Klawock is about 7 miles by road north of Craig on Prince of Wales Island. Klawock’s early inhabitants were from Tuxekan (a Tlingit winter village to the north), who used Klawock as their summer fishing camp. In 1868, European Americans opened a trading post and a salmon saltery, and in 1878 Klawock was the site of the very first cannery in Alaska. Klawock also has the oldest hatchery in Alaska (sockeye, coho, and steelhead).
The marina in Klawock has plenty of space, but it wasn’t clear where we should tie up. We arrived on a weekend, and the harbormaster was nowhere to be found. Lines and fenders left on the dock suggested permanent tenants occupied much of the space, and the last thing we wanted was to be awakened by an angry fisherman in the middle of the night telling us to move. Thankfully, a friendly local police officer pointed us towards space that wasn’t being used (no power or water, though).
The Klawock Totem Park, just a short walk from the harbor, was on our “to see” list.
The Klawock Totem Park has the largest collection of authentic totem poles in Alaska. There are 21 original and replica totems from the old village of Tuxekan, and they are definitely some of our favorites!
Another carved piece of stone that appears to be very old, like the seal we saw in Hydaburg:
We continued walking to get a feel for the town…there’s a large market (larger than the market in Craig by quite a bit) about a mile from the marina. They’ve got a great selection of fresh produce, which is always a welcome find. Across the street from the market there’s a long house, a newly constructed carving shed (both closed when we visited on the weekend) and an area in the yard where many old totems have been retired. We even spotted a couple originals that we’d seen replicas of in the totem park!
Back at the harbor we took advantage of the internet (well, sort of…it was VERY slow) and got a bit of work done. Dinner on Airship, and an early night. Tomorrow we’ll be heading north. We plan to stop at Sarkar Cove, Devilfish Bay, and the El Capitan Caves, before heading around to Point Baker.
