The morning was spent at sea, cruising through the northern channels as we made our approach toward Chichagof Island. Ocean mornings on a ship this size have a comfortable rhythm, leaving plenty of time to sit by a window with a coffee and watch the coastal landscape gradually narrow.
We docked at the Wilderness Dock near Hoonah right on schedule at 1:30 in the afternoon. From there, we walked the coastal trail over to the old cannery to stretch our legs along the shore, holding off on the free gondola until our return later in the day. Originally built in 1912 by the Hoonah Packing Company, the facility processed salmon for four decades before shuttering in 1953, famously housing much of the local population after a disastrous fire leveled the town in 1944. The Huna Totem Corporation has done a splendid job restoring the site, keeping the original 1930s butchering machinery, steam retorts, and mechanized canning lines intact inside the museum buildings.
Hoonah itself was one of the main reasons we jumped at this itinerary in the first place, as neither of us had ever been to the town. We bought a ride on an old converted school bus into the city proper to see what the actual community looks like beyond the restored cannery precinct. It was a great way to get a grounded sense of the area.
The Solstice remained tied up late into the evening, finally pushing off from the pier around 10:00. Watching the wilderness slide past under the lingering northern dusk made for a quiet, satisfying conclusion to our first official Alaskan port call.
