Holland America MS Amsterdam Travelogue #2 - Ketchikan

Holland America MS Amsterdam Travelogue #2

May 29, 2011 – Ketchikan

We were still under cloudy skies when we arrived in Ketchikan this morning. Lucky for us – no rain! The sidewalks were crowded with passengers from the three cruise ships that were in Ketchikan today.

One of the things I want to do on this cruise is to go revisit some of the places that we visited 10 years ago on our first cruise to Alaska. So, in Ketchikan we went out to Totem Bight Park. It is one of three places where you can see totem poles – both original and ones that were duplicated to preserve the originals back in the early 1930’s.

Ketchikan is on Gravina Island and only accessible by water or air. Ketchikan’s first salmon canning facility was built in 1887; and it is now known as “the salmon capital of the world”. It is also known as “the first city” – not because it was Alaska’s first city, but because it is usually the first city that cruise ship passengers visit on their way north through the Inside Passage. It is the jumping off point for Misty Fjords National Monument. Though we have not been there, I understand the glacial valley is full of waterfalls and sheer granite cliffs where the glaciers were during the Ice Age. Ketchikan gets approximately 130 inches of rain each year; and they proudly display a larger-than-life rain gauge near the cruise dock indicating how much rain has fallen as of that date.

Totem Bight Park is approximately 10 miles north of downtown Ketchikan; and Saxman Village is approximately 13 miles south of downtown. A bight is a small inlet of water or bay. Totem Bight is home to 13 native totem poles facing the Tongass Narrows. There are 22 poles at Saxman Village. The largest collection of original poles is at the Totem Cultural Heritage Center.

Our visit to Totem Bight Park was interesting. We heard stories of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes and that there are two clans – the raven and the eagle. The other native tribe is the Tshimshian. There is a clan house where the tribe lived. On the outside of the clan house are the carvings indicating which clan lived there. The Tlingit women wove beautiful blankets and baskets from the wool of mountain goats and cedar bark twine. There is a huge fire pit in the middle of the clan house with wooden platforms around all four walls where the families slept. Clan houses are rectangular in shape and most have totems on the edges of the front corners. We saw the tallest totem in Ketchikan at Totem Bight Park and several others that were carved at the bottom then uncarved wood for two-thirds of the way up and a large animal carving at the very top.

One of the other things both Jim and I were looking forward to was indulging in some fresh crab legs at our favorite restaurant in Ketchikan, Steamers. Unfortunately, Steamers did not survive the recession and is no longer in business. The new restaurant was good - but not the same. Sitka Tex sang and played the guitar and fiddle to entertain us while we were there.

After lunch we walked over to Creek Street which is the former red-light district. The wooden houses were built along the Ketchikan Creek and legend has it that the prospectors and men of the town would take the back way in along “Married Men’s Path” to go to be entertained by the ladies in the brothels. The wooden plank walkway curves and the brothels of the Gold Rush era are now home to art galleries and souvenir shops. There are a couple of Tlingit art galleries that have nice handmade Indian crafts.

Ketchikan was under cloudy skies until about 5:00 p.m. when the Amsterdam got underway. We cruised south along Gravina Island down through Nichols Passage and past Metlakatka on Annette Island. The salmon derby opened in Ketchikan today; and we were told that a king salmon larger than last year’s winner had already been caught. We passed several skiffs with the anxious fishermen all standing hoping to catch the winning fish. The waters of Nichols Passage and Clarence Strait were so calm at one point that I thought we just gliding on a mirror. The reflections of the trees on the islands glimmered in the still waters. It was low tide and therefore many of the normally submerged tiny islands were visible in the distance. The snow capped mountains of Price Wales Island jaggedly jutted up against the blue skies. Eventually, a light breeze began to blow and the mirrored waters were replaced with a little ripple. The waters remained calm throughout the night – which made dinner much more enjoyable for me!

Tomorrow – Tracy Arm Fjord cruising – till then…