Ketchikan - Misty Fjords

misc last eve & this morning

I'm staying in a little inn, really the lower level of someone's home. These were taken last night & this morning from the balcony here.


A great little coffee shop across the street from the cruise ship docks featured this mural of downtown Ketchikan & this poster advertising the brand of coffee they sell. 

The bar next to the coffee shop was open & serving beer at 9am, & the huge souvenir shop had this polar bear acting as bouncer.


The rare item in this picture is not the carved eagle, it's the sun peaking out in Ketchikan. 


Misty Fjords National Monument boat tour

There were 7 cruise ships in Ketchikan today, so downtown was a madhouse. Fortunately, we sailed away on a tour boat. The beach to the right of this cool rock is home to about 50 seals. 

Ketchikan gets about 2 days of summer weather, & those days came yesterday & today. Summer weather here means a high over 60* & periods of sun. So, Misty Fjords wasn't as misty a usual, but still pretty nice. 





Herring Cove bear viewing

There were at least 5 bears there this evening including a mama with 2 cubs. Since they wandered in & out of view, the group of us there watching couldn't be sure how many there were, but 5 were in view at once. While close enough to see well through binoculars, they were too far away to get good pics with my phone. This represented a bucket list item for me as mama caught & ate a fish!


*   *   *   *   *

Wildlife sightings (not counting those in the conservation preserve or the aquarium)

--> --> today: ~ 50 seals         1 whale spout, not sure what kind

        2 Sitka deer (small with a black tail)        5+ black bears (2 cubs)

--> --> trip total so far: 

    black bears - 11        deer - 5 (3 Sitka)               grizzlies - 1            moose - 8

    stone sheep - 8        elk - 1                   caribou - 15            bison - 42    

    Dall sheep - 11        porcupines -1         mountain goats - 1       lynx - 1

    trumpeter swans - 32+        many bald eagles    black oyster catcher - 1 (rare)

    sea otters - 27             harbor seals - many, many         orcas - 1

    many sea stars & jelly fish        Dall's porpoise - ~ 20

    North Pacific Humpback whales - 2 pods of ~ 12 each + 1

    Stellar's sea lions - many, 100+ incl 60 pups in 1 spot (counted by scientists)

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