Part 11 - Ketchikan - June 14, 2002

While Ketchikan is known as "The Salmon Capitol of the World" it really isn't the capital of anything except, perhaps, tourism. Ketchikan expects to host about 700,000 tourists from cruise boats during the short summer season. For a town of about 14,000 people, this is quite a lot. This morning the sun rises at 4:09 AM, later as we move south. We find ourselves cruising through Clarence Straight, tree-covered islands on either side of us. For the first time we see evidence of large clear cut tracts of forest. Sometimes a few buildings cluster along the shore, clinging to the only access to civilization - water. I wonder how the logs are moved from the hillsides to the mills. Later I learn the logs are chained together into huge floating rafts and floated along the waterway. The clear cuts leave ugly scars along the hillsides, but ample evidence suggests the rainy, temperate climate promotes rapid growth and the forests will be ready for cutting again in fifty or seventy-five years.

We enter into a narrow straight between Gravina Island, where the Ketchikan airport is located, and Revillagigedo  (absolutely unpronounceable) Island, where we begin to see the approaches to the town.  Ketchikan has a population of 14,000 or so, down from the days when it was a center for first supplying the gold mines, then salmon fishing, and, later, pulp mills. Tourism remains as Ketchikan's biggest industry. We follow an Alaska Marine Highway ferry into this busy port. We cruise past a dry dock with a couple of large trawlers in for repair. A yacht basin contains fishing, sport, and pleasure boats - dozens of them. Along the shore, on both sides, we see construction sites and industrial buildings. Ketchikan seems to be more industrial than any other place we've been along the southeast coast. We round a narrow port and see the town lying beside the cruise docks, two boats already at dock.  Once again, the Captain brings us neatly into place at the dock.  We are in port by 10:30 AM.  A sign saying “Welcome to Ketchikan: Salmon Capital of the World – Alaska’s First City” stretches across one of the streets radiating away from the dock.  Not fifty yards across the dock, shops and restaurants await the thousand or so cruise passengers waiting to disembark from our ship.  Buses begin to line up on the dock waiting for us.  We aren’t scheduled for our tour until early afternoon, so we watch from our veranda as the first people begin leaving.  The ship’s photographer has set up at the foot of the gangway with a crew member dressed in a bald eagle outfit.  As each person strides down the gangway, the eagle stops him or her and puts its around him.  The photographer tries to take a picture; an impatient line begins to form, held up by the time it takes to snap the pictures.  Soon, people hurry past, waving the eagle off in their desire to get going.

An ambulance pulls up to the gangway and EMTs bring a gurney up. This, of course, requires the eagle to cease and desist and disembarkers to clear the runway for a few minutes. It stands to reason that a ship with as many elderly people as there are on our cruise would require emergency medical assistance on a fairly regular basis. This is the second time we've had an ambulance come to the dock during a port visit. The ship itself has an infirmary staffed by two physicians and four nurses. The prices for services posted on the door of the infirmary would discourage all but the sickest passengers from seeking any sort of medical assistance. Still, cruising is a good way for wheel-chair bound people to travel in safety and comfort.

The Saxman Indian Village, according to USA Today, is one of the ten most important cultural sites in the United States. We have scheduled a visit to this Tlingit and Houda village located a couple of miles south of Ketchikan. Our driver takes us through the town, pointing out the highlights and drives us to Saxman Village where we are divided into Ravens and Eagles. We then troupe into a wooden building decorated on the outside with the broad red and black Tlingit designs we have seen everywhere, here representing the Bear Clan. The temperature is hovering around 85 degrees, about 20 degrees above normal for this time of ear, and the clan house is hot and close.  Of course it isn’t air conditioned, a superfluous luxury in Alaska almost all the time.  The dancers, wearing woolen blankets representing their clans, look hot and tired.  This is probably their last show of the day.

The Bear Clan House at Saxman Village serves for tourist preparations as well as community rituals	Dancers, dressed in elaborate robes, range in age from six to well over sixty	A young dancer in his clan robe.	Two young dancers act out an origin story of the Tlingit people.

