Humpbacks and icebergs: Petersburg to Juneau

We’ve made it to Juneau! We couldn’t be happier to be in Alaska’s capital. We also surpassed 1,000 miles on the trip a few days ago, woohoo! 

Petersburg to Juneau, 8 days, 145 miles. 

Day 1: A quick note: last night we got to hang out with our friend Hannah again! The one who we met in Aaltanhash Inlet way back in Canada. She and her group were staying in Petersburg so we got to have dinner on their boat (again) and catch up. What a treat! We’re definitely missing all our friends in Washington and on the Island so it’s nice to get a slice of that while we’re out here. 

Back to the trip. We couldn’t leave Petersburg until we visited the post office and grocery store, since it was a Monday and neither were open on Sunday. So we had a late start, paddling away around noon, in the rain. We fought some current while leaving the harbor but were surprised to see an iceberg float into the harbor from the Le Conte Glacier! 

Once we left the harbor and entered Fredrick Sound the going got much easier. We even got to paddle up close to a tiny ice berg (actually called a bergy bit) and touch it! 

The rest of the day was filled with rain. We made it into Thomas Bay and found a spot in the woods where we could set up our tent and rain tarp to cook under. 

Day 2: It rained all night. Hard. Later we would find out that Juneau set some sort of record for the most rain in a single night, 1.7 inches of rain! We can definitely attest that it was a lot.

 We packed up pretty slowly and we’re off by 8:45am. The current was pushing us every which way on our way over to point Vanaput. The point is a long sandy bar perfect for bear watching. And guess what, we saw an adolescent black bear! It was digging through the kelp and rockweed on shore. I (Brooke), hadn’t seen one for 30+ days, so it was a treat. We continued on the 16 miles to Read Island where we set up camp in the rain. We knew days 1-3 were going to be mostly rain, so we planned short days. It gets so cold on the water when it’s that rainy that we struggle keeping warm. We wear all of our layers and our dry suits but end up getting wet and cold anyways. We stopped at 2pm and found a pretty site in the woods. 

Day 3: The rain let up a bit to allow us to break down a mostly dry camp. As we paddled out today, the clouds began to break up and by 1 in the afternoon it was only partly cloudy with sunshine. 

Along the way we stopped at a small beach for a break. It was low tide so we started scanning the rocks for intertidal critters. To our surprise, we saw lots of beautiful chitons! Chitons are mollusks, related to clams and snails. They always have seven segments to their shell, and some species have beautifully intricate designs on the backs of their shells. We mostly saw Pacific Red Chitons and White Lined Chitons. They were all about the size of your fingernail. 

After geeking out over the little mollusks we headed on in the sun. We rounded Cape Fanshaw and were shocked to hear voices. A little farther around the point we saw kayakers! 4 kayaks were on the beach and the people were scoping out tent sites. We paddled up and decided we’d camp there too so we could all swap stories and enjoy some company. 

The four of them were from all over, but know each other through a paddling group. They had done many trips together. This time they are paddling from Skagway to Prince Rupert. We talked about routes and campsites and stuff that each group should know continuing on. 

This was another short day (15 miles) so we also got to spend some time reading and relaxing. (It wasn’t raining!) 

Day 4: The other group woke at 4am and were off by 6am. We had done many days with a 4 am wake up, but we felt like we were over them. We set our alarm for 5:30am and woke up as the other group was about to leave. 

We made breakfast, broke down camp, and set off. The campsite we were leaving had really cool shelves created by the tides and possibly had the most interesting rocks on the whole trip, so we kept a few as favorites. 

We paddled about 8 miles before stopping on a beautiful beach with the a pretty odd site: a sailboat that had beached itself on a rock on accident. A marine helper boat was on scene and the boat was tied down in hopes that it wouldn’t flip all the way off the rock. It seemed like it was a pretty crappy day for the owner of the boat. We snacked and marveled at the site and then got back into our kayaks to keep moving forward. About a minute after we pushed off the beach, we heard a helicopter coming our way and we watched as it landed right in the beach we had been sittting at! They were there to assist further. We hope the boat made it through the tide cycle and there wasn’t too much damage. 

The next step was a long uneventful crossing and more paddling up the coast. We ended the day in a cove near Sunset island knowing we had another big crossing in the morning. It was so hot out that we were tempted to jump in, but ended up not. 

Day 5: The good weather continued today. We left our little cove and headed up the coast enjoying amazing views and flat water in all directions. At one point a pod of about 8 dall’s Porpoise came barreling at us at breakneck speeds! It made us a little nervous to have the porpoises head towards us and then travel under our boats. So cool! 

