June 5, 2025
This is our last day in Ketchikan. We are off to the Misty Fjords National Park tomorrow morning. The challenge we face is that 2 of the inlets are deep only have ONE, just, ONE buoy to tie on to. We scored one two years ago and are hoping for the best this weekend.
It’s been great staying in the basin. We are close to everything save for the Safeway. We took a trek out today to top up the fridges and also found a Single Malt Scotch that we love and don’t find to often.
We have been to this distillery in Scotland with our son Matthias and his partner Melinda. It’s a great fruity, reasonably light scotch. Drinks like a MacCallan Scotch but hard to find. For the second year in a row we found it in Alaska. I know everyone is looking at this picture and saying, “Whoa, looks pretty drained down.” It’s an optical illusion. Also, it’s been raining non stop all day and scotch, as you know, helps you keep warm. Ha, ha.
Last observation is the “local nature” of Alaska. Seems like everyone is into nature. Yesterday a long time native of 50 years here in Ketchikan who keeps his boat her at the “yacht club” dropped by to tell us about some of his favorite inlets and harbors in Alaska. In the conversation we come to find out that he is a big hunter of deer in particular. He told us of several close encounters with Black Bears and Grizzlies out in the wilderness. He told us he is pretty sure that neither cancer or a heart attack will get him. It will be a bear and he’s OK with that. Carrying this forward the local Ketchikan news ends their broadcast with a bear story, a siting, an incident, something. “Toto we are not in Kansas anymore.”