The second stop on our private Ketchikan tour was a hike in the Tongass National Forest. We walked the Ward Creek Trail, which our guide billed as a “locals” trail. Indeed, we saw a handful of people out walking their dogs but not a single other tourist.
The start of the trail is an old gravel road. The trail is wide and primarily flat, with just a few easy sloping hills. It passes through lush rainforest as it follows along the creek.
We had barely gotten into the rainforest when our guide Natalie spotted a black slug on the trail. She immediately picked it up and started teaching the boys all about them. When slugs are picked up, they sometimes contract into a semi-circle. Natalie showed the boys how to gently pet their backs to get them to open back up. (She also taught them to let the slime they leave behind on your skin dry completely and it will just rub right off.)
My youngest was absolutely fascinated by this and spent most of the walk spotting more slugs along the side and picking them up. He even spotted a cool white one.
While my youngest was searching for slugs along the walk, the other boys were completing a scavenger hunt that Natalie provided. They had a great time, and she was endlessly patient while they went off on tangents trying to complete the hunt.
One of the coolest things we saw on the hike was an enormous beaver dam. This was not just a few branches blocking a small section of a creek. This was entire trees piled 20 deep blocking off a huge part of the creek. I almost didn’t believe Natalie when she first pointed it out and told us what it was. We were amazed that those little animals could take down so many trees. It was impossible to get a good picture through the trees, but the shot below gives some idea of its size. (The fallen tree in the center of the picture is the start and it continues all the way off the screen to the right.)
One other cool find on the hike was a Steller’s Jay. This bright blue bird with a black head blends in well with the dense woods. Natalie heard its distinct call first and we all froze and looked around. My husband spotted it on a branch and then it swooped around in the woods beside us for a while. (It proved much harder to photograph than the slugs!)
As we continued our walk, Natalie taught us all about the plant life of the rainforest. She was extremely knowledgeable and clearly had a passion for the natural treasures surrounding her hometown. (She had already hiked something like 12 miles before picking us up for our tour.)
We stopped at a muskeg, or peat bog, field. In muskegs, the ground is mostly made of decomposing plants, covered by a layer of water on which moss grows. The ground was spongy and waterlogged and Natalie made sure nobody walked on it because of the danger of falling through. The nearly empty field with dying trees was such an interesting contrast to the surrounding rainforest.
We continued on a little further before reaching our turnaround point. We heard the creek start to change from a babbling to a rumbling as we made our way up to one of the bear viewing decks. White water rushed down a steep section of the creek, creating a small but powerful waterfall. We stopped to rest for a while and enjoy the sights and sounds of Alaska’s rainforest.
We headed back the same way we came, completing an out and back hike of about 1 mile. We really enjoyed our rainforest walk. It didn’t having the sweeping views and stunning vistas that we had seen in our previous destinations but was gorgeous in its own way. Walking deep into the rainforest and learning about the plants and trees around us definitely gave us an appreciation for this unique ecosystem.
