August 15, KETCHEKAN ON THE INSIDE PASSAGE

Good Monday morning to all.

We are now in Ketchikan, Alaska, along the Inside Passage. We arrived about 1 a.m. Sunday morning. We just pulled off in the ferry parking lot and went back to sleep till a respectable hour. It was scathingly hot here yesterday....and you are all saying "it's about time that you experience a little bit of what the rest of the country has been going through!" It was almost 80 degrees and quite humid. AND nobody here has an air conditioner! cuz this is Alaska! It is most uncommon for it to be as hot as it was...


Lunch Falls is behind us in Suttler's Cove State Park on Ketchikan.

A Tlinkit Native clan house with totems inside and out. That is a very small entry door. Many families lived in these, when they were not out hunting and fishing.

These totems are in Totem Bight State Park (a "bight" is kind of a cove on the island....Tlinkits believed that a big animal took a bight out of the island).

Sunset along the passage from our view on the Taku ferry. Was so very pretty.

One of the most moving times on our trip was when the Ferry Taku was pulling into a small native Tlinkit village called Kake. There were many family members of these Tlinkits on the ferry. They were returning home to a "potlach" (party, ceremony, etc.) for a member of the clan who died a year ago. Family members met on the ferry ramp, playing their drums in welcome and chanting and singing in their Tlinkit language. Their family members on the ferry sang and played drums in response. It was so moving....almost brought tears to my eyes.

This young Tlinkit girl whom I had visited with on the ferry told me all about the potlach. She is here watching her relatives at the end of the auto ramp, welcoming their family home. Look hard...you can see the group at the end of the ramp.

Here's us enjoying another wonderful walk on Sitka. We're going backwards here....

Sunset on Sitka.

A beautiful view of a few of the many little islands that surround Sitka. So beautiful.

Here's two of the State Park rangers on Sitka who were so kind to us during our stay. Nick True, on the left, even allowed us to camp out in his yard in Old Sitka State Park.

A little island during high tide....

Same island....low tide.

These are the six pinks, or humpies, salmon that Chris caught in Sitka in about 1/2 hour of fishing. The fish are so plentiful that they are jumping out of the water continuously. The females are knocking their eggs loose before they go up the streams to spawn.

We are eating salmon every day! Really loving it with blackening seasoning.

Three bald eagles fighting over some salmon scraps. The eagle on the right is young; they don't get their white head and feet until they are about 5 years old.

The same eagles soaring away with salmon scraps...

Here's that young bald eagle that is not yet old enough to have the white head and feet.

Well folks....we've been in Alaska since May 5. It's been a long time, and we have been so enriched by the wonderful people we've met,the experiences we've had, and the breathless sights and wonders that God has blessed this part of our great Nation with. We are greatful for this opportunity we have had.

But, tomorrow morning we will be leaving Alaska on the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Matanuska, sailing to Prince Rupert, British Columbia...and be on our way home. It will be a short 8 hour trip.

Until we "connect" again....