This new ship, The Columbia is a bit upscale. I ate here twice. The food was average, but the ambience was unique.
Settlers Cove Park at the beach was unusual.
There is too much to tell about totems here. Little know fact...they face the ocean.
Poor photo of a clan lodge. 20 to 50 people lived here (in those times.)
It is as hard to photograph a salmon as it is a whale. In the five minutes I watched them, they caught about six fish.
It's over, it's over, it's oohver. Thanks Roy.The rain finally caught up with me. Check out time at the B&B was 11 and my ferry loading time was not until 2:45 so what time did it start raining?...11 o’clock. I donned the old Frogg Toggs and proceeded to go for a walkabout. Strangely, I found myself enjoying walking around this little town of Skagway in mid-fifties temperatures in a steady drizzle with occasional wind gusts. It reminded me of similar days in England. I visited the local museum and read of the colorful history of Skagway. In 1899 and 1900, the population swelled to around 10,000 (I am sure their census gathering was somewhat imprecise.) Again, during the Second World War the population resurged to around 10,000. It was as low as 500 and now, stands at about 2,000. I remarked to the volunteer at the visitor center that this was one of the youngest towns I had visited, thinking in terms of the gold rush of 1898. He quickly corrected me saying the Russians settled the area in the mid-seventeen fifties. So, I stand corrected.
The ferry was two hours late, so we have been behind schedule for twenty four hours. We are making up time as we go, and expect to dock on time in Bellingham at 8 am on Friday. The first day out is foggy as it was on the way up.
Tuesday passed pretty quietly. I met some fellow bikers in Skagway and we have been chatting along the way.
Wednesday, was a treat. For some unexplained reason (possibly waiting for suitable tide conditions) we pulled into Ketchikan at 11:30 and were not scheduled to leave until 5 pm. We had checked with the Bosun and he said we could take our motorcycles off and reboard, so we did. I rode to Settler’s Cove Park at the north end of the paved road. It was a delightful campground and picnic area at the edge of the water. On the way back to town, I stopped at Totem Bight Park to see a replica of a clan lodge and many totem poles. It was quite well done and annotated. Continuing south I visited Herring Cove in hopes of catching bears fishing. Unfortunately, it was too early in the day for bears, but I did watch four fisherman catching salmon and caught a few pictures. I finished my tour of the town with a cup of coffee and strolling about talking to the locals.
Thursday is another quiet day as we have no ports. We sail from Ketchikan to Bellingham (about 38 hours) non stop. We are scheduled to arrive a little early, around 7 am when I get back on the road for the second half of the land portion of the trip. The sea leg was 2200 miles roundtrip and very relaxing. I can see that this kind of travel would not be for everyone. While there are movies and some talks by the ship’s “Interpreter,” most entertainment is left up to the traveler. I caught glimpses of whales, but never more than a blow spout, a fluke going to a dive, or a millesecond of whale back. Never enough to photograph. There is only one word to describe the past ten days, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
The ferry was two hours late, so we have been behind schedule for twenty four hours. We are making up time as we go, and expect to dock on time in Bellingham at 8 am on Friday. The first day out is foggy as it was on the way up.
Tuesday passed pretty quietly. I met some fellow bikers in Skagway and we have been chatting along the way.
Wednesday, was a treat. For some unexplained reason (possibly waiting for suitable tide conditions) we pulled into Ketchikan at 11:30 and were not scheduled to leave until 5 pm. We had checked with the Bosun and he said we could take our motorcycles off and reboard, so we did. I rode to Settler’s Cove Park at the north end of the paved road. It was a delightful campground and picnic area at the edge of the water. On the way back to town, I stopped at Totem Bight Park to see a replica of a clan lodge and many totem poles. It was quite well done and annotated. Continuing south I visited Herring Cove in hopes of catching bears fishing. Unfortunately, it was too early in the day for bears, but I did watch four fisherman catching salmon and caught a few pictures. I finished my tour of the town with a cup of coffee and strolling about talking to the locals.
Thursday is another quiet day as we have no ports. We sail from Ketchikan to Bellingham (about 38 hours) non stop. We are scheduled to arrive a little early, around 7 am when I get back on the road for the second half of the land portion of the trip. The sea leg was 2200 miles roundtrip and very relaxing. I can see that this kind of travel would not be for everyone. While there are movies and some talks by the ship’s “Interpreter,” most entertainment is left up to the traveler. I caught glimpses of whales, but never more than a blow spout, a fluke going to a dive, or a millesecond of whale back. Never enough to photograph. There is only one word to describe the past ten days, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
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