I woke up accidentally a couple of times during the night, once at 2:45AM and although it wasn’t bright it wasn’t dark either. It was slightly brighter than a full moon. I also woke up at 4:42AM and it was pretty much full daylight at that time. The only thing was the mountain in the background was casting a shadow on the hills across the water.
I went back to sleep for a little longer and then walked across the street from the hotel to the water to take pictures now that the sun was in the correct location.
This morning I had scheduled a helicopter tour with Helicopter Air Alaska at 9:00 AM, with a scheduled pickup at 8:45.
The skies started to clear up yesterday afternoon. They actually left me a text message yesterday at 4:00PM saying we could go then if we wanted to, but I didn’t see the message until late last night. It was good that we didn’t because the weather was much better today….
The tour I selected was the Combo Tour, you can see more details in the link below. It flew over the town up near the snow on top of the mountain, over a still mirror lake and over to a large waterfall. After the waterfall we landed on Annette Island on a small platform about 1100 feet above sea level.
It was definitely a worthwhile experience. I highly recommend it to all visitors.
After the helicopter tour they kindly dropped us off at Totem Bight State Park. There were 13 totems and a clan house near what used to be Mud Bight. The name was changed after they added the totems and made it a state park. It was a nice trip, and you can get there by bus. In fact I took the bus back to town. It’s only $2 per person each way, but they don’t give change, so you need to be prepared.
inside of clan house inside of clan house front of clan house door to clan house
Here are some pictures I took while on the bus ride back to town from the state park.
failed fast ferry This ship was here to send the failed fast ferries to Spain
After returning to the hotel to retrieve forgotten items (power bank and cable to keep the phones charged) I had lunch at the Bar Harbor Ale House, which is at berth 4 – where I expect the ship to be on Sunday.
the bar Neat chandelier
I decided to try the pork belly and peaches as well as the halibut with apple chutney. Both were great (especially the mac and cheese), although I was a bit more fond of the salmon yesterday. I also had a raspberry wheat beer with my lunch.
Halibut and Mac and Cheese pork belly, salad and halibut pork belly and peaches
After lunch I hiked about 30 minutes to the Totem Heritage Center museum and took some photos along the way.
fish ladder
It was $6 to enter the Totem heritage Center Museum (or $9 for a combination ticket with another museum). The people there were very friendly and answered quite a few questions. I should have rolled video since it was really good information. There were a few historic totems they had preserved as well as a canoe made by steaming the wood to form it. They also had a nice video explaining the area and heritage of the three tribes that live in the area.
front door
After the museum I hiked back to the town next to the stream and down Married Man’s trail to Creek Street and a souvenir shop. I got a reversible fleece / water-resistant jacket with Alaska embroidered on it for $19.99. I did find out there is a local sales tax despite there not being a state sales tax.
I came back to the hotel to recharge myself as it was now 6:00 PM.
I ventured out to get a few more photos and to get some food.
in front of the Totem bar next to the hotel Totem across from the hotel the hotel the view from berth 2
I decided to eat at the 108 Tap House & Burger Bar
I had the Fire House Burger and upgraded the fries to poutine. It was a massive burger, plenty to share and well I didn’t finish it. I did manage to eat all the squeaky cheese.
firehouse burger and poutine
I walked back to the hotel after sunset, but it wasn’t very dark. The lights were on the Ketchikan sign, so I took a couple more pictures.