After that we continued up the coast until we entered Holkham Bay, a place we had known about since before we left on the trip. Holkham Bay is the meeting place of two tidewater glaciers and sits below Sumdum Peak and Sumdum Glacier, truly beautiful. We decided to camp on Harbor Island because I, Casey, was feeling pretty tired and didn’t want to paddle deep into Holkham Bay- something we had discussed doing. 

The campsite we chose on Harbor Island was south facing and in the sun. We both went for a swim (just a quick dip) in the water, with ice bergs in the same bay. 

That night we were baking brownies in our FryBake and saw humpback whales splashing and tail slapping all around us. 

Day 6: We woke up to some heavy winds and rain. There had been some talk of having a rest day today, so it was easy to shut off the alarm and fall back asleep. When we woke an hour later, it was much calmer. We debated staying and going, but staying won. We read and rested all day, watching giant icebergs float by. We could have paddled, but enjoyed the rest day all the same. 

Day 7: Fog and rain was the scene this morning. We packed up and pushed off and ten minutes later paddled up to a giant blue iceberg. It was quite a scene! Since they float with 66% of their mass under water they can flip so it’s best to give them space. We got as close as we felt comfortable and then continued on. 

We didn’t make it far before we stopped to marvel at all of the humpback whales around us. They were traveling, feeding, and going on deep dives. 

After a while the fog broke and we got some sunshine with no wind. We stopped on a beach to filter water (there was none to be found on Harbor Island, during our rest day). The beach was pretty, the water was crystal clear, and we got to watch humpback whales lunge feeding! That’s where they launch their bodies at a school of fish, and their mouths explode from the water. We could see their open jaws breaking the surface and then snapping shut full of fish. 

Onward we went until we paddled into Taku Harbor, a state park. We were hoping for campsites here but there weren’t any, so we camped on the dock. While on the dock we met the other boaters (sail boats and power boats) who are traveling the inside passage. 

They were astounded to hear we kayaked from San Juan Island and immediately offered us drinks, canned chicken, broccoli, and one boat (from La Conner!) even gave us fresh baked brownies. They pulled up their crab pot to give us any crab they had but the pot was empty. Oh and a we got a couple glasses of wine. Waterway angels for sure.

Day 8: Another clear day today. We left our friends in Taku Harbor and headed towards Juneau. We passed lots of gillnet boats commercial fishing for sockeye salmon. Crossing Taku Inlet we got to look up into the mountains and see the Devil’s Paw, a large mountain, and the Taku Glacier. Entering the channel to reach Juneau the winds started to pick up. The remaining 8 miles into the town were long and slow, but it was so nice to finally reach the docks. We were lucky to connect with a local paddler, Karla, here in Juneau who found us a place to stay! We packed up our stuff and hoped in the car to meet our host family. Randy and Heather have welcomed us into their home and have offered so much. We will be forever thankful. They also have two boys, ages 6 and 8, so it has been fun learning some of the games they play, including “knee hockey”. Hoping to have a rematch tonight.

Currently hanging out in Juneau for two days before heading off to Skagway-the end of our trip! Our goal is to arrive on July 3rd, hopefully Lynn Canal is kind to us. Brooke’s mom will be there waiting for us and we will turn into tourists before the trip back to Bellingham! 

Rain and Glaciers. Ketchikan to Petersburg

Ketchikan to Petersburg. 8 days, 140 miles. 

This leg was wet. It rained a lot. After hearing how much it rained on us my brother sent me this poem he had seen in the North Cascades Nat’l Park Ranger Station. The poem is written about the Washington State Cascade mountains, but very much applies to us as well. 

It rained and rained and rained—

The average fall was well maintained,

And when the tracks were simply bogs,

It started raining cats and dogs.

After a drought of half an hour,

We had a most refreshing shower,

And then the most curious thing of all,

A gentle rain began to fall.

Next day was also fairly dry,

Save for a deluge from the sky,

Which wetted the party to the skin,

And after that — the rain set in. 

-Anonymous 

Day 1: We left Ketchikan in a light drizzle. Leaving the town we passed cruise ships, industrial docks, fishing boats, and sea planes. None of them seemed to care about two little kayakers. Needless to say it felt good once we were away from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

About 10 miles past Ketchikan, we crossed Behm Canal. We crossed Behm Canal right before Ketchikan, too, and now we are crossing it again, in a different spot. This crossing is about 7 miles and we think is the longest of the trip. Except for a few humpback whales in the distance, it was mostly uneventful as we just talked and played hangman through the rain. 

