Sea and Sunshine at Last

We “sailed” from Prince Rupert BC aboard the MV Matanuska on Saturday morning under a clear blue sky. The trip to Ketchikan (Alaska) takes about six hours going north up Chatham Sound and into the Revillagigedo Channel. Within three hours the mountains of Misty Fjords National Monument are visible to the east and lots of islands (including Prince of Wales Wilderness) to the west. We even caught a glimpse of Haida Gwaii to the southwest.

I love traveling on ferries because there is such a diversity of passengers and folks usually pick a spot to congregate depending on their interests. We like to watch the sea and I keep a map to chart our progress so we chose the front observation lounge. Our neighbors included commercial fishermen going out to meet their boats, sport fishermen who would be flying into the backcountry lodges, a former ice road trucker who was going to visit his daughter on Annett Island, a tour bus driver who was taking a bus up for the summer season, several older ladies who were on his bus, and some folks like us who brought their RV’s along. We had lively conversations and got lots of interesting information. The Recliner Lounge had a bunch of people who were slept through the trip, and the Solarium had the deck passengers who set up their “camps”.

I met a nice young family from Juneau in the Solarium. The parents and three little girls had quickly nabbed five lounges and spread out their sleeping bags. They had a tent but did not plan to put it up unless it got really cold. They had been to BC to visit relatives and were returning home. The mother said she could not remember how many times they had done this trip. The Solarium in on the stern of the ship, out of the wind, and has heat strips overhead. The showers are just around the corner and the cafeteria is one deck below. It is not a bad way to travel.

Ketchikan is on an island (Revillagigedo) and has no road contact with the mainland. Everything here comes by boat or plane. There are only two campgrounds that can accept RV’s, one in the National Forest at Signal Creek and a commercial CG attached to a “Resort” at Clover Pass. The latter had poor reviews so I had made reservations at Signal Creek. When we arrived we found it to be beautiful but deep in a rain forest and very dark. Since we did not have electricity it made us feel rather gloomy, especially after all the rain we experienced at Prince Rupert. We rode over to Clover Pass and found the CG there to be full, but they had a vacancy for Sunday night, on the water. We took it!

Yesterday we took the Allen Marine Tour via a jet catamaran to Misty Fjords National Monument. We were blessed with another fabulous sunny day.  The boat travels deep into the Fjord with spectacular views of glaciers, waterfalls, distant mountain ranges, and other totally breathtaking stuff! The only wild life we saw were seals, porpoises, eagles, & lots of birds.  The naturalist-interpreter on the boat was excellent as was a First Citizen (Haida) lady who spoke and answered questions about the local culture.

There were three cruise ships in port yesterday so Ketchikan was a beehive of activity. Most of the people on the tour boat with us were from the ships. We were amazed at how interested some of them were in traveling via ferry but they seemed to think it would be difficult to arrange. The main topic of conversation was the incident on Friday in which the Celebrity Infinity (at 91,000 tons) had wiped out Berth 3. We heard about it in Prince Rupert and saw the damage when we arrived in Ketchikan. Now at least one cruise ship will have to anchor out and bring their passengers in by tender. With over 2,000 passengers, that is going to be a lot of trips back and forth!

Following our trip to Misty Fjords we returned to the campground at Signal Creek and moved the TT to Clover Pass. Yes, we are lined up like sardines in a can but we have a fabulous view out our “back yard”. Clover Pass is mostly a motel/lodge with a marina that both rents boats and provides mooring for companies that do water-based tours. The campsites are primarily to accommodate people who work here during the summer. Our neighbors are a couple with two small children who plan to live here year around in their fifth wheeler while he completes his Coast Guard service and she teaches 7^th grade.

After a long and lovely coffee hour this morning watching the boats go out, we went on our self-designed totem pole tour. We started at Totem Bight State Park and ended at Saxman, a Tlinget community south of Ketchikan. The totems are astonishing in their size, complexity, and variety. I was so pleased to learn the role that the CCC had in helping to preserve the entire culture of totem carving in the 1930’s. Previously the government and religious groups had tried to suppress the construction of totems. At Saxman they have a beautiful wood shop where the craft is being taught and preserved.

In late afternoon we visited the famous Creek Street, where the stores are built on pilings along the Creek. This is said to be the area where both the salmon and the men came to spawn. Its shady reputation lasted into the 1950’s but it is very upscale and quaint now. There are 60 miles of paved highway on the island and we traversed all of it several times.

Boarding the Ferry

Family camping in the Solarium

New Eddystone Rock: A basalt column that is the core of an ancient volcano

Going into Misty Fjords National Monument

 

View from our back window at Clover Pass

We have an early day tomorrow as we have to catch the ferry to Juneau. Since it is an overnight passage we will have a cabin. Once in Juneau we will be camping at Mendenhall Glacier. Can’t wait to see it!