Souvenirs From The Road: How About a Ferry Ride

Continuing on with our trip down the Alaska Marine Highway.......

Day 105 – August 14 Not lying. Last night was really long. We were on the Matanuska ferry, which I believe is the oldest in the fleet. So the chairs were a tad bit worn. We exited the ferry and parked in their lot and slept until the sun came up. We are staying at The Trees RV Park. Very nice! Has laundry, and a liquor store with a very nice wine selection, and a general store. We took a ride down the Mitkof Highway. Very pretty. The road travels by Blind Slough. We stopped at Falls Creek. A lot of already spawned king salmon. Then made a stop at Crystal Lake Fish Hatchery. They produce silver and king salmon for local waters. Although it’s a cloudy day, we did manage a couple of shots of the Le Conte Glacier.

See the salmon?

What you're seeing is the icebergs from the glacier.

Found the green moss fascinating!

Typical inside passage scenery

A good fishing hole

Sons of Norway Hall. Check out the wooden street.

Day 106 – August 15 Today is probably typical inside passage weather – very cool and wet. Never hard raindrops, just a steady wet, gentle mist. We spent time in town today. The Clausen Memorial Museum was good. They have a good film explaining how Petersburg “Little Norway” came to be. All about fishing, salmon and canneries. The Sons of Norway Hall, built in 1912, is situated on pilings over Hammer Slough. The window shutters are decorated with rosemaling (Norwegian tole paining). Early to bed as we catch the ferry in the morning at 4:30 a.m.

Inside the museum. Record size salmon replica.

Such a pretty harbor on this rainy day.

Check out the starfish!

Our seafood feast!

Day 107 – August 16 Our ferry ride is at 5 am which translates to a 3 am wake-up, hard to do when you’re retired! Another long day…… Arrived in Ketchikan around 3:30. We are staying at Clover Pass RV Resort. Sites are really close – awnings just might overlap. Folks are very friendly.

Day 108 – August 17 Lazy, rainy morning. How fitting for our last full day in Alaska? We have been so fortunate to not have bad weather or mosquitoes like most folks encounter. We did decide to brave the weather – put on our XtraTuf rubber boots and rain gear. Stopped at Totem Bite State Park. In the early 1900s when the natives started abandoning their villages, they left behind totem poles to decay. In 1938 the USFS developed a program to salvage and reconstruct these large cedar monuments. Two things happened (1) young artists learned the art of carvinig and (2) left behind totem poles were either repaired or duplicated.

Man wearing Bear Hat - every pole tells a story.

The Clanhouse.....believe that's Ron in there!

Can you see the sheets of rain falling?

We then took a tour through town. Walked some of the harbor until the rain chased us back home. Cooked a roast in the InstantPot and made it an early night, as line up for the ferry is at 5 am.

Creek Street

Ketchikan Harbor

Day 109 – August 18 Not sure why they wanted us to line up at 5 am as we didn’t start loading until 6:45. On the Matanuska again. It was a grey day, but the sights we saw were beautiful. Saw a few lighthouses and a few whales. Got to Prince Rupert and off the boat around 3:30 but then there’s such a line at customs. Raining. Staying at Prince Rupert RV Park. Pretty soggy, but when you’re tired it’s not too bad.