South OZ Adventurers - Adventure, Travel, Expeditions


Ketchikan

Deer Mountain, just to the east of Ketchikan is said to serve Ketchikan residents as a weather barometer. They've found that when they can't see the mountain, it's raining and when they can, it's about to commence. They get approximately 150 Inches of annual precipitation.

Despite this fact, Ketchikan treated us well and we saw clear blue skies for 2 days, although our departure day was obscured by pounding rain, yet again.

This major Alaskan cruise ship destination has a character all of its own. With part of the town's infrastructure over the water, there are docks, boats, float planes, cruise ships and people buzzing all around. Come 3 - 4pm in the afternoon the town is ghost like, as the 6000 daily visitors (sometimes more, sometimes less) board their ships and head off on another adventure. Ketchikan is unique for it's tourism and shopping. Being the big spenders and shop-a-holics that we are, Lachie and I bought one of those fantastic ' The Inside Passage' t-shirts each for 98cents! Highly amusing really! We succumbed into the souviner shopping.

With float planes above our heads daily since the beginning of this journey, we got closer to the aviation action in this float plane mecca. Each day well over a hundred take offs and landings could be viewed as you walked along the esplanade of Ketchikan. Some of the best bush pilots in Alaska fly in this area and are challenged by dynamic weather conditions. This hub inspired Lach and I to get in the air and learn to fly one day.

Our stay in Ketchikan was prompted by the hospitality of the Southeast Sea Kayak crew; Greg Thomas, Kim Kirby, Gillian Edwards and their awesome staff. Greg and Gillian are both fellow and former Aussies and talented musicians and Kim......what a laugh and rip roaring story teller! We ventured with them on board their boats into some of the local coves and bays to pick up clients and to see more of the surrounding area. On board the Jesse May, mother boat, we were treated to the finest smoked salmon and cheese spread -Alaskan style.

Wider Ketchikan has a huge amount to offer for sea kayakers wanting to explore the ocean, watch whales or kayak into cabins. Any experience in this area from just a few hours to a multi day adventure into the Misty Fiords is worth spending the effort to experience.

With a need to push off and get out of the US in just 8 days time,as our 3 month visas were due to expire we hit the ocean and headed back to Point Alava. A few thoughts were with us now, Knowing that we still had around 600Nm to paddle to reach our destination of Squamish, BC, but not knowing how my entry into canada would be recieved. I had already spent way too long in the country with work visas and extended tourist visas. We were also now under the pump to paddle hard and long days. Our summer in Alaska was coming to an end as we moved on towards BC and the now predominate south easterly strong winds were also of concern.

With rested bodies, Lachie and I set up for a new journey into the unknown as we paddled away from the Jesse May, and part of our lives that had just been. Exploring Southeast Alaska for 3 months via sea kayak, camping with the bears, floating in ice, portaging through incredibly dense rainforest, falling asleep to the sounds of whales, the numerous sunrises, sunsets, rich colors, waterfalls, fresh rain, wild salmon runs, jumping humpies, big walls, huge tides, ocean rapids, hot springs, the fishing fleets and all of those people that impacted our experiences.. It was something I found hard to leave and had mixed feelings about the remoteness and uncertainty of our next leg to Prince Rupert, BC Canada.