We awake with the ship docked at Ketchikan, the Salmon Capital of the world, Alaska's first city, the happiest place on Earth and whatever other title the locals can come up with for their town. It's raining, but apparently with over 150 inches of rain every year, this is par for the course. Our plan today is to take a float plane ride through the Misty Fjords, but with the clouds so low we wonder if it is going to happen. Not a problem, the guide assures us, this kind of weather is par for the course.
So we board a bus that takes us to the docks where we will meet our plane, a De Haviland Beaver built before any of us were born. It looks good, though, and even has a glass cockpit. It seems bush flying is not the adventure it used to be. Another couple flies with us, and Sharon and I end up in the back seats. Not a problem, as we have nice big windows and can enjoy the view just fine from there.
We take off, overfly Ketchikan and head off to the fjords. I don't think we ever climb above 300 ft, but the view is impressive all the same. Ocean, forests, bogs, lakes and waterfalls seem to be everywhere. The most impressive part, however, are the cliffs on both sides, soaring above and making us feel indeed small. The fjords live up to their name, by the way, as we see wisps of clouds all over the place. Misty indeed.
At some point the pilot lands and we get out of the plane, to stand on the floats for a few minutes and enjoy the peace and quiet. Standing on the floats is daunting at first, but we eventually start feeling comfortable and enjoy the spectacular view and quiet. Well, mostly quiet as soon after we land another plane arrives and lands there too. I like planes, so this is definitely not a problem.
All good things must come to an end though, so we get back on board and fly back to the float plane base: different route, but still the same breathtaking view. Interestingly, the downwind leg for our landing was flown over the runway of the Ketchikan airport. After that we turn base into the channel, final along it and land close to our docking pier.
After that we go back to the town for some exploration. By now, unfortunately, we are a little tired and have already explored two other Alaska towns and things are beginning to look the same. The souvenir stores are the same, the jewelry stores are the same, the food is the same. There is one interesting thing, though, and that is the local architecture. Not much flat land on the island, so a good portion of the buildings, including portions of the roads, are built on stilts.
And that's it for Ketchikan. We board the Jean-Claude around the 12:30 deadline and settle in for our last stop, Victoria.
One final note, Ketchikan is where the infamous bridge to nowhere was supposed to be built. And they are kind of right. Other than the airport, there isn't much else there on the adjacent island.
Wildlife sightings: 1 bald eagle.
Pictures can be found here.
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