MEMORIES OF PETERSBURG ALASKA DURING SALMON SEASON

(Ed.s Note: If a picture is worth 1,000 words, the picture above of a creek in the eastern side of Petersburg, Alaska speaks volumes. Petersburg is located on the north end of Mitkof Island, where the Wrangell Narrows meets Frederick Sound. Petersburg is halfway between Juneau, 120 miles to the north, and Ketchikan, 110 miles to the south. It is as pristine a place as you will find. The creek above runs up into the hills and during the summer it is filled with weary salmon on the last leg of their trip from the cold Pacific Ocean to the place where they were born. Bear tracks cover the muddy banks of the creek indicating that they feast on the migrating fish.

You cannot drive to St. Petersburg. The only way to get there is by boat or ferry or by plane. Amazingly, there is even a Mexican restaurant in Alaska's Little Norway established there by former cannery workers who decided to stay there and resettle.

Wikipedia says that "Mitkof Island is largely covered by low mountains. The lowlands are mainly made up of muskeg, a type of soil made up of plants in various states of decomposition. It is approximately 20 miles from its north end to its south. The western side of the island borders the Wrangell Narrows, one of the six listed in Southeast Alaska. The Narrows provides a somewhat protected waterway for boats, and opens on the south end of the island into Sumner Straits. Mitkof Island has many creeks that empty into the Narrows, including Blind Slough, Falls Creek, Twin Creeks, and Spirit Creek.

According to the National MArine Fisheries Service. the town is the 15th-most lucrative fisheries port in the United States by volume. In 2011, 101 million pounds of fish and shellfish passed through Petersburg, with a dockside value of $65 million. That year Petersburg ranked as 13th in the nation in terms of the value of its catches."