After leaving Ketchikan, we crossed Clarence Strait to Prince of Wales Island. We spent our first night in a cove behind Kluanil Island, which featured a very, very narrow entrance and inaccurate depths on the chart – it’s hard to believe how sketchy the charts are this close to a decent sized city in Alaska.
The next day we crossed Kasaan Bay and tied up to the town dock in the village of Kasaan. There is a population of about 60 people, and it’s one of only two villages of Haida heritage in Alaska.
The Haida culture is renowned for their totem poles, and the village of Kasaan has several stunning totem poles located near a traditional longhouse. After tying the boat up at the dock, we walked about a quarter mile through town, then onto a soft, needle covered trail through a lovely forest of spruce, fir and hemlock.
About a half mile later we arrived at the totem area. As usual the weather was a mix of rain showers and low clouds, and it was a neat experience seeing the first of the totem poles towering among the trees in the low mist. The totem poles were quite stunning- we felt fortunate to see them and appreciated that were the only ones there.
