Ketchikan is at the southernmost entrance to the Alaskan part of the Inside Passage – best known for salmon, scenery, rain and native culture. Ketchikan is also known as “The Salmon Capital of the World.”
We took a floatplane ride out over the Misty Fjords 40 km south and some of the Tongass National Forest- 17 million acres of rainforest full of lush cedar, Sitka spruce, hemlock and elder trees with spectacular granite walls plunging into the fjords. The flight had looked dodgy for take-off due to the weather but we couldn’t have wished for better. We landed (1o/10) in the Ampitheatre and were able to step out onto the floats and enjoy the views – pristine water and scenery, a bald eagle landed in the tree near shore- couldn’t get too excited in case I fell in! Just beautiful all around- many lakes,waterfalls and numerous fjords. Even saw a whale and it blew its spout just as we were coming back in to land.
The local first nation people are Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian and the Tongass Rainforest provides red cedar logs for totem poles with Ketchikan having the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles.
Rainfall here is massive 3,90omm/year- they measure it in feet! Lots of fishing – 5 species of salmon – kings (chinooks), red (sockeye), coho (silvers) chums (dogs) and pinks (humpies) which are running late this year- everyone is waiting for them! Also have halibut, red snapper and cod. Fishing often via purse seiners which zoom across and around the harbour on their way in/out. Trout, Steelhead and Dolly Varden are in the freshwater lakes.
