Ketchikan, Alaska to Vancouver, Canada

Ketchikan is an Alaskan city facing the Inside Passage and the state's southeastern-most major settlement.  It is known as Alaska's first city and the Salmon Capital of the World. (All photos in this post will enlarge if clicked on)

It is also a popular cruise route along the state's southeastern coast, as you can see from the number of cruise ships docked in its port when our cruise ship arrived.

As our ship dropped anchor in the bay and we waited to tender ashore, my first impressions of Ketchikan were a multitude of prop planes taking off and landing and many fishing boats navigating the waters.

We boarded the smaller tender ship and went to shore, where we picked up our excursion's tour bus.

Ketchikan is home to the largest collection of totem poles in the world, including some of the oldest ones in existence.  The historic part of town also has a multitude of colorful homes perched along the shore's cliff rocks, which have long wooden staircases leading up to their front doors.  If you'd like to learn more about the native cultures of Ketchikan and its history after colonists began setting here, there are some wonderful movies to watch on this link from the Ketchikan tourism web site.

My husband and I wanted our last excursion in Alaska to bring us into the Tongass National Forest, which covers most of southeast Alaska. Bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Coast Mountains and Canadian border on the east, the Tongass National Forest spans 500 miles of Southeast Alaska.  It is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world!  

We took a Ketchikan Rainforest Canoe and Nature Walk excursion.  A bus drove our group to Harriet Hunt Lake where we put on life jackets and maned a native style canoe. We rowed to the opposite lakeshore, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

There was a campsite located on the shore, where we were served a Native American style snack of smoked fish, clam chowder, bread rolls with wild berry jams and beverages.

Next, a guide led our group on a short nature walk in the rain forest, while highlighting the interesting vegetation and wildlife that lives there.

The lush forest floor was full of an amazing amount of thick greenery...

...so much large flora and fauna...

...and a canopy of large old-growth Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce trees.

The variety of mosses, lichen, and fungi in the rain forest were very interesting to see.

We were told that this fallen tree was now a "tree nursery" as seeds fell on its soft moss surface and began growing new trees, which will eventually anchor their roots in the ground as they grow.

Usnea Lichen, also known as "Old Man's Beard." was seen growing off many trees.

After our forest hike, we returned to the canoes and rowed back to the opposite shore and back to the bus.

Back on our cruise ship we again passed magnificent scenery as we sailed south to Vancouver.

There was a special treat offered to all at dinner--Baked Alaska Ice Cream!

Early the next morning our ship reached its final destination of Vancouver, Canada, where we disembarked for a bus ride to the airport. Someday we'd like to return to Vancouver and British Columbia, Canada, for a longer visit, but we had been away from home for almost two weeks and it was time to return to Colorado, as we missed our children and grandchildren!  

It's always a thrill to fly over Colorado and see the Rocky Mountains and the changing topography of our state. We were Home Sweet Home!  Thank you for following my blog all these weeks as I relived our Alaska Land and Sea Voyage that we took in June.  I'll now return to blogging about our adventures close to home.

For all Americans, I hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving! Our family had much to be thankful for this year as my husband's cancer is in remission and our daughter recently had a successful emergency mitral valve repair surgery. We have been busy helping her in her recovery, but she is getting stronger every day and most likely by the new year she will return to normal activities. We are very grateful for the good medical care they both received and the prayers of many. Please continue to keep them in your prayers--thank you!

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