September 27-29, 2024.
After spending nearly the entire summer in Alaska, we finally arrived at our last stop: Ketchikan. Ketchikan is the southernmost city in Southeast Alaska. It’s rugged, mountainous and remote and we were just getting into the rainy season. I was also just recovering from COVID, so a lot of our big hiking plans were sidelined. Nonetheless, we did find some great places to hike both along the coastline and up in the mountains. Here are some highlights.
Ward Lake
1.6 mi. | 200′ ele. gain | 1 hr.
Since I was still recovering from COVID and the weather was really crappy, we headed out to Ward Lake for a 1.5 mile loop hike. It seemed like the perfect little opportunity for me to test out my legs after being bedridden for the last week. We puttered around slowly, savoring all the hues of green. From the moss on the edges of the trail to the head-high shrubbery growing in the understory to the drooping branches reaching down from the treetops, everything was awash in green. Except the…salmon?
I looked down at my feet. Right on the trail, there was a salmon. That, to me, was Alaska in a nutshell. A dead salmon in the forest, giving its last gift: nutrients to raise a new generation of greenery.
As we made our way around the loop, we passed several people. A group of high schoolers who appeared to be taking a PE class? Co-workers on their lunch break. Families out for a walk. It seemed like an easy place for locals to come and enjoy the outdoors. It was just what I needed.
Settler’s Cove
Take the main road all the way to its northern terminus and you’ll end up at Settler’s Cove State Recreation Site. We did this drive late in the evening in hopes of catching some sunset scenery (success) and finding some tidepool critters (failure). We’ve tried and failed several times to go tidepooling in Southeast Alaska. Either our timing is bad or our location scouting is bad or tidepool animals don’t exist here. Aaron wonders if the large tidal exchanges here mean that there aren’t sea anemones and snails and things living in the water filling crevasses between the rocks.
We’ve found lots of leaves in those pools, though. Leaves shaped like sea stars. At least we enjoyed a nice little walk and some pretty sunset colors reflected in the rippling water.
Dude Mountain
3.3 mi. | 1430′ ele. gain| 3:20 hr.
Noting how little time we had in Ketchikan, we decided to stop by the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center to get some advice about hikes to do in the current conditions. The rangers made two recommendations: Dude Mountain and Coast Guard Beach. After checking the weather forecast, they said the best day for Dude Mountain is TODAY. So, we hurried back to the van and drove to the trailhead.
The hike up Dude Mountain is only 3.25 miles round trip. However, you’ve got to climb over 1400′ to reach the top in that short distance. Pretty normal for Alaska, but it would be a big lift for me in my post-COVID haze. My lungs had not quite recovered, so I had to go really slowly and take a lot of breathing breaks. Somehow, we still managed to keep a reasonable pace and had enough time for me to do a painting on top.
The trail itself was a testament to the hard work of Alaska trail builders. Not only did the route go straight up the mountain, much of it was made of boardwalk. So much blood, sweat and tears had gone into constructing this trail. I felt so grateful that someone had the vision to put this together.
As we hiked higher and higher the trees grew smaller and more twisted. Eventually, they mostly gave way to lichens, bedrock and potholes of water. And then, the summit, somewhere. The trail just petered out into a maze of game trails. I fought my way through the krummholz to get to what I could best figure was the actual summit, then we found a nice place to sit and take in the view. We could see the ocean from there, peeking out from beneath the clouds. On the neighboring hillsides, the sparse vegetation wore autumn coats of gold and rust. It was a heck of a good recommendation and a reminder to always talk to a ranger or a local when visiting a new place!
Ketchikan City Walk
It was very important to me to time a Ketchikan city walk on a no-cruise-ship day. I wanted a chance to see the city without tens of thousands of tourists packing the streets. You can find this information on Visit Ketchikan or by searching for “Ketchikan cruise ship schedule.” There, you’ll see the times ships will be in port and how many passengers each one is carrying. In the height of the summer, you are going to be out of luck. But since our visit was at the end of tourist season, we were able to catch a break.
Our walk began on historic Creek Street, where walkways are wooden platforms built along the canal. Brightly painted businesses line the street. Since no tourists were in town, most of the shops were closed, but we did pop into a nice art gallery and a place selling canned salmon and other Alaskan goodies. We talked to the owner of that shop for quite a long time, which is a luxury only afforded to visitors in the off-season.
We walked wherever our curiosity took us. At one end of the boardwalk we stopped to admire a beautiful salmon sculpture. This led us to a salmon trail that followed the creek. We stopped to read the interpretive signs explaining the salmon life cycle. At a little waterfall, we watched salmon valiantly attempting to jump up the cascading water. I think I could do this for hours.
It’s nice to see a city on foot, and ideally with little or no advanced planning. We turned at interesting murals, signs and businesses. We knew it was a small enough downtown that we wouldn’t end up miles from anywhere. And we made our last stop at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant for lunch. The upside of most businesses being closed is that you have fewer decisions to make about where to eat! (It was delicious).
Totem Bight Historic Park
A $5 entrance fee gets you into Totem Bight State Historical Park. This tiny park has an interpretive trail with several totem poles along its edges. You can learn about the symbols and meanings on each pole as you find them in the park. I loved seeing all the artistry and work that was put into each pole. Be sure to grab the informational brochure on your way in to learn about the native people and culture.
The park also houses a clan house that was built to showcase this element of Tlingit and Haida living. Today, it also serves as a place to duck out of the rain. We used it for this purpose but were immediately enchanted with the beautiful woodwork and the feeling of peace we felt while inside it.
At the time we visited, there were many interesting mushrooms in the forest. We also poked around a few small tidepools at the water’s edge. All in all, I’m glad we made this stop and highly recommend a visit if you find yourself in Ketchikan.
Coast Guard Beach
2.3 mi. | 350′ ele. gain | 2:15 hr
On our last good weather day in Ketchikan, we scheduled some time for an evening walk. I remembered the park ranger recommended Coast Guard beach. I checked the USFS Ketchikan Trail Guide (download here) and followed the driving directions to a school parking lot. We headed down an unmarked trail and found ourselves headed through a lush forest. It was absolutely beautiful. We were surrounded by plants that made us feel like we were back in Central Oregon (plus some weird ones). Boardwalks occasionally interrupted the mucky, rooty path. In a mile, we were on the beach.
At last, TIDEPOOLS! With stuff in them! Anemones, tubeworms, crabs, snails, you name it. We hit the jackpot at last. Knowing that we were just on the cusp of low tide, we walked out on the rocks to get up close looks at all the squishy, squiggly, brightly colored creatures.
The only downside was the time. As the sun dropped low in the sky, we knew we were on a bit of a time crunch to get out of there. We enjoyed a wonderfully dazzling sunset over the water before walking back. As we took one last look at the ocean, two sea lions popped their heads out of the water as if to say goodbye. It was an epic way to round out a trip to Alaska and I’m so glad we got the chance to experience it. The last few days of our visit called for wind, rain and dropping temperatures. This was our final hike.