The program begins with a brief origin story acted by two young dancers as the storyteller recites the tale.  Then a group of dancers takes the stage.  This group varies in age from about twelve or thirteen to, perhaps, their mid-sixties.  We are asked not to record or film any of the dances except the last one, in which members of the audience will be asked to participate.  The drums begin their insistent beat, the dancers begin to move and chant.  The dancing is lively and quite moving.  The drums beat, the dancers sing and move.  At the end of each dance they turn their backs on the audience to show their blankets, which are decorated with the symbols of their clans – bear, raven, eagle, wolverine. For the final dance, two members of the audience are invited to don blankets and join in the dance. We are told we can tape or record this final dance.

The Saxman Village has one of the largest collections of totem poles in the world.	This carver works for tourists, sells his work for $3500 a foot, and has a nasty disposition.	One of Saxman Village's fine, old totem poles.

After the dancing in the Bear Clan Hall, we move outside where our tour guide interprets the totems grouped in a circle outside the clan hall.  The stories reflect the history of the tribe and tell stories about noted members.  Traditionally, totems are not redecorated once they have been erected.  In order to save these wonderful old pieces, these have had some preservation.  Stories of a short-legged Abraham Lincoln and William Seward, who purchased Alaska from the Russians in 1867, are told in totems as well as stories of the interaction between native peoples and nature. One of the largest collections of totems extant is displayed here. From the totem interpretation, we move into a shed where a native carver is working on a large totem while a guide tells about the cutting techniques. These native carvings sell for up to $3500 a linear foot and are up to 30 feet tall. After a visit to the gift shop, filled with very expensive Tlingit carvings and a much less expensive collection of tourist items reflecting native themes, we re-board the bus and return to town.

Our guide has told us if we walk north from the cruise boat dock, we will come to a cannery where eagles congregate to feed on the remains of the preserving process that cannery workers throw to them.  I drop Mom and Irene at the boat and go off for a walk to find the eagles.  As I walk along the main street, the environment changes from tourist services to commercial marinas on the water side and services for fishing and boating industry on the other.  This includes, of course a wide selection of bars and tap rooms for the fishermen.  Typically, Ketchikan experiences 162 inches of rain per year.  It rains almost every day.  Today has been bright and hot.  It is quite warm as I walk along.  I stop into a marine supply store to check out handheld GPS units, but they don’t sell the model I want to buy as a surprise for Irene.  I keep walking past the commercial marina, but soon lose my motivation and head back along the waterfront.  I pass some boys jumping off a bridge into the water; the water temperature is 52 degrees, but it’s hot and they’re having fun. 

I look up at the ship, trying to pick out our veranda, and see Irene sitting outside.  I shout up and she hears me and waves.  Mom comes out so I can take pictures and video of their waving to me from the ship.  Then I walk back into town to find Creek Street, the famous boardwalk street of former brothels which have now become shops and restaurants.  I walk across Ketchikan Creek, the creek of Creek Street, and under a wooden arch.  Dolly’s, a wooden frame house at the entrance to Creek Street, was operated by Dolly Caldwell into the middle of the twentieth century as a brothel.  Today admission is charged for a tour of the building and two pretty girls in off-the-shoulder red dresses stand outside and wave at tourists who line up to take their pictures.  I take pictures of the picture takers, as well as the girls.  A wooden boardwalk meanders beside the creek.  Shops selling gems, salmon, knit goods, and generally high quality souvenirs line the walk.  I stop in a shop and buy a t-shirt with Tlingit designs on it for Irene.  I stand and chat with the native woman who works there.  Then I head back to the ship.

The once notorious Creek Street sits on pilings.	Tourists now crowd through the entrance to walk the boards and shop for souvenirs.	Dolly's still welcomes visitors, but the purpose has changed.	Creek Street meanders along past shops and restaurants.

As we sit at dinner, the captain moves us out into the channel and we sail south towards Vancouver, 528 nautical miles away.  Tonight’s entertainment is the final presentation of the ship’s cast doing a “Broadway Style” (or is it Vegas?) review.  I leave after five minutes and repair to the Crow’s Nest where I find a seat watching as the scenery quickly gets socked in by a dense fog.  There is no sign of wildlife, so I head back to the cabin after a while.  Sunset tonight is 9:20 PM.  We will reset our clocks to Pacific Coast Time at 2:00 AM.  We are all pretty tired.  This burning the candle at both ends wears thin after a while.