Day 11: Alaska Marine Highway

Day 11, May 21, 2003:  We were on the ferry all of today.  Woke up around 8:30 and took advantage of the interpretive programs offered by the US Forest Service.  There were several stops, though short.  The first was Ketchikan, where we got off and explored for half an hour our so.  It was rainy, so we didn’t go far.  The next stop just before dinner was in Wrangell.  The rain had let up, so we got to walk around more in Wrangell.  Cute town.  It was cloudy, so we couldn’t see too much of the mountains.  Along the ferry ride that day we saw 2 orca (killer) whales, and lots of bald eagles.  The best part of the ferry ride was a very narrow part called the Wrangell Narrows where we were extremely close to shoreline on both sides.  The terrain of the inside passage reminded us of Maine with the lowish mountains of spruce trees meeting the ocean.  Weather remained overcast with rain most of the time for the whole trip.  But what were we expecting in a rain forest?  The ferry also stopped in Petersburg, but we didn’t get off the boat for that stop.  Camped out on the observation deck again.  This is enclosed on 3 sides and has heat lamps hanging from the ceiling.  Between the hum of the motor, and the rocking of the boat, we both slept hard. 

Editor’s note 3/26/07:  Since I wrote this, we have been back to the area, and my description does not give it justice.  There are incredibly steep mountains with beautiful hanging glaciers everywhere, we just couldn’t see them because of the low clouds.  SE AK is desginated as a rain forest, afterall!