Last Stops in Alaska

Sitka

After another very rocky night we arrived in Sitka at 8 am. We are moored in Eagle Bay and will be tendering in today as Celebrity Cruises have the cruise dock today (P:- Thanks Celebrity having us anchor in Eagle Bay means we are landed by tender into the centre of town, not 5 miles away where he Cruise port is. Last year when we were here we had 3” (75mm) of rain in a day, not today just light intermittent drizzle and overcast skies and a balmy 6 degrees C). Very pretty as the ship manoeuvres around the small islands to its mooring position, even though it is raining and foggy. As we have been to Sitka before we are just wandering today so we rug up and head ashore around 10 am. Because there is 2 cruise ships in the Main Street in town is blocked to traffic and street stalls are about with local food delicacies. We will try some later for lunch. We head out to the Totem Park to stretch our legs. This is a lovely area to walk through with totem poles throughout the park and around the beach front.

Once back into town Philip grabs a snow crab sandwich to share and then we find a cafe we found behind the Main Street last year for a coffee and tea and a sit down. After enjoying the hot drinks we head out again and walk out past the marina and cannery, up past the supermarket and hardware store and back into the centre of town. Back to the crab stand to find she has run out of crab. So we wait for 15 minutes until more is delivered. This time it’s one each. They are sooooooo good.

Another wander down Main Street and back to the dock ready to catch the tender back to the ship. Lucky enough to spot a whale as we cruise out of Eagle Bay.

09-05-24

Ketchikan

This morning we dragged our chairs up to our verandah door and sat and enjoyed the view as we cruised into Ketchikan. Although we have low cloud it’s still picturesque as we pass numerous islands and cruise part of the Tongass Narrows. There are many homes sitting right at the waters edge as we near Ketchikan, float plane docks. boats of all shapes and sizes and as we near town 3 other cruise ships.

We are docking right in town with the Eurodam in front and the Koningsdam behind. And then the Discovery Princess. This means lots of people enjoying Ketchikan.

Ketchikan has a population of 8200 but during the cruise season they receive 1.5 million visitors, the majority from cruise ships. They have a saying here that if you can’t see the hilltops it’s raining and if you can see the hilltops it’s about to rain. Average rainfall is between 13 and 16 feet per year, about 4.5 metres. It is surrounded by Tongass National Forest (17 million acres) which is the largest rainforest in the USA and 2nd largest in the world after the Amazon. Ketchikan has a huge road network of 35 miles, taking around 45 minutes to travel from one end to the other. The remainder of the island is only accessible by boat or float plane.

We are off on the Silver King Lodge Crab Luncheon tour today but first have a quick walk around the town centre before boarding our bus transfer at 11.30. There is only 28 on this tour, which is great. We ride the bus for around 20 minutes (P:- Heading Northish almost to the end of the road network ) of very scenic island vistas, along the coast, past canneries, industry, the airport which is on an adjacent island and you have to catch a 5 minute ferry ride to, past the 2nd smallest Walmart in the USA and the Marine Highway ferry dock. We arrive at Clover Pass Resort where we board our tour boat for the trip to Silver King Lodge. Philip sits down, sighs and comments “V8 engines what a beautiful sound” as they start the engines, 3 x Chev 454 Corvette V8 engines (P:- Pure good old brute force power! sounding, to me, way better than the singers and musicians entertaining on board the Westerdam of an evening)!

First stop is a small island where we spot an Eagle and it’s huge nest. The nest is around 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Our guide flings some fish into the air as we watch the Eagle soar down and grab it then land on the beach to devour it. Then we are back to the dock as the boat is having steering problems. We off load onto the next boat and set off again. As we cruise across the bay many fishing lodges and homes hug the shores, this area is a Mecca for fishermen in season with many places hiring boats and fishing gear.

Silver king Lodge was originally a floating lodge but in 1993 it was moved on shore. Initially it only had two bunk rooms but now has accommodation for 38. Over 70% of there guest are returning fishermen who make the trek each year. It sits in a very sheltered waterway that all types of pacific salmon pass through. On arrival at Silver King we do a short nature walk through the gorgeous rainforest before sitting down to our lunch. Tables are set with sheets of newsprint with tongs and crab claw crushers. Lunch consists of a “bucket of seafood trash” (crab legs, prawns, mussels, clams, potato, sweet corn and sausage) all dumped into the centre of the table. Then it’s help yourself. It’s a bit messy but a fun way to enjoy some great seafood. After lunch we head back into Ketchikan.

We spend the remainder of the afternoon walking up to Creek Street, the historic part of town. This is an historic boardwalk perched on pilings along the banks of Ketchikan Creek. A former Red Light District. It is now a quaint place to tour, viewing totem poles, local shops and galleries.

As the Westerdam departs Ketchikan we sit and enjoy the passing scenery before heading out into open waters again. We say goodbye to Alaska as we cross into Canadian waters this evening.

(P:We knew this would be only an “Alaskan Teaser”, cut a little short by the stormy weather we had but we got to visit Kodiak in the Aleutians and revisit a couple of places down the “inside passage” of Alaska, with its maritime climate this area is way different to mainland Alaska where we have spent most of our time previously. Our pre planned shore explorations have made this trip and todays Silver King Lodge trip was no exception. Be great to go fishing there for a week sometime. It’s not that expensive and is fully inclusive including boat hire. (Around $2700 us$ for a weeks accommodation, food and boat)

Ketchikan’s waterfront has changed since our last visit in 2000, way more commercial and tacky Diamond and Jewellery shops (trying to snag retail deprived cruise passengers) line the prime retail area! I am fairly sure buying jewellery at our local home jewellery shop would be far wiser than being ripped of by these slippery looking “sharks”! (So it’s no jewellery for Judith — Again!) Walk back a couple of streets and the old town I remember is still there. Bringing back many memories of our trip in 2000 when my late sister Eileen and hubby Ross shared a trip with us).

Ketchikan has 32 stairways that are considered streets. There need to be 25 steps to be considered a stairway. These stairways are spread through out the town.