Ketchikan, AK

Tuesday June 5.  We arrive in Ketchikan early in the morning for our first day of leaving the ship for sightseeing.  In the morning we walk around the town and in the afternoon we take a boat to see the Misty Fjord.

Ketchikan the Salmon capital of the world has 8,000 residents who welcome ships with its many shops and excursions. It’s economy is based upon government services, tourism and commercial fishing. The Misty Fiords is one of the area's major attractions. It has the world's largest collection of standing totem poles. 

Salmon Capital of the World

Misty Fjords National Monument which is a national monument and wilderness area and part of the Tongass National Forest. It is about 40 east of Ketchikan, comprising 2,294,343 acres. It was originally proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act.

Misty Fjords has steep fjords and rock walls jutting 3000ft straight out of the ocean made of light-colored granite, about 50 to 70 million years old which has been sculpted by glaciers that gouged deep U-shaped troughs throughout the monument. Many of the glacial valleys are filled with sea water and are called canals, but they are not man-made in any way; the walls of these valleys are near-vertical and often rise 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea level, and drop 1,000 feet below it.

Waterfalls plunge into the salt water through narrow clefts or course over great rounded granite shoulders fed by lakes and streams that absorb the rainfall of more than 150 inches annually.

An added treat for us was seeing a female humpback whale and her calf bubble feeding during our It has light-colored granite, about 50 to 70 million years old which has been sculpted by glaciers that gouged deep U-shaped troughs throughout the monument. Many of the glacial valleys are filled with sea water and are called canals, but they are not man-made in any way; the walls of these valleys are near-vertical and often rise 2,000 to 3,000 feet above sea level, and drop 1,000 feet below it. Our crew was very excited as this was the first time this year they had seen whales.

Our ship leaves at 6 pm for an overnight cruise to the Endicott Arm our adventure for the next day.