Ketchikan is the first port on this 7-day cruise and it's a town which has a lot going for it, including Misty Fjord (we went there last year). This time around we decided to step onto dry land and visit the area's newest attraction - the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary. Our primary reason for going there as the Bear Country Wildlife Expedition, a new way to hike and hopefully spot bears.

As we all know you can't predict wildlife, and in spite of the salmon running and plenty of sightings in the days before, the native black bears were proving to be elusive. But after plenty of walking and waiting, we finally had an encounter - it was brief and a bit distant, but hey it was a real bear in the wild! We were treated to an impressive display by a juvenile American bald eagle, however, who left the riverbank to circle above us a few times and land ahead of us on the edge of the walking, giving us some nice photo ops.

Back in town, which was busy with four cruise ships in port, the weather was looking somewhat ominous so we canned the idea of heading out to a native village and tried Ketchikan's newest restaurant, Fish Pirate's Saloon, for a fish burger instead. Ben went with salmon and I went with halibut - both were delicious. Then the mountain peaks disappeared and the heavens opened, so we headed back on board Infinity to relax. It's Alaska in the late summer, and like wildlife, the weather can be a tad unpredictable too!

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