From Glacier Bay, our cruise ship headed south along the
Inside Passage to Ketchikan. At times we
were quite close to the shore and at other times too distant for me to see the
land. The sea was quite calm and although the air was brisk, it was pleasant to
stroll around the promenade deck.
It was morning when we pulled into the dock at Ketchikan. It
was fascinating to watch this process. There were two other cruise ships ahead
of us, so the captain pulled alongside the empty berth between the two other
ships. At that point, he started the side thrusters and the ship moved gently sideways
towards the dock, squeezing into the small space between. Modern technology is
certainly quite amazing.
Ketchikan has grown
from a small fishing village inaccessible by road to a popular stop for
thousands of tourists who arrive on the summer cruise ships. Fishing still
plays a major part in the town economy but Ketchikan is still inaccessible by
road. However, the town seems to have its share of motor vehicles and buses.
Close to the dock there is also a flotilla of small float planes. These are put
to good use in the tourist season.
Ketchikan experiences
more than its share of annual rainfall, but on the day of our visit the sun was
shining. It was here that Lyle and I
took one of our few on shore excursions. We rode in a duck vehicle around town
and then onto the waterway. I found it
quite difficult to see anything through the Plexiglas windows of the duck but I
did enjoy the commentary. Later, we took a hop on hop off shuttle bus around
the town and also walked to some of the more interesting places that had been
pointed out to us.
Ketchikan is basically built on the side of a hill and I was
fascinated by the long narrow stairways which the locals call roads. The houses
seemed to be built into the side of the hill balancing on tall stilts. I have
attached a picture with this post.
We also saw quite a few totem poles around town. There is a
second picture with this post of a group of totem poles at the town’s Discovery
Centre.
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| Ketchikan |
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| Totem pole at Ketchikan |
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