Today, our adventure really took off – literally. After all of us getting the longest night of sleep since we started this journey, we awoke to the dock in Wrangell, Alaska. The ferry had made stops in Kake and Petersburg overnight. After spending a little time out on the deck, we had breakfast in the ferry’s cafeteria a little after seven. The morning was pretty uneventful, but we did settle the Spades champion of the world question.
Soon after lunch, the ferry docked in Ketchikan. Ed had talked us all into a seaplane tour, so we deboarded and waited for the van to take us to the plane. We were somewhat concerned about the visibility, as it had been overcast all morning, but once we were in the air, everything was just fine. Our pilot was a very bright, talkative (in a good way) young fellow. He knew a lot about the area and the airplane, a Beaver, in which we were flying. We flew over and into the Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States, and over to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Our pilot explained how much of the land’s unique features had been caused by glacier movement during the ice ages and flew us over two fjords. From the smoothness and the deep scratches in the rocks/mountains, you could tell a great force had pushed through the land.
Our flight took us about 35 minutes out. Then, we landed on Nooya Bay – a beautiful, serene, and isolated place where we almost expected Mr. Rourke and Tattoo to greet us. We pulled up alongside a huge boulder at the water’s edge and deplaned. The water was a clear and cold, and the water flowing down the mountain around and through the snow was a magnificent sight. We stayed at the lake for about 30 minutes – talking, snapping pictures, and taking in the beauty of our surroundings. Our return flight to Ketchikan was as breathtaking as the route out. Our pilot mentioned that he and his passengers often do see bears, eagles, and other animals, but on this trip, we only saw a few mountain goats grazing on one of the mountain tops on our flight out. Upon our arrival back at Southeast Airways, our van driver, a native Alaskan woman, took our two flight-mates back to their cruise ship, gave us a little tour of the town, and returned us to the ferry terminal. Overall, an excellent outing, and Mark, Tom, and Carey were very glad Ed had initiated and coordinated the contact with the flight seeing company. The four of us took a total of over 200 pictures today, and it was very hard to whittle that amount to a reasonable number to post on the website.
Our ferry leaves tonight at about 10:30 p.m. AST and we will arrive in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, at 4:30 a.m. PST. We will likely all hit the hay pretty early tonight, as it will be an early and long day tomorrow. After getting back on the bikes in Prince Rupert, we travel about 480 miles to Prince George, British Columbia.