lake is mountain fed and very calm. Calm means little risk, but it also means more work.  We all had to paddle to make this happen.  I was a little disappointed because I could see almost everything from the dock and I was hoping for a river with a better chance to see wildlife along the shoreline.  

About midway around the portion of the lake we were traveling, the guide stopped at a small island (blueberry island) in the lake to point out the plant life.  We saw one that acts like a Venus Fly Trap, the sundew.  “This insectivorous wildflower secretes a sticky, sweet liquid that attracts insects. The ensnared victim is dissolved by enzymes to provide nutrients to nourish the plant.  The plant evolved this mechanism to survive in nutrient-poor sphagnum bogs and meadows.” Ray Bulson for Alaskan Photography.  You can even buy them online at Carnivorous Plant Nursery.

About ¾ of the way around the lake, we stopped at another dock and headed onto a covered platform.  There we met another of the young guides who had hot drinks, a big pot of clam chowder, a salmon spread and crackers, and a jam made from local berries waiting for us.  After a snack break, we will do a little hiking in the rainforest.  I am not a big fan of salmon, but the dip was great.  Maybe it just needs to be fresh, caught this morning, salmon for me to enjoy it.  The guide recommended a small sandwich with the spread and the jam on top between two small slices of bread.  It was great!

I was going to change my shoes for the hike, but our driver who had paddled with us, said it was not necessary.  There was actually a boardwalk.  The guide said there are patches, particularly on Blueberry Island where the mud is like quicksand and you can sink several feet.  I was very happy there was a boardwalk.  The forest was mostly tall Sitka spruces, the state tree.  The tree can grow to 330 ft. (100 m) high and have a circumference of 16 ft (5m); it is the largest variety of spruce.  The native peoples used the bark and roots for a variety of medicinal purposes.

We saw large skunk cabbage with a smell that will follow you if you touch it. There was also some interesting fungi that grew on the side of trees that had different colors on its top and bottom.  We also saw an interesting type of lichen, Old Man’s Beard, that takes years to grow a single inch.  It may take a while, but Old Man’s Beard can grow from 6 inches to 20 feet long.

I liked the forest walk, although it was very short and couldn’t really count as much exercise.  I did love being out in the rainforest.  Got more exercise in my arms than my legs today.  I did get the guide to take a picture of Boris and I next to one of the Sitka Spruces.  She bent down to try to capture the whole tree.  After sending it to family and friends, I got the comment back that we looked like giants.  I had to agree.

Back on the dock, we got another picture.  This time with Dude Mountain-yes that’s its real name-in the background.  Next, it was just a short paddle back to the lake’s primary dock.  All of the young guides who work here for the summer live in the National Forest around the lake.

We still had several hours before the ship was departing so Boris and I decided to take a look around town.  “The entire downtown is a National Historic District.”  Celebrity Today. Boris’ first order of business was to buy a jacket with better lining; he was really cold.  Apparently, the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show right in town is pretty popular and pretty loud.  It was hard to miss when we walked by on our way to Creek Street.  Historic Creek Street was pretty picturesque, especially situated near the water.  However, the boardwalk was so packed you could hardly move around on it.  There were several ships in town.  We bought a few gifts, but the restaurants were so crowded-the whole town was-that we decided just to get back on the ship for a late lunch.  Guests had to be back on by 2:30 anyway, so we didn’t lose much time in town.

We had not been successful in staying up in the evening, but I was determined to do it tonight.  The lecturer had another presentation, this one was on salt-making, but Boris and I just weren’t interested.  Late night is the ABBA sing along party which we have done on other Celebrity ships, but odds are we won’t make it that long.  I will just be happy to make the headliner, a comedian.  As it turned out Steve Caouette was awesome.

Steve’s show was completely interactive.  It is tough to be a comedian on a cruise ship, the show has to be clean and basic enough to appeal to the children in the audience, while still being fun for adults.  Some of the ship comedians we have seen struggle with that.  Steve worked his audience and developed almost an ad lib show.  Boris who is tough on these performers was really laughing.  Great way to kick off our attendance at evening performances.  He has a late-night show tomorrow (also my birthday) so we want to make sure we come back for that.

The next port is Sitka, a new destination for us.  Sitka is heavy on the Tlingit (native) heritage as well as colonial Russian history.  Happy Birthday to me!