Travel Log to Alaska in 1993 (Part 1 of a Multi-Part Travel Blog 13-16 May)

05/13/93

Well WE MADE IT TO ALASKA TODAY and our arrival in Ketchikan was on schedule! The boat ride was very pleasant and well organized. Since we were departing Canada for the U.S. there was customs to go through prior to boarding. Our ship, the Aurora was not crowded at all so there was plenty of room to roam about during the journey. Also there was a restaurant, bar and solarium in addition to comfortable recliner chairs on the main observation deck. The water was relatively calm with a few white caps now and then. The inside passage route is always close enough to shore to enjoy the beautiful mountain & shoreline views. We are now back to the U.S. dollar currency and gallons measure so I can put the calculator away for a while. The time difference between Washington D.C. and Alaska is minus four hours. This is our last time zone change for the trip out.
After checking in to our hotel we make a quick drive through the town. Ketchikan is located on Revillagigedo Island in southeastern Alaska, 235 miles south of Juneau, AK and 90 miles north of Prince Rupert, B.C. Ketchikan has a population of 14,000 and is a small town using the lower 48 measure for town size. However it is a large town (4th largest in the state of Alaska) using the Alaska town size measure. Ketchikan has very little new construction but is more modern than the pictures you see during the gold rush days where the prospectors were trudging through mud streets. Tomorrow we will check out the town in more detail. Now it is time to eat now so this ends todays log.

05/14/93

I think that you would agree that most streets have two sides. Well this is also the case in Ketchikan. The unusual part about the main street of Ketchikan is the way the buildings are constructed. On the bay side of the street the buildings are built on pilings over the water. On the other side of the street the buildings are hanging off a hill on stilts. The reason for this -- there is only enough width for the street to be on flat solid ground. Ketchikan’s life is built along the shoreline like a ribbon. Many of the buildings are in need of repair with rotten pilings holding them out of the bay. I guess this is one reason the state of Alaska is called “the last frontier”. In town there are bars and saloons on every block. Although the town is “relatively small” you can find most anything (within reason) you might need in the stores and at prices not too much greater than at non-discount stores in the Washington D.C. area. The weather was great during our visit. We were lucky since Ketchikan’s average annual rainfall is 150 inches. The locals say that it only rains twice in Ketchikan, “January thru June and July thru December”. No visit to Ketchikan would be complete without a walk down historic Creek Street and visiting Dolly’s House. Most every miner left part of his gold with Dolly during the gold rush days. Dolly’s brothel is one of the many historic structures remaining in Ketchikan today. Near Ketchikan is the Saxman Indian village which hosts the largest collection of Totem Poles in Alaska. If you are into Totem Poles this is the place to see. I didn’t count them but there were Totem Poles everywhere.

05/15/93

Yesterday afternoon we departed Ketchikan for Sitka. Our ship was very nice with a large cocktail lounge and dining room. There was an observation deck, solarium, recliner lounge, and the other normal things you find on a ship. We had a stateroom on this section of our inside passage since we were on board all night. There was an interpretive slide show on Alaska’s animals provided by a young lady from the Alaska Fish & Game. We also enjoyed the movie “Home Alone Part II” after the wildlife presentation. Our stateroom had a window and was about like sleeping in a very small trailer. The difference however is that in a trailer you don’t hear the roar of big motors and the throbbing rotational frequency of a propeller shaft. We did, however, sleep fairly well with all of the noise from the motors and pulling into Wrangell & Petersburg during the middle of the night. Today we saw things we have never seen before such as eagles soaring, diving for fish and sunning themselves on the beach. There were five whale sightings and we saw two of them (Humpback Whales). As we pulled past rocks in the channel there were Harbor Seals and their cubs basking in the sun. It would not be possible for me to tell you the beauty of the inside passage between Ketchikan and Sitka. At one point in the narrows we were within just a few feet of the shoreline. It took a steady hand to maneuver this large ship through the narrow passages. Large ships have to time their passage through the narrows with high tide else go aground. We arrived in Sitka at four this afternoon and checked into our motel. While looking for the motel we stopped off at the town square where local merchants were having an exhibition. I signed up for winning something at one of the stalls. The next thing I knew my name was called and I won a $150.00 pair of Patagonia ski gloves. Boy was I surprised and happy. We will walk around town some tonight and look it over seriously tomorrow.

05/16/93

Sitka is located on the west side of Baranof Island, 95 air miles southwest of Juneau & 185 air miles northeast of Ketchikan. The population is 8000 and is the home of the Kiksadi clan of Tlignits (Indians). By the way Tlignits is pronounced “klink-its”. We have had a full day of touring today. With a town of this size it isn’t hard to hit every attraction in the area. First we walked around town (several times) then took the truck and drove to the end of the roads. Alaska’s oldest museum on the National Historic Register is here in Sitka. This museum, the Sheldon Jackson Museum, has a collection of various native artifacts dated between 1888 and 1898. They included a very large collection of Eskimo, Aleut, Athabaskan & Tlingit items. These are the people who live/lived in the Alaska Territory. The National Historical Park exhibits were interesting as were their films on the early Russian history of Sitka. Everything of significance to see is in walking distance of our hotel. Next we walked over to St. Michael’s Cathedral which is the focal point of Sitka’s history as the capital of Russian Alaska. There were a number of other attractions we visited around town. After our town touring we took to the roads (both of them - leading out of town). Outside downtown was mostly houses and light industry. Both roads leading out of town dead end after about 10 miles. Scenery down the southern route was beautiful with snow covered mountains and the inside passage waterway. There were Eagles perched in the trees and soaring through the sky. We have enjoyed our stay in Sitka. It is a small clean town full of Russian history.
Tomorrow afternoon we are off for Juneau. This will be a significantly smaller boat with no staterooms and fewer accommodations. We will be on the boat overnight and the travel time will be about 17 hours. We let you know later how we faired on this leg of the trip.