Continued from Juneau Part 2 (City Highlights)
The first stop on our Alaskan Cruise on Ruby Princess last summer was in Ketchikan, a small seaside town in southeast Alaska surrounded by Tongass National Forest only accessible by boat or plane. As a first introduction to Alaska, this was rugged and beautiful, everything I had hoped Alaska would be.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, Red Shoes. Red Wine. will earn a small commission for the referral at no cost to you. Read more about affiliates & disclaimers here. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
The pier was a large extension of the city with plenty of places to shop, have a drink, and have something to eat (hello, salmon!). But we had an excursion to enjoy first!
Our excursion was the Back Country Jeep & Canoe Safari tour, which appealed to the adventurers in my husband and I. We were taken to Lake Harriet Hunt in Tongass National Forest where we were outfitted for a short canoe ride across the lake.
How they managed to get about 20 tourists to successful navigate across a lake is beyond me, but we didn’t flip over, and no one got knocked in the head with an ore. That was fun!
When we arrived on the other side of the lake, we did a short guided hike (more like walkabout) through the forest and checked out the local flora, fauna (slugs, gross), and rocks.
After our hike, we were treated to a picnic of smoked salmon and chowder before rowing back across the lake where we were met with a pack of Jeeps!
Everyone picked a Jeep in groups of 3-4 and we drove through the forest taking turns driving. Having a Jeep at home, we were familiar with the road hugging bouncy ride, but driving through the forest in Alaska as opposed to flat Houston was a lovely change.
We drove up to a high peak overlook, snapped a bunch of pictures while enjoying the cool Alaskan sunshine, changed drivers, and drove back down to sea level.
I wore my running watch that day and “logged a run” during our canoe ride, hike, and Jeep ride so I could find our locations later. Here are the maps of our journey:
Back at the pier with several hours to kill, we enjoyed some shopping, drinks, and more chowder. This port was gorgeous and we couldn’t have had better weather, so we spent time on the deck of our Ruby Princess and watched boats and seaplanes come in from other excursions, and spotted bald eagles flying over the port.
What a perfect day! Have you ever been to Ketchikan?
Up next: Skagway Sled Dog Experience
In some of the photos above, you might notice me wearing a trench coat. That’s my travel cold/chilly/wet weather staple, SCOTTeVEST Women’s Trench Coat – 18 Pockets – Travel Clothing BLK M, that I always take abroad. My trench(es) have been all over the United States, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. I have it in black, mist (light grey), and my mother has it in sage. We LOVE them. For more information on these trench coats, visit SCOTTeVest’s website.