Our Last Day in Ketchikan and Alaska

We pulled out of Camp Walmart this morning and took the highway north along Tongass Narrows as far as it goes (18 miles) to Settlers Cove State Recreation Site. We took the cairns on a really nice hiking path to the Lower Lunch Falls with access to the beach. They also went for a wade in the water. Gino especially likes to go wading.

The water falls and hiking trail through the rain forest were very pretty. And I took lots of pictures.

A few miles back toward town was Totem Bight State Historical Park. It was a really nice spot to stop at. A short trail led through the woods to a ‘clan house’ and totem park. The totems are either restored originals or duplicates carved by natives. The clan house had beautiful carved and painted corner posts and totems. The front was also carved with imagery that represented the clan and/or its chief.

We were given a pamphlet which explained the background and story behind each totem in the park.

The fireweed was sure pretty, too.

Back in town, we stopped at the mall and MacDonald’s for lunch and there was a little excitement when a fight broke out between two teenage boys. Some customers subdued them until the police arrived. Exciting!

After lunch we drove through Ketchikan, which was busy again with four huge cruise ships at the docks, and south as far as we could (13 miles). There were lots of nice homes overlooking the ocean on the South Tongass Highway just as there was on the North. We stopped at Herring Cove where we hoped to see bear catching salmon in the river, but all we saw was a bald eagle eating a fish.

We stopped at a turnout on the way back to town and watched the small fishing boats. There are often Humpback Whales off this point bubble fishing, but we didn’t see any today.

We found a spot right near the Plaza Mall to hang out for the rest of the evening where we can watch the action on the ocean (fishing boats, float planes, cruise ships). We are leaving very early tomorrow on the ferry to Prince Rupert so this is our last day in Alaska. It’s hard to believe – we’ve been here more than two months but it seems like a much shorter time.