Friday, July 25

The Wrangell Narrows, between Mitkof Island -- on which Petersburg lies -- and Kupreanof Island, is even narrower than Peril Strait . If you go through it at night, it is called "Christmas Tree Narrows" because of all the red and green lights. During the day you can see a Christmas tree at the narrowest part and fully appreciate the slalom course that the ferry must navigate through the channel. Since we were headed south, we kept the red markers to port, but because it was raining, the colors do not show up well in my picture.

 
Wrangell was the only city on our route in which we did not stay, but we could get out and walk about for half an hour. I was surprised to see several pink flamingoes on my walk.

 
The Guard Island lighthouse welcomed us to Ketchikan in the rain. They make a lot of jokes about the rain in Ketchikan, such as asking a kid how long it has been raining. Answer: "I don't know; I'm only eight years old." The annual rainfall is over 160 inches here, making it one of the rainiest spots in North America. But we soon found a cozy and cheerful restaurant to have dinner, with a beautiful neon sign in its bar. Alaska Amber is in fact very good beer.