KETCHIKAN, Alaska's, southern most city has a population of almost 8,000 people and the most concentration of tribal people that anywhere else in Alaska. Much of it sits in stilts at the base of the Tongass National Forest.



The streets around the pier where the cruise ships dock have lots of shops that cater to the tourists but when you get off the main "drag" the town " goes rogue", it is still a rough and tumble pioneer town.

Our hotel, The New York, is right down town and we have enjoyed walking all around. We have seen so many eagles that they are becoming common place!

On Creek Street is Dolly's House. Dolly Arthur was Ketchikan's most famous madam for almost 50 years. Her house was left just the way it was when she died in the 1970's. It is preserved as a museum and was very interesting. She charged $3.00 for 3 minutes and you better be ready!

This is Creek Street. The area became a red light district in 1903 when the town council ordered all bordellos to move across the creek. There were more than 30 houses. Prostitution was outlawed in 1953. Now they are cute little shops that the tourists off the Cruise ships like to visit. And so did we.
We visited the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center. They help injured eagles, these two females have injured wings. We toured the salmon hatchery where they raise over 150,000 salmon a year and release them into the ocean.


Totem Bight Historical Center is a Park that has 14 Haida and Tlingit tribe poles and a model of a Clan House. We got there just as a cruise ship tour was starting so we tagged along and got a free tour with lots of information. It was great.

Today, our last day we drove out to as far as the road goes to the north of the town and walked into a beautiful waterfall through the rainforest. There were lots of trails and we took one down to the beach. It was very nice, especially since it was a very warm day, 68 degrees. The guide book told us that Ketchikan is very rainy, around 162 inches a year but for our three days it was dry.

Tomorrow we catch a ferry to Petersburg, nicknamed Little Norway.

Today, Sunday, we explored Prince Rupert and then drove to the North Pacific Cannery, a historic sight that is being restored. In the late 1800's, from Sacramento to the Yukon River there were over 1000 salmon canneries almost half were in islolated areas of Northern British Columbia. Today more than 80% are gone. This cannery was built in 1889 and used until the early 1970's. We toured all the buildings. It employed a multicultural work force of fisherman, boatbuilders, cannery workers and their families from April until October.

This is a model of what the cannery used to look like. Each ethnic group was housed in a different area. The Japanese were the fisherman because they were best at netting the salmon, their wives worked in the store and did a lot of the cooking. The Chinese worked in the cannery, as well as tribal members of various First Nations. Before machines everything was done by hand and a worker could fill 70 cans with salmon a minute. in the 1900's canning machines were used. It was fascinating to learn all about this industry.

This machine sliced up the salmon into chunks that fit into each can.

I had salmon for dinner. Very good.

Wow, how can I tell all that we have done in the last three days since the last blog! On Friday we left Victoria and drove 7 hours up the east coast of Vancouver Island to the northern town of Port Hardy where we spent the night. It was forested wilderness with just logging roads and a few logging or fishing villages. The sides of the road were covered with purple lupine and yellow broom.
Saturday morning we checked into the ferry at 5:30 and started a 15 hour ferry ride up the narrow inner passage of the coast of British Columbia. I don't think there are words for the beauty of the landscape. Steep forested hills and snow capped mountains rose up on each side of the passage with cascading waterfalls. We saw whales, porpoises and bald eagles. Occasionally we would see a small logging camp or fishing village and a lighthouse station. We had recliners up in the bow in front of floor to ceiling windows on three sides. It was like watching a very long IMAX movie, incredible.

We got into Prince Rupert, the northern most costal town in British Columbia around 10:30, it was just dusk. Prince Rupert has a population of around 12,000 and is now one of Canada's major seaports. We are here for two nights.

We have been on the road two weeks! Today the sun was out, first time in 6 days. It was in the low 60's and we were able to peel off layers. We drove along the Coast to Duncan a small town that is the center of the Cowichan, the largest First Nation tribe in British Columbia. We visited the Quw'utsun Cultural Center to learn about their history. Very interesting.

A little further up the coast was the town of Chemainus. It was a small mill town and in the 1980's the mill closed putting most of the town out of work so to survive they hired artists to paint murals on all the buildings. It is now a tourist attraction. The murals were amazing. When we drove back into Victoria we stopped to tour Craigdarroch Castle, the 1890 home of Robert Dunsmuir the wealthiest man in British Columbia. The castle was fully restored and we were able to tour 29 furnished rooms. The history of the Dunsmuir family was fascinating.

Tomorrow we head up to the North end of the Island to Port Hardy, about an 8 hour drive. Then on Saturday morning we have to be at our ferry at 5:30 in the morning to head to Prince Rupert in BC. We will get in at 10:30PM. I am hoping we will see some whales on the trip.

We are on Vancouver Island in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, for three days. We got off the ferry yesterday around 2:30 and because it was not raining, a rarity in the last five days, we drove 13 miles outside Victoria to Butchart Gardens. 55 acres of beautiful gardens with lots of flowers in bloom.
Today, Wednesday, we started by spending the morning at the Royal BC Museum. At the entrance is Thunderbird Park with many intricately carved totem poles that represent First Nations communities across BC. One exhibit titled Old Town was a replica of an entire 1800's village, stores, hotel, mining, lumber, a home... it took up almost the entire third floor. It was fascinating. We also enjoyed the exhibits on the first peoples of British Columbia.

In the afternoon we toured the Legislative building and learned about their parliament. Here are some interesting facts: B.C. has 60% of the world's mountain goats and 25% of the world's grizzly bears and eagles. We stopped at the famous Empress Hotel, opened in 1908 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Many Royals have visited. We had something to drink at the Bengal Lounge ( with a real Tiger hide on the wall). We ended the day with a 90 minute bus tour of the city and some of its neighborhoods such as China Town, the really neat suburbs, and some of the beautiful parks. Everywhere there are lovely gardens. This is such an interesting place, and it so neat and clean. There is a very strong sense of pride of place here! We learned lots.