Bight Me

So, let’s talk totem poles. One of the most iconic symbols of the Pacific Northwest, totem poles were used as cultural symbols for the Pacific Northwest tribes. They told the story of the family that they guarded, its history, lineage, legends and wealth. The artists that were hired to create these works of art were highly regarded within their tribe and the raising of the totem pole was always accompanied by a potlatch (a feast where the family would celebrate by giving away as much of their worldly goods as they could.).

As late as the mid-1800’s, there were hundreds of these masterpieces clustered around clan houses from the Puget Sound north along the Canadian and Alaskan coastlines. Unfortunately, when the missionaries moved in, the totem pole tradition moved out and it wasn’t until someone with a brain decided, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t let this art form die” that the totem pole was rescued from the same fate as the dodo. So, in the 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps started salvaging poles and hiring native artists to restore and/or replicate unsalvageable poles using the same tools and methods as their ancestors. The elder carvers passed on the skills to the younger carver and, thus, the totem pole was saved. Don’t you love happy endings?

Luckily, here in Ketchikan, there are two totem parks where you can go to view some of these historic totem poles and also witness new poles being created. One of the parks, Totem Bight Historical State Park, is just down the road from where we’re staying so Erik and I headed on over. I have to say, the setting is just beautiful. You wander through dense rainforest until the trail opens up onto this point with 3 totem poles facing the Narrows with the long house dominating the rocky bluff overlooking the water. It was so impressive stumbling upon it from the land, I can only imagine how breathtaking it would have been discovering it from the sea.

And for me, I’d say the most impressive part was the long house. To think it was constructed by hand using tools made of stone and bone is unbelievable. The smoothness of the walls and flooring, the detail of the carvings and the sheer size of both the long house and the totem poles are just mind-blowing!

I now have a much greater appreciation of these massive works of art and hope each and every one of you gets the opportunity to one day walk among these magnificent, monolithic storytellers. And for all of you who are sitting there scratching your head and wondering, What the heck is a bight?, you’re just going to have to keep on scratching! (Ok, kidding, a bight is just a curve in the shoreline that looks, shall we say, almost as if someone took a “bite” out of it. Hey, if you don’t believe me, look it up!)

ALASKA

We can't believe we're here! I am getting the same "pinch me" moment that I used to get when I first moved to Montana (and for about 2 years after). I just couldn't believe that I was there, or that I am here right now. We've been here for one week exactly. Okay, we actually arrived at 1 am last Sunday morning via the ferry, but close enough. The week has been busy with starting my new assignment at Ketchikan General Hospital and we have tried to get the feel of the town. Ketchikan is an interesting town. It's a mix of locals doing their local thing and hoards of tourists coming off of the cruise ships. It's a busy town. Downtown is right on the water and on Ketchikan Creek. It has a really cool feel, part homey, part Disneyland. That may frighten some people, but strangely, it works. Just be careful not to run over some octogenarian blindly crossing the street!


The entire road system is essentially one road running north to south. There are only about 30 miles of paved roads on the island and we are about 13 miles north of downtown at Clover Pass RV Park. I have either a 13 mile bike ride or van ride to and from work everyday. I am trying to ride at least 3 days per week to keep gas usage down and aside from the blowout I had last Monday morning, it has worked out nicely.


The sun rises at 4 am and sets at 10 pm, but it doesn't get dark until about 11 pm. We are SLOWLY getting used to going to bed and waking up to the sun. As an aside, the pups are still on Montana time that means they are raring to go at, oh, 5:15 at the latest. So we have begun going out for our daily hike at 5:30 or so. We are getting an hour plus hike in before everyone else has even put on the coffee.

And finally, the beauty. So far Alaska has not disappointed either Susan or I. After work on Friday we went for a drive on the other half of the road, south from town, and saw a pod of Orcas moving up the straight. One was very close to shore, perhaps 150 yards or so, and some of the others were breaching. Farther along the road we watched salmon jumping in a cove and we passed several waterfalls. Alaska is a wild place and the wilderness is a part of every one's life.


We are so excited to be here and will take this opportunity to make the most of this leg of our adventure. Stay tuned for more stories from "The Last Frontier."

PS. Our temporary address is: PO Box 985 Ward Cove, AK 99928

Brave New World

Creek St in Ketchikan

1500 miles, a five hour ferry boat ride and a night in the Walmart parking lot later and we have made it to our new city. Ketchikan greeted us with open arms and sunny weather and we couldn't be happier. Can you believe we're in Alaska?! Ha, we can't either!

There are so many new and exciting things to discover and with only one day to get a lay of the land before Erik started work this morning, we jumped right in. We drove from one end of the road to the other, checked out trails, hit the tourist areas downtown and watched the tourists from the cruise ships wander aimlessly. We tasted some local cuisine, tried to find a bike shop (no luck) and scoped out the best kayak launch sites (the best is right from our own backyard).

Oh, and one of the first things Erik did was get his fishing license as fishing fever is in full swing. He's even talking about giving up running and cycling so he can concentrate on landing the "big" one (I'll believe that when I see it!). I guess it didn't help to hear hourly updates on the King Salmon Fishing Derby that was taking place this weekend (for all of you fishing maniacs, and you know who you are, the winner landed a 44.2 lb whopper on the last day of the competition). I've noticed that when we meet people here, the first question is "Where are you from?" and the second is, " Have you been out fishing yet?".

And another thing I've noticed is there are bald eagles EVERYWHERE! Instead of seagulls, Alaska has eagles. And instead of roosters crowing, we woke to the sound of eagles chortling. Yes, chortling. There is a whole, umm, flock? of them in the trees above our motorhome and they sit out there and gurgle and chortle at each other. It's actually quite fascinating and is so interesting to listen to. I expected a shrieking cry and I get gurgles and chortles. In the evening, they decided to play and were swooping and diving and chirping at each other and it was like watching an aerial ballet. And they are so HUGE! Like flying dogs. I wonder if we'll ever get tired of watching them. I mean, do the people of Ketchikan take them for granted the way we take, say, pigeons for granted or will they always make you stop and catch your breath as they swoop and glide around you? It will be interesting to find out.




One thing I do know that I won't get tired of is the view from our "backyard"! Are you kidding me?! Just looking at the picture makes me want to grab my kayak and get out there. Clover Pass Resort is on a small cove on the northwestern part of the island and supposedly we are on the "sunny" side. With 200 inches of rain a year, I can't believe there is a sunny side but, hey, so far the weather has been beautiful, I have eagles dancing outside my window and the waters of the Inside Passage are just begging to be explored.

So, to all of you who sent us your prayers and good wishes for a safe trip...Thank you! And for all of you adventurers out there that want to visit a postcard perfect setting, we have an extra kayak to paddle and I'll race you to the water!