Located on Revillagigedo Island and surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, sits the city of Ketchikan, the southernmost entrance to Alaska’s famed Inside Passage and the “Salmon Capital of the World”. As we walked on to our cruise ship’s deck, we were greeted by the most picturesque Alaskan city, and we all knew despite being sleep-deprived from a week full of adventures we would thoroughly enjoy exploring our last port call by sea and by land.
Our first method of transportation, sea. We boarded our tour boat and cruised through the Tongass Narrows and on up glacier-carved George Inlet. We saw beautiful waterfalls, lush greenery, and the vast changes that occur with the tides in this region of the world. Despite the pretty much constant drizzle, we enjoyed the sights this area of the region had to offer.
We made it to our final destination of the “by sea” portion of our adventure, the George Inlet Cannery. Opened in 1914, this now inactive old historic Libby Cannery once played a major part to the economy of Ketchikan. We strolled through the old cannery, and even got to see a demonstration of how the machinery operated thanks to an old fisherman’s hobby of collecting cannery equipment. An odd hobby, but it definitely provided a great glimpse of history for us tourists.
After our tour we got to sample some amazingly fresh and delicious salmon before loading the bus for our next destination, Saxman. Saxman Native Village, located just outside of Ketchikan, was established in 1894 by Samuel Saxman, a teacher. It is home to the largest collection of standing totem poles. The art on the totem poles is very intricate. The village also includes a clan house and walking paths through the forest.
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