Ketchikan, Alaska's First City and Our First Port (Day 3, Part 1 of 2)

 

 

We finally made it to Alaska!  Ketchikan is known as Alaska's "first city" since it is at the southern tip of the inside passage. 

 

 

 

While I was planning our cruise, I looked for unusual excursions that we could book through our cruise ship.  Ketchikan is a small town that we could explore on our own, so I didn't book an excursion at all.  I found a bike shop that had rentals so that is where we headed first.

We got our bikes from Southeastern Exposure.  It was a small shop just minutes from the dock.  There was only one bike that was small enough for me.  We put our $20 per person in a peanut can on a shelf and were off!

We rode around Ketchikan for a little while before heading out of town.  Just a little over three miles away was the Saxman Totem Park, one of four locations in Ketchikan to see totem poles.  We had our first wildlife sighting - a deer!

We stumbled our way into a tour group.  We learned three phrases in the Tlingit language.  "How are you?" is "Wáa sá iyatee?"  The Tlingit language has 50 letters, including some sounds that are not found in other languages.  In English the word "Tlingit" is actually pronounced “Klinkit”.

After realizing we were in a tour we hadn't paid for, we decided to explore on our own.

It was so beautiful and green!

Our naturalist told us that totem poles are not idols, but family trees.  Each pole tells a story.

This must have been a multi generation pole...

 

We got back on our bikes and headed back to town.  Unfortunately, my bike only had minimal gearing so any time we started up hills it was a major struggle.  We stopped along the way for a few more pictures.  The weather was perfect.

After returning our bikes, we headed to Creek Street, the heart of Ketchikan.  Creek Street is known as Ketchikan’s old red-light district. In the mid 1920s there were over 20 bawdy houses on Creek Street alone!  Dolly's House was the first brothel and home to Madam Dolly Arthur.  It is now a museum.

We continued to see wildlife.  A bald eagle in a tree...

Salmon in the creek...

 

and a seal making a meal of said salmon!

We also saw signs of a different kind of "wild life"...

Married Man’s Trail was once just a muddy path along the creek that men would use to discreetly visit the working houses along Creek Street instead of being ‘caught’ walking in the front doors.  We did not know the history when I took this picture!

Ketchikan is known as the Salmon Capital of the World. From mid-July to mid-September, five different types of salmon work themselves to near exhaustion trying to fight their way up stream at Ketchikan Creek Falls. The salmon run is the time of the year when salmon, which have migrated from the ocean to fresh water, swim against the stream to the upper reaches of rivers, where they spawn on gravel beds. After spawning, all species of Pacific salmon and most Atlantic salmon die, and the salmon life cycle starts over again with the new generation of hatchlings.

 

This is the salmon ladder.  This was built to assist salmon as they made their way back upstream.

 

 

We wandered in and out of shops but the only thing we bought was fudge and ice cream!  I couldn't convince Les to buy this hat...

We had one more wildlife encounter.  Les was wearing a Tennessee Vols baseball cap that an eagle decided it wanted....

When we left Ketchikan we took our time sailing away as the area was known for a great place to see whales.  I believe this post is long enough, so I'll share that in my next post.