Once across, we were back on the mainland. We had heard there was a cabin tucked in the woods somewhere along this stretch of shore. We paddled slowly and kept our eyes peeled, checking every little cove. Eventually, we found a spot that looked promising. Paddling closer, we could see something darker in the trees, and sure enough, it was a cabin! 

Spirits were high as we got out of our boats to check it out - though not too high as we had found broken down, or locked, cabins before. 

We were in luck. The cabin was unlocked, clean, stocked with dry wood, a wood burning stove, a gas lamp, and two bunks. It was positively perfect in every way. 

We made a fire and enjoyed the warmth and being out of the rain. After dinner, I (Casey) was pretty toasty with a full belly and a warm fire so I went outside to cool down. Bear spray (essentially just pepper spray) in hand, I was walking on the beach when I heard a Snap! in the trees. I looked up only to make eye contact with a grizzly bear about 30 feet away. Holding the bear spray out I said “hey bear,” with whatever authority I could muster. The bear looked at me for a second or two and then turned and left. 

I ran back to the cabin to grab Brooke - this was the first grizzly of our trip. We walked around a bit to see if the bear was still nearby but it had left. The majority of bears don’t want anything to do with humans and will leave as soon as they know you’re around. 

Day 2: We woke to rain pummeling the tin roof of the cabin. We knew the forecast called for rains and strong winds, so when we looked out to see big crashing waves on our little beach it was an easy decision to stay inside our warm cabin and wait out the storm. 

We spent the day reading, napping, playing cards, looking out for bears, and chopping wood. 

Day 3: The waves and wind were much nicer this morning, so we packed up and said good bye to the magical cabin. Into the rain. Today’s paddle was mostly uneventful. We paddled north up the coast towards the tiny homesteader “town” of Meyers Chuck (pop. 35). 

During the paddle we had a 6 mile stretch that we think is the toughest water we’ve ever paddled in. Big waves were coming in from behind us and then bouncing off of the steep cliffs on the coast. This effect is called clapotis and makes the seas extremely confused and hard to predict. 

So it was with extreme relief when we rounded the corner and entered the protected harbor of Meyers Chuck. At the dock, a couple walked down to greet us. Our conversation when something like this:

“Where are ya coming from?”

“Washington State”

“Nice. Good job. Are you looking for a place to camp?”

“Yes, If that’s possible,”

“Great! We have a spot for ya.”

And so it was that we met Carol and Dan, the couple that lives in the old schoolhouse in Meyers Chuck. We camped on someone’s covered porch (they weren’t home) so we were out of the rain. Dan and Carol gave us a few fresh baked cookies and we were happy. A lady named Cassy bakes cinnamon rolls for the boaters here in Meyers Chuck, but has a minimum order and we didn’t think it was okay to carry 12 cinnamon rolls in our boats...

Day 4: We had a long day planned today. We set out early from Meyers Chuck and rounded the corner into the massive Ernest Sound. It was a long paddle up Ernest Sound with headwinds, tail winds, side winds, and no wind, but always rain. The rain never really stopped, just changed between downpour and light drizzle to something in between. We were very soggy. 

Eventually, after 32 miles, we found our destination: Found Island. We even found a little beach on Found Island and found a spot for a tent in the forest. Lots and lots of banana slugs had to be moved to make way for our tent.

Day 5: Rain pounded the tent most of the night and well into the morning. We made a quick breakfast and started paddling. Everything was wet in one way or another. This was our fifth straight day of rain with only minor breaks. (And Casey woke to a puddle in his dry pants!)

We paddled up through Zimovia Narrows and enjoyed a favorable current all day, as well as a tail wind. Our goal for the day was a campground 5 miles south of Wrangell, a fishing town on Wrangell Island. 

However, when we finally reached the campground location we found that it doesn’t exist anymore. There was a lumber yard and a few homes in the area. We got out of our boats and had enough service to look on our phones for lodging in Wrangell. Using your iPhone with wet hands in the rain isn’t very easy, as the touch screen gets very temperamental. 

During our research we found that the hostel in Wrangell doesn’t open until July 1st. So with camping and the hostel unavailable, we shelled out for a bed and breakfast. 

We paddled the 5 additional miles and got into Wrangell around 7pm. This made it another 32 mile day. The bed and breakfast owner was kind enough to pick us up. We changed and then went into town for dinner. Oh the joys of not cooking your own food in the rain! We had some delicious chicken curry. 

