Friday 27th June Ketchikan

We arrived at midday. Ketchikan clutches the shores of the Tongass Narrows, with many shops and houses built right out over the water in the town that calls itself the "Salmon Capital of the World." We had a small lunch on the cruise ship and then made our way to the buses to take us to the float plane we had booked. Our pilots name was Roger and he was a crop duster in his past life. He flew us over and through the majestic Misty Fjords National Monument landing on a glacial lake which was spectacular. Completely roadless and consisting of 2.3 million acres we experienced the many different levels within the deep, narrow fjords which are steep walled inlets of the sea. Created by glacial gouging long ago, snow capped sheer granite cliffs rise dramatically 3500m out of the sea, ribboned with sensational waterfalls plummeting thousands of feet. Nestled within the steep walled canyons lie pristine bowl shaped alpine lakes suspended at many different elevations above sea level. Fed by more than 150 inches of misty rain annually, the lush rain forest made of giant stands of spruce, hemlock and cedar cling to the rugged terrain. We had a bear sighting. It was an amazing excursion. We then hopped on a trolley tram around Ketchikan passing the Saxman Totem Park which housed a large collection of totem poles, and Creek street home to contemporary art galleries and quaint boutiques. We walked back to our cruise ship and had dinner at the Lido.