Leaving Haines.
The Alaska highways ferry was ten hours late, so instead of leaving in the middle of the night and getting to spend a couple of hours looking around Sitka, we dozed through Sitka in sleeping bags on deck chairs under a clear sky hoping to see the promised aurora borealis. No luck. We were sad to thread the narrow Sitka straight, said to be the most beautiful part of the trip, in the dark. There were lots of whales visibly blowing during the ferry ride and a few dolphins.
The ferry ride isn’t too painful.
Scenic lighthouse along the channel.
Arriving in Juneau with the famous Mendenhall Glacier melting in the background.
Juneau’s crab leg lunches.
The ferry stops briefly in Juneau before our planned stop in Petersburg. We spent an overnight in Juneau last trip so didn’t get off this time. However, if you make the inside passage trip, Juneau is worth a few days.
Petersburg waterfront from the ferry.
This time I had my heart set on Petersburg, a Norwegian town of about 3200 inhabitants. Having a large Norwegian genetic component, I was curious to see the place. We stayed on Petersburg’s picturesque and prosperous Mitkof Island for five days. It never was a gold miner’s town. Scandinavian Peter Buschmann, carefully platted “Peter’s Burg” around his salmon cannery and sawmill in 1897. Incorporated in 1910 it must have been a rollicking sailor’s port. Several of the original buildings still line Sing Lee Alley with its Chinese flavor. At the end of the alley is the Sons of Norway Hall which still functions as a civic center for town activities. Houses line Hammer Slough and others are built on stilts over the Wrangell Narrows.
Original buildings along Sing Lee Alley
Older houses along Hammer Slough. Most picturesque when the tide is in.
Sailors monument with Viking ship in background.
Sons of Norway Hall (no doubt similar to Sons of Knute of Lake Wobegon fame).
Our favorite modern house, built out over the water.
Fishing (catching and processing) is the economic driver, with timber and tourism next. Luckily, their harbor cannot accommodate large cruise ships so it’s not overrun with tourists like several of the other towns along the inland passage. In fact, in late September we may have been the only tourists on the 211 square mile island. Harbor sights follow.
Sea lions relax on channel marker.
Island transport.
House across the narrows.
Pier life loves cold water.
Trash cans in Petersburg.
Around the docks floated large jellies. There was a “bloom” happening for the Lion’s Mane jellyfish. These were big, maybe 2 feet, but apparently their bells can get huge, 7’ across with 150’ tentacles. Called sea jellies so as not to be categorized as fish, they are amazing creatures that can reproduce sexually or by cloning themselves asexually. The stinging tentacles trailing below catch the food and move it to the mouth. These are very painful for any human who happens to run into them. Jellies propel themselves by filling their bells with water and then expelling it rapidly, pushing them forward.
Lion’s Mane jelly trailing tentacles, bell open.
Lion’s mane jelly, bell closing as it shoots forward.
View from our free campsite at Green’s Camp.
Preening gull.
We were alone in two stunning, free campgrounds.
Beached jelly, surprisingly hard and rubbery.
The touted wildlife is really pretty scarce. Moose do wander across Dry Straight from time to time, and we did see one small black bear and a bit of scat, but not much. Grizzlys? No.
Dry Strait, the reason ferries must thread the Wrangell Narrows.
A few Sitka blacktail deer, lots of porcupines and one weasel taking a large crab home. Schools of salmon fry in the water, and some very large ones on the ends of fisherman’s poles in the Blind Slough rapids area.
Sitka blacktail doe and fawn.
Young porcupine. Must have been a bumper year for porkies.
Large crab or small weasel?
Fishing at Blind Slough rapids. We saw fishers take out many huge salmon, so some managed to spawn.
Government financial involvement is noticeable. They have a very deluxe library, nice state buildings, a big fish hatchery and miles of paved roads for a small island reachable only by air and water. Weather while we were there was sunny, warm and dry…that is to say, very unusual. According to the locals they are having a horrid drought, and although things looked damp to us, it was a seriously bad year for salmon. Not enough water in the streams for the salmon to get up to spawn. Normal is 130 inches a year, mostly falling September through December.
At the other end of Blind Slough we put in the inflatable kayak and paddled around the winter refuge for Trumpeter swans. They weren’t there yet (Oct. through March). The fish hatchery right here is very busy, which is why there are so many salmon in Blind Slough and very few in other drainages.
There are many trails around the island, with much of it boardwalk over the muskeg. Miles and miles of boardwalk…very impressive.
Zigzag Darners mating before winter.
Starting out on the three lakes trail.
Three lakes trail.
Hill Lake. Notice the row boat for use by any visitor. Life vests for the kids also provided.
Autumn colors
Late blooming foxglove.
Wooden boardwalks allow access to the muskeg trails.
Muskeg moss.
The Le Conte glacier is one of the world’s 50 tidewater glaciers and the most southerly active one. Calved icebergs float in the Frederick sound which was choked in 1988 as a half mile of the glacier broke off at once. After a 1.2 mile retreat in the 1990’s it is now sort of stable. Renting a boat to view the glacier up close is a popular tourist activity.
Visible across Frederick Sound, Le Conte glacier with floating bergs.
A reminder that we are still in Alaska.
Really, five days is hardly enough time to explore the area. In the neighborhood are several other islands as well as the town of Wrangell on the mainland with more wildlife viewing possibilities.
Next, and last post will be the end of the ferry ride on the inland passage.