Day 16, Wednesday, August 3

Now we are in Ketchikan and the highlight of the day was our Misty Fjords National Monument Flightseeing Tour in a floatplane.

But first we walked around the town and looing at the sights.  We walked right away to the old town area and walked along the creek where the salmon were running.  Later, we stopped at the local Eagles Club for a Halibut sandwich.  The club was recommended by one of the local shop owners.

Then we walked to the Salmon Latter and watched the salmon climb the rapids and the Salmon Ladder which was an easier way to go upstream.  Salmon always returns from the ocean to the stream where they were born, spam and then die.

They had a wonderful museum showcasing totem poles and their history.

After than we took off at 2:45pm for a 2-hour trip, including landing on an alpine lake for a chance to get out and take some pictures.  The Misty Fjords National Monument is a 2.3-million-acre area which is larger than Yellowstone National Park and the only way to get to it is by floatplane – what an experience!!   This was truly one of the major highlights of the trip.

The floatplane we were on was owned by the female owner and pilot, Michelle.  She came to town 35 years ago, worked on a fishing boat for 2 years to save enough money to buy her first plane.  Then she also bought another plane and has a very, very successful business.

The highlight was landing the plane on a very small lake high up in the mountains and we got out and walked around for about 20 minutes.  Then it was time to get back on the plane for the trip back.  We hope the videos show the experience we had.

The show was two acrobats and it was just ok.

The casino tonight was not good for us as both of us lost a little.

After that we went to our restaurant and shared a table with a couple from Road Island and very fun to eat with.  We decided to eat together tomorrow.

That’s it and now we set the clocks ahead 1 hour and we will get up and be cruising in the Inside Passage all day.

Night from our next to the last day of our cruise.

                                                                Ready to go to Ketchican

                                                     Sampleing Sockey Salmon - Wonderful!

                                                        The old town area with the Salmon stream

                                                        On the floatplane

                                                    Landed on a beautiful lake

                                                               What an experience!!

                                                            Snacks as we were leaving port

                                                            Time for dinner, etc.

                                          The Hotel Directors sent us a bottle of good Italian wine

                                                    and a plate of chocolates

                                                    Salmon climbing the Salmon Ladder

                                                    Taking off in the Floatplane

                                      Just flying - there are no roads here - just lakes to land on!

                                                          Landing on an isolated lake

                                               Total isolation and total beauty - very quite