June 26 – The weather was overcast when we woke up
(although the locals said it was mostly sunny). After breakfast we decided to
go into Ketchikan and take care of a few shopping needs (we knew that there
were 4 cruise ships in port so we didn’t want to do any of the tourist stuff).
We started out at the grocery store and needless to say had sticker shock.
Food is quite pricey here, but when you have to bring everything in by boat
that’s to be expected. To our surprise there was a Wal-Mart in town (yes
paradise has been ruined by corporate America). Dave bought some popcorn (it’s
been almost 2 weeks since he had any). We stopped in at the Harbormaster’s
office to pick up an area tide table (the tide swings about 14 feet making some
steams inaccessible at low tide). We had also heard from our campground hosts
that there was a free phone line available for people to access the internet
(the local library will not let non-residents use their computers due to too
many cruise ship passengers abusing the privilege). Not only was there a phone
line, they
even brought out a table for us to set the lap top on! Our final
stop was a fisherman’s supply store for some Alaskan sneakers. To quote one quidebook
“Red, brown, or black calf-high XtraTuf rubber boots ideal for hiking in
muskeg, going to the symphony, and reciting wedding vows. Ubiquitous fashion –
one pair goes everywhere.” The quote couldn’t be truer – you see the boots
everywhere and they’re very comfortable. For lunch we stopped in at “Burger
Queen” a place recommended by our campground hosts. The only had 4 tables
(they do a big delivery business) but Dave’s burger was good and messy and
Stacie loved
her Halibut sandwich. The onion rings were tasty.
In the afternoon we took the kayaks up to
Connell lake, a few miles above the campground. The lake was made by the
Ketchikan Pulp Company as a source of water to power their pulp mill in Ward’s
Cove several miles away. There is a wooden pipe from the base of the dam
running all the way to the pulp mill (wood pulp is used to make paper, added to
plastics and is the source of “cellulose” in many ice creams and other food
products). The mill closed a few years ago (the Forest Service has severely
curtailed timber harvesting which has devastated local economies), but the
Forest Service still maintains the dam and pipeline. The lake was drained over
the winter for a dam inspection and has not yet been completely refilled (we
estimate it was around 10 feet low) making for an interesting kayaking
experience. Before the dam was built the timber was harvested, but the trees
were not cut off at the ground leaving tall poles sticking up to within eight
feet of the intended lake level. This was done most likely to create fish
habitat. With the lake drained we were paddling through an eerie graveyard of
trees. Along the way we landed in a few places and walked along the
shoreline. The new boots proved themselves on the mushy muskeg especially when
Stacie sunk in to the top of her boots.
June 27 – After our now customary
breakfast of oatmeal and O.J. we decided to start the day off with a hike. The
Perseverance trail started near the campground entrance and went for 2.7 miles
(one way) up to another lake. The trail was described as gravel surfaced
through forest giving way to boardwalk over muskeg meadows, moderately
strenuous. The gravel part was true, but after that they should have called
the trail the stairmaster. We lost count but
there were hundreds of
steps, up then down then up again. There were some muskeg meadows but this
trail was an exercise in exercise. The trail ended at the lake and gave some
beautiful views. On the hike back down we met fellow campers from Pennsylvania
who recognized us as the people with the truck (it seems we developed a
following). We talked for a while and they told us that another camper
had
built his own rig. We had seen the truck in the line up at Prince Rupert – it
was like you had taken the dump part off of a dump truck and then put an extra
large camper on it. There were also many toolboxes on the sides.
After lunch we jumped in the truck and went to
Totem Bight State Park. The park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps
in the 30’s. It features around a dozen totem poles
carved as copies of existing poles that had deteriorated. There is also a
replica clan house. Our next scheduled stop was the Margaret
Creek fish
ladder which was listed as 26 miles north of town, on the local road system.
Unfortunately the main road ends about 12 miles north of town (we’re starting
to love the Forest Service’s directions). We later learned that the ladder is
accessible by logging roads which are only accessible by boat. Having driven
as far north as possible, we decided to go south. The main road ended at a
hydroelectric plant (the main source of power in the region). Dave remembered
reading something about a trail from the plant to a lake. Although it was
raining lightly (if a local had been around he would have said it’s cloudy), we
decided to hike the trail. The trail turned out to be the gravel road used to
access the lakes and water pipes that feed the power plant. It was 2 miles of
uphill climbing. The views on the way were wonderful despite the rain. We
returned to camp and complained about sore muscles.