Ketchikan Alaska

Ketchikan, believed to be named from the Tlingit phrase for 'thundering wings of the eagle', was established in 1887 by the arrival of a salmon cannery. It quickly became known as the 'Salmon Capital of the World', and fishing, along with the timber industry and tourism, still play an important role in this city's economy. After four days of glorious sunshine, we arrived in Ketchikan under grey skies. We disembarked the Oosterdam and walked along the pier to our excursion boat to the Misty Fjords. We journeyed south before heading north-east into Behm Canal, where we saw the towering edifice of New Eddystone Rock. This 237 foot tall rock is an ancient volcanic plug. Before leaving Behm Canal, we saw some seals lounging on a rocky island.

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New Eddystone Rock
Misty Fjords National Monument Misty Fjords National Monument is a wilderness of glaciers, waterfalls, lakes and sheer granite cliffs rising up thousand's of feet from the waters edge. It was very misty indeed, the tops of the mountains hidden from view to us at sea level. Eerily quiet, the only sound being our boats engines as we sailed into the narrow waterways, through fjords carved during the last ice age.




As we neared the end of our very pleasant cruise, the mist and clouds lifted for a brief moment and we could see blue skies above the snow flecked mountain tops. Next, we were to take to the air in a bush plane, to see the Misty Fjords from high above.

More photos from Alaska can be found on our new website or on the links below
Departure	Sunrise	Juneau	Yakutat Bay	Sitka	Sitka Wildlife	Ketchikan
Misty Fjords Flight	Butchart Gardens	Eagles	Sea Lions & Otters	Seals	Whales	Hubbard Glacier
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