Hoonah

  Monday June 25th 2012


What a difference a day makes! Woke up to rain, overcast and foggy, couldn’t see any of the mountains and barely 2 to 3 miles visibility at sea level. We left the anchorage around 9:30 in a flat calm and exited the park at 11:30 arriving at Hoonah by 2 PM.

Cruise ship entering the park as we were leaving, visibility down to 2 to 3  miles, they won't see much today

The weather changed after we entered Icy Strait, getting rougher and rougher and the last hour was as bad as we have seen this summer. There were 4 foot waves and just about every one sent spray up over the top of the pilothouse. We were safe enough but just not real comfortable for a while. It changed as soon as we turned into Port Frederick Arm and approached Hoonah.
There was a 995 foot cruise ship anchored here as the 3000 passengers visited the 800 population village. Hoonah is a native village,( you can still call them Indians in Alaska) , and is pretty rough and ready but everybody you meet on the docks or on the street are very friendly and says hello to you.

Main street

Side street

More main street

Patiently waiting outside a store

Main street follows and overlooks the docks to the left

We spent some time with a native carver who, with some helpers, is creating a huge wall carving and carved House poles (Totems) which tells the ancestral story of 4 clans of the Tlingit peoples whose historical homeland was in Glacier bay.

Bob with Tlingit carver

Intricately carved masks

Traditional Tlingit carved hat

Huge wall carving

 The advancing glaciers drove them out during the little ice age several hundred years ago and they settled in Hoonah but went back to hunt and fish in Glacier bay as the ice receded during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. When Captain Vancouver charted this area in the late 18^th century the glaciers extended all the way to Icy Strait and Glacier bay was not visible to him. One hundred years later when Tlingit guides took John Muir into the bay the ice had receded a good 30 miles. Since my grandfather was born , in 1885, it has receded at least the same again.

That's us on the end of the dock

This is mainly a fishing port

Crab traps ready for deployment when the season opens

Native fishing boat with clan symbols

The weather forecast is still not too good for the next 24 hours so we may stay over here for an extra day, will decide in the morning when we have an up to date forecast.