Day 6: We decided not to paddle today. After back to back 32 mile days and 5 days of rain a town day was great. The rain even stopped! It became dry enough and the sun poked out enough for us to set up our tent and tarp and dry everything out. 

We went on a walk up Mt Dewey, which is only about a mile from downtown and enjoyed views of Wrangell and the ocean. 

Day 7: We left Wrangell a few hours before high tide. Today was mostly cloudy with no chance of rain, woohoo!

 Our route today would pass through Dry Straight, an area that dries up at low tide. The mouth of the Stikine River dumps millions of cubic yards of sediment into the ocean here and it all builds up in Dry Strait. We need the tide to be high in order to paddle through. 

The water during this stretch was so murky with silt that we couldn’t see our paddle blades when dipped into the water, let alone the bottom! So we continued on hoping we wouldn’t be surprised by running aground unannounced. 

There was one moment when we touched bottom and had to paddle and push our boats out away from land in order to get to deeper water - pretty scary. But we made it without having to get out of our boats!

Once we made it out of Dry Strait we headed for a cove called Ideal Cove. We had heard of a nice cabin in there so we decided to search for it. Anchored in the cove was a crabbing boat. The captain talked to us and said the cabin was in rough shape and that there is a nice beach a mile farther on, out of the cove. 

He was right. The cabin was falling apart - though it was clearly very lovely a decade or so ago. 

A mile on we did indeed find a nice beach with a tent spot in the woods. The views from camp were beautiful, as the clouds slowly parted they revealed glaciers snowfields amidst rocky peaks high above the ocean. We could even see icebergs!! Floating out of Le Conte Bay from the Le Conte Glacier they lined he opposite side of the channel (5 miles away). Le Conte Glacier is North America’s southernmost tide water glacier. Icebergs were the last thing in Brooke’s “to-see” list, so we joked that we could go home now. We weren’t able to see them up close, so we decided to continue on (A joke of course).

Laying in bed at 8pm we started to hear a noise right next to our tent. Scared it was a bear scratching around we grabbed the bear spray and peered our for a look. No bear. The sound was coming from above us, in a tree. We looked up to see a porcupine! Brooke was ecstatic. We got up and walked around for a better look. It stopped moving and was clearly scared of us. 

Brooke was nervous it would fall as studied have shown that 90% of porcupines have a broken back due to being prone to falling out of the trees they live in. What a creature! 

Day 8: The porcupine saga continues. At 3am our bladders woke us up and we got out to pee. It was still very light out, as it never gets fully dark this time of year in Alaska. We looked into the tree and the porcupine was still there, same spot as before. It started to move so we went into the tent so it wouldn’t be hasty and make a mistake. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before we heard the scratching of its claws on the tree stop, followed quickly by a dull thud. It had fallen, probably about 12 feet to the ground. I got up to see if it was okay, and it seems it was because it was sauntering off on the beach like nothing happened. 

When we eventually woke up (slept in until 8am) we searched the ground for porcupine quills, and sure enough, there they were! We found a lot, and even a couple porcupine hairs. 

After a big breakfast we paddled off towards Petersburg, our resupply town. Today was opening day of Dungeness crab season up here which meant there were about 30 boats zipping around throwing numerous pots into the water all around us. It looked like organized chaos. 

We found a nice place here in Petersburg to stay and are enjoying our rest day. We even have a hot tub! It felt so nice on our muscles, which get less sore now, as long as we drink enough water. This morning we learned that our friend Hannah, who we stopped to see in Aaltanhash inlet is getting to Petersburg tonight! We get to have dinner together again! It is the happiest of news. 

Thanks for reading!! Our next leg takes us up through more wild Alaskan wilderness to Juneau! More icebergs await! 

Into Alaska! Prince Rupert to Ketchikan

Woooweeee!! We cannot believe we actually made it into Alaska. We always said our main goal was to make it to Alaska. Anything between Ketchikan and Skagway is just “bonus.” It looks like we’re going to get those bonus miles because we still have time (nearly a month) before our end date of July 4th. 

Leg 5 of our trip: Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. 110 miles, 5 days. We made good time on this leg and enjoyed a mix of tail winds (yes I said tailwind!!), rain, pacific swell, sun, and headwind. 

