On to Petersburg (July 3rd - 6th)

We departed Juneau at O-DARK-THIRTY (roughly 2am) on Wednesday night/Thursday morning on the AK Marine Ferry aboard the MV Malaspina.  She was a gorgeous ship shimming as she was docked at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal.

We arrived at the required two hours prior to sailing, so it was needless to say, a long night.  But once aboard, we were able to get to our berth and settle in for a good night's sleep.   But more about our ferry accommodations later in the blog.

We arrived in Petersburg as scheduled, mid-afternoon on 4th of July.  Most of the village celebrations, including fireworks, were the night before.  There were some festival type events happening around town including cookouts and music, but we opted to get to our hotel, and figure out something for dinner since most places in town were closed.  Turns out, pizza delivery was our best option, which was pretty darn good!

For Friday 7/5 we had a car reserved for the day to provide us with an opportunity to cruise around the island, and up into the rain forest.  Tongass National Forest is stretched throughout SE Alaska, and our time here provided an adventure to hopefully see some of the "real Alaska" away from tourists and the trappings that come with the cruise industry in this region of Alaska.  Petersburg was the perfect first stop given very few ships come here, and those that do, are smaller boutique style adventures.

As we headed up out of town, we didn't have to get very far to be into the forest and to see some of the beautiful "Sitka Deer" that are found throughout these islands.  She was initially hidden in the brush on a hill along the road.  She looked up at us, and posed as if to say "You can't see me!" so I snapped her photo and moved on.

We eventually left the paved road and headed up into the USDA National Forest land, on well maintained gravel roads.  We had a map to help us navigate, but at times it wasn't much help because it was difficult to know which "roads" were for cars and which ones were more for ATV/4-wheelers.  But we managed alright, avoiding any catastrophes along the way!

Once up in the mountains, the scenery was beautiful.  The forest was lush and thick as you would expect it to be given the amount of rain and daylight, especially during the summer.  Weather for our trip was particularly warm, which we believe affected the activities of wildlife (especially bears).  This island is known to have both black and brown bears, although we only saw a single black sow with a first year cub during our morning drive in the forest.

I'm pretty sure the animals up here are very skiddish to any human activity or noise, so our car driving up on a gravel road would have them scampering off.  That was the case with the black bears we saw, as they were a mere flash along the treeline.  I was fortunate to get this shot before *poof* and they were gone!  As you look at the photo, you can barely see her along the edge of the forest.

We also saw one of the more illusive mammals from the Alaskan forest . . . a wolverine!  It was more than a couple hundred yards away, crossing the road on the hill across from where we were.  By the time we got to a stop so I could take a photo, it was gone.  Just like that . . . another *poof* and gone!  Once we had ventured as far into the forest as we felt it safe to go, we turned around and headed back towards town.

Before getting into Petersburg, we stopped at the Blind Slough Picnic Area, which was also near their fish hatchery.  There, we enjoyed watching the kids playing in the water, jumping off the bridge into what they said was around 10 feet of water.  When asked about touching bottom, one girl said "Oh it's way deep, I've only touched the bottom once ever!"  Given the air temps were close to 80f, these Alaskans were cooling off in any way they could.  (I should note . . . not a single hotel we stayed in over our three weeks had air conditioning!)

As we cruised through the "downtown" area of Petersburg, we noted places we would want to visit on Saturday when we have the day to walk around and visit the museums, shops, etc.  On the other side of town was another park area at Sandy Beach.  There we saw a local family along with some kids from a nearby campground paddleboarding in the bay.  Swimming with them was a small otter who was as curious about them as they were about it.  Unfortunately, we couldn't really get a decent photo of the animal.  It was fun to see these folks enjoying the water, without a care in the world.
 
We had the rental car available to us until 10a on Saturday, but I opted to sleep in rather than venture out to try to find bears at daybreak.  The fact was, the area was too remote, and without cell service, for me to be out and about by myself.  If the car were to breakdown or I would get a flat tire, I'd be stranded for who knows how long. It just wasn't a safe thing to do, and I knew David didn't want to get up at 6a if he didn't have to.

We checked out of our hotel as scheduled, leaving our bags with them until we needed to be taken down to the ferry later in the day for our return ferry trip to Juneau.  We walked around town, visiting the Clausen Memorial Museum, the Petersburg Visitor Center and the shops along Main Street.  At Coastal Cold Storage, I was interested in seeing the inside because they had been recommended as "the best place to eat seafood" but it really looked more like a retail fish market.

They had a full refrigerated case area with lots of local fish just caught and prepared that morning or the afternoon before.  They did offer some prepared food items inside as well, including a chowder that one lady told me was outstanding.   Having already had a rather large breakfast before leaving our hotel, we weren't really very hungry so we passed on lunch here.

Outside, I talked with a fisherman who was rummaging through a large tote of ice.  He pulled up the large scrap piece of a recently filleted halibut.  He told me he uses the scraps for his crab pots, which he would be setting out shortly.  Truly in the Alaskan culture, nothing goes to waste. I like that!

All in all, we both enjoyed Petersburg.  Located on the Mitkoff Island originally inhabited by the Tlingit Tribe, people indigenous to this region of Alaska for centuries.  Explorers from Norway discovered and settled here in the 19th century to establish a flourishing fishing community.  I liked this is still just a small fishing village, with the livelihood of the locals dependent on the waters around them.  The large canneries are feeding their people (through jobs) and others around the world perhaps, with delicious salmon and other fish.  Check out the trash cans seen around town, depicting the various canned fish processed here in Petersburg.

We were told that these island villages are often very moderate in temperature with little snowfall in the winter; and without the high summer heat, although the recent week or two, was an exception. If only it wasn't so remote . . . or maybe because it is so remote?  I would love to live here!

A House On the Water

Sons of Norway Hall - Bingo on Friday Nights!

Von at the Clausen Memorial Museum