We arrive in Ketchikan early and have about four hours to explore this city. You really get a sense of how sparsely populated Alaska is when you find out that Ketchikan is in the top five population-wise. One thing it does have is a lot of is rain. It rains 90% of the time. With all the rain and there not being a whole lot of sunshine this far north in the winter anyway, it’s not surprising that there’s a high degree of alcoholism, domestic violence and suicide.
We don our raingear and go out to explore. There are houses built on stilts and a rushing stream that flows through town. The water is teeming with salmon that are trying to go upstream to spawn. Apparently there hasn’t been enough rain in the last week so the water is not quite deep enough for the king salmon to make the journey. They won’t use the fish ladder because they are too big. So they are gill to gill waiting for the water to rise.
There are also a ton of stores in Ketchikan. Selling stuff to tourists is a big industry. I’m not a good shopper but Karen and Peggy both got some pretty jewelry here.
Later, back on the boat, we play trivia for a second time and win in a tie breaker. Most of us are afraid to stick with our answers if they disagree with John’s. We need to be braver.
Dinner, show, bar, bed.