Day 1: Day one was a long one. A lot happened. We left Prince Rupert early in the morning. We were excited to leave the industrial cargo ships behind and enter Venn Passage. Venn gets really shallow at low tide, which is when we were paddling through. Our route in the inReach looked like we couldn’t paddle in a straight line. We landed on a beach for a break halfway through the passage and were shocked to see sea pens and nudibranchs in the sand! 

In the San Juan’s, sea pens are rare to see- especially in areas close to the surface. Sea pens live in the sand and are related to jellyfish and anemones. They look similar to a feather quill pen, hence the name.There were tons on this beach, and the nudibranchs all seemed to love the sand as well and had pretty stripes on their backs. Nudibranchs are basically sea slugs, but generally a lot prettier. The one we found is a striped nudibranch. Brooke thinks they are cute.. Here are pictures of them:

Once through Venn Passage we headed north up the mainland coast for a long time with a nice tailwind. We saw some whales in the distance, we think they were orcas, but they were too far to know for sure. We could see their blows and some dorsal fins but so far away. Brooke grabbed her monocular and still couldn’t tell. 

Once we reached our anticipated camp on Meskalyne Island, we had paddled 30 miles. It was only 4:30 and we felt good (shockingly) so we contemplated crossing Portland Canal to another campsite 6 miles away. We eventually decided to cross in the morning, and to look for a camp spot on Meskalyne. Our guide book said on the SE point of the Island that had an abandoned cabin. We were on the NW point so we paddled all the way around the island looking for a good beach, but it was all rocky. 

We passed one beach that seemed landable, but it wasn’t quite the SE point yet. Brooke went to check out that beach while I paddled on to the point. About 5 minutes later, when I got to the point, I found an okay beach. Above the beach, in the grass, was a small animal. It took me a minute to realize that I was watching a PORCUPINE. I radio’d to Brooke that the cove looked campable and there’s a porcupine and she paddled her tail off to get there, but the porcupine had already sauntered into the woods. It was my first porcupine sighting ever, and Brooke was bummed because she had never seen one. 

We explored the cove and found that the “abandoned cabin” our guide book mentioned was demolished. The beach wasn’t great, camping wasn’t great, and there was fresh bear scat in the one good camp spot (sorry Aunt alynn, we forgot to take a picture of it). So that settled it. We were going to cross Portland Canal tonight. By now it was 6pm, and we were getting tired. 

As we left Meskalyne island, we were surprised by a Humpback whale feeding right next to us. It was really cool to watch from so close. It’s hump and tail we’re a little different, so we wondered if it was a grey whale. To be honest, we still aren’t quite sure.. but we are going to go with humpback. 

Portland Canal was not calm. Waves and wind and rain pummeled us the entire crossing. It never felt dangerous and we always felt in control, but it wasn’t a smooth ride. The current was ebbing out of the canal and meeting the currents from around Meskalyne and creating a big rip. When we finally reached Boston Island, we found a white sandy beach to camp on. It was 8:15pm, absolutely POURING, and we were cold. While we were setting up the tent, a pole broke. Perfect. 

I was getting pretty frustrated due to the cold, the rain, and fatigue at this point. However, I looked up and was surprised to see Brooke laughing and smiling, saying “of course it breaks now, when we need it most.” She knew that we would fix it eventually and eat eventually and then sleep, and all would be fine. 

So we got the repair kit, and splinted the tent pole as best we could given the rainy conditions. 

We finally got the tent set up, made dinner, and slept like babies. All was fine and dandy.. (or sandy?) 

Day 2: We were in no rush this morning. The additional 6 miles yesterday evening put us only 13 miles away from Cape Fox, our planned camp for tonight. We slept in, waking up around 7am. We took our time this morning and ate a big breakfast and enjoyed the white sandy and shell beach we were on. We were on the water by 10am and paddled only a few miles before crossing the border and entering Alaska! 

We were ecstatic. It was raining, foggy, and cold but who cares because we made it to Alaska. 

The rest of the paddle went by smoothly, we saw some fishing boats. The rain came down but there was no wind and we watched eagles, loons, scoters, guillemonts, rhinoceros auklets, and other marine birds go about their lives. 

Once at Cape Fox we found another nice white sand beach. The rain had let up and we even had a few breaks of sunshine to dry out our gear.  

Tonight was new moon, meaning the tides were “spring” tides, meaning they go as high and as low as possible. Out here, spring tides reach about 20 feet. After dinner the tide was all the way out so we walked around and looked into all the tide pools, finding sea stars and anemones and other invertebrates. We saw our beach was disappearing and wondered if we were going to be stuck in the morning. 

