Mike, our guide and driver (and owner of the business) was so enthusiastic and keen for us to enjoy his town. He gave us many a story of its early days, the way the waterfront was converted from a forest to a lumber mill and how the original owners (First Americans) provided the land that surrounded their summer salmon catching grounds for this mill (it operated until 1979 I think and then the whole area was demolished and the town we see today built to service the tourist industry).
Mike took us to a viewing point over the Ketchikan Creek where the salmon were running. This was rushing down the mountain side and the salmon were swimming up against the flow to reach the spawning grounds to lay their eggs and have them fertilized before dying of exhaustion (when they head for home after 3-4 years over the other side of the Pacific they do not eat and generally use up all their reserves before spawning). At this point is a salmon ladder (the prototype for all others used in the US) to make it easy for the salmon to get to their spawning grounds and it was well in use.
Next to the creek is the remnants of an early salmon hatchery developed by the First Americans in the 19th Century. They realised they were depleting their fish stocks so developed a way of spawning fingerlings and releasing them back into the creek ready for their journey across the Pacific and back again – salmon keep a drop of water from their home creek stored, and when it is time to spawn, then use geomagnetic tracking to get back to the creek that has the same chemical composition as their stored drop.
Mike took us along the seaside, where we saw bald eagles (bald meaning white headed, not without hair), sea lions, and sea otters as well as more salmon. He took us for a short walk down by the sea and told us about the year 8 camp each child on Ketchikan does. They are dropped across onto another island with minimal supplies and are required to survive for 3 days and 4 nights. It is so that they can survive if ever they are stranded on any of the islands around Ketchikan – a sensible training activity given the sparseness of the terrain and lack of human habitation.
As we continued along the road, Mike sensed that there might be a bear out foraging and sure enough he was right. We, and a few others, were able to see a male black bear foraging in the asparagus grass and near a salmon filled creek. We waited but the bear disappeared.
So, on we went to the beautiful waterfall near the end of the road. The water temperature was not too bad and despite Mike’s attempts to find its source, he has not found it yet.
Back to see if the bear had re-appeared – no, but in the inlet nearby sea lions or sea otters grazed on salmon, and appeared to be well fed.
Onward to the Saxman Historic Totem Row Park. Here Mike described the reason for carving these totems, what they symbolize, what value each tribe attached to them and describes some that are prominent in the park. It was a most illuminating explanation and informed us a lot about what totems were all about.
Mike returned us to our pickup point after a most enlightening morning and a bit of touring. We enjoyed his enthusiasm for showing us his township and explaining some of the First American culture and the wildlife.