Day 3: Today was the day we would tackle Dixon Entrance, our 6th and final crux of the trip (although all of Alaska and it’s crazy weather is probably our 7th crux...) We got an early start in the rain and rounded Cape Fox. Luckily for us the swell was minimal, and we were aided by a tail wind and a favorable current for a long time. We passed Tree Point Light, the first lighthouse for us to encounter in the US. We continued on all the way until Foggy Bay, 15 miles later, where we found a nice white sand beach on a small island for a break. The 15 miles took us just under 4 hours - we flew! Foggy bay also marks the end of Dixon Entrance and the exposed waters. The sun even came out and we had a crazy dichotomy of sun when we looked one direction and dark dark clouds the other direction. See here-

After our lunch break we paddled 7 more miles to Kah Shakes Point where we found yet another white sandy/shell beach for camp. Unknowingly at first, we pitched our tent under a bald eagles nest. So we watched the two eagles hunt, soar, and chirp at us all afternoon. 

On our beach we found close to 20 abalone shells. And we werent even trying to find them! We just picked them up when there was one in front of us. The inside of the shells are super pretty and the natives used them for buttons and decorative pieces. 

The skies were really pretty going from cloudy, to sunny, to rainy. 

Day 4: Today was forecast to be very calm, but that wasn’t exactly the case. The winds were coming from the northwest, against us. Oh well. To start this morning we had to carry our boats way down as it was low tide. When we arrived, yesterday, it was high tide and only a 20 foot walk from the water to our camp. Now it was close to 200 feet that we had to carry all our gear and heavy boats. Tides are crazy! 

Once on the water, We crossed Boca De Quadra Inlet, and when we were across we paddled close to shore and gawked at all the invertebrate life clinging to the rocks. We saw so many abalone! In one 30 foot stretch I counted 14, and that’s just the ones out of the water. It’s great to see these endangered species making a come back in some places. They’re so fascinating to watch, as they’re mollusks (related to clams and snails) but they move around very quick. 

After a while we crossed Behm Channel to Revillagegido Island (rev-ee-ya-hee-hay-doh.... or something like that haha). During the crossing of Behm we saw Dalls Porpoise and a humpback. 

 Soon after we ran into a kayaker! She was solo, paddling from Ketchikan all the way south to the mouth of the Columbia in Washington. This was day 3 for her out of 90. 

Eventually we made it to Cone Point, where there supposedly is a “well maintained kayaker campsite.” We never found it. It was also high tide and maybe the beach had disappeared. But we never found a good beach or anywhere that might hold a camp spot, despite looking for an hour and a half. At one point I was checking a small “cove” and looked into the trees (looking for a tent spot) only to see a black bear looking down at me. As soon as we made eye contact it bolted into the trees... I wonder how long it was watching us? 

We decided to leave Cone Point and cross Thorne Arm. It was bumpy and a little slow, but okay. Once across, we found a beach (not great, very rocky) that had a nice flat spot for our tent. It would do. 

Day 5: Ketchikan today! We were only 10 miles away so we took it easy in the morning. The sun was shining and we had a tail wind help us all the way into town. Along the way we saw some odd sites: 

-a procession of 14 small sport fishing boats all fishing for king salmon and all fishing in the exact same spot, moving back and forth in a conga line. 

-a bunch of things floating in the water... looked like birds with bright colors until we got closer and realized they were snorkelers in wet suits! The bright colors were the snorkels. No doubt guests on a cruise ship. 

-the cruise ships. 4 cruise ships arrive daily in Ketchikan bringing 10,000 people. Every. Day. Pulling into the docks we looked way way up and spoke to a couple on their deck, on the ship (the ship was docked). They had also come from Washington. 

-

We met a nice lady named Ann at the yacht club while searching for a place to leave our boats. She started kayaking back in 1992 and dreamed of planning an inside passage trip. She had the time to do it, but it never worked out. Her shoulders, arms, and wrists gave up before she could make the trip happen. She was so excited to meet us and talk to us and even offered her boat to keep our kayaks. We ended up leaving them closer to the main office, but we are planning on spending some time with her today. She sold her house in Anacortes, WA a couple years back and bought a boat! It’s a perfect sized and beautiful boat. What a life! 

Our evening included beer from a local brewery, a burger at the famous Burger Queen, crab cream cheese rangoons, books, and Finding Nemo. Oh and a crazy sunset! Tomorrow will be relaxing and exploring Ketchikan and then starting the journey to Petersburg in Saturday!