I suppose an Alaska cruise starts appealing to someone once they reach the time in their life when they realize cruises are more than tropical climes, sunburns, and Jimmy Buffett music. I remember when I was younger, thinking that a cruise in cold weather didn't make sense. How wrong I was. Sort of like the time we decided to take a Carnival cruise during spring break with a ship full of college students. BIG MISTAKE.
Having taken a couple of cruises on large ships, we opted for a small ship, the Pacific Princess. With only 600 passengers, it was just what we wanted. With the help of our travel agent, Margo Kyger, at
http://gullivers.com/ we scored a suite that so nice we spent most of our time on our own private balcony observing the beauty of the the Pacific Northwest as we cruised toward the inside passage of Alaska.
Being the adventurous types that we are, we rarely opt for planned excursions or tours when we travel. Being on a cruise ship is the closest we come to a planned itinerary, and true to form, we didn't pick any of the ship planned excursions, but did some research beforehand and chose our own outings.
After asking many of our friends about their experiences, I wanted to either take a plane or helicopter to visit a glacier or fly over the remote areas. However, a couple of weeks before our cruise, a plane had crashed on such an excursion, killing all aboard, so Vickie decreed that was out of the question. So plan B was developed and at our first port of call, Ketchikan, we tried something new for both of us, sea kayaking.
Ketchikan receives over 200 days of rain per year, but our day there was sunny and 72 degrees, perfect for our outing.
http://www.kayakketchikan.com/ was our chosen expedition. We took a small boat to a beautiful remote area, Orcas Cove, where the kayaks were waiting, and for several hours we witnessed eagles, dolphins, and other wildlife up close and personal, without getting wet. No Orcas however.
Cruising the inside passage is a scenic treat in and of itself. With snow capped mountains as far as you can see of the eastern side, and beautiful forests on the western side, we were traveling thorough the Tongass National Forest. At 17 million acres, it is the largest national forest in the USA. One night at dinner, sharing a table with our French speaking table companions, we saw a large pod of Orcas swimming alongside our ship, an amazing site.
Our second stop was in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. It is the only state capital with no roads or highways connecting it to the rest of North America. As one of the locals said, there are only three ways into Juneau; plane, boat, or birth canal.
The excursion chosen here was a boat ride into the Tracy Arm fjord, and a visit to the massive Sawyer glacier. While a long ride, the icebergs, whales, and calving of the glacier were rewards that made the long day quite enjoyable.
Our third excursion was in Skagway. We took the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway for about an hours ride to the trail-head for the Laughton Glacier. With almost all of the passengers remaining on the train for the several hours round-trip, our small group of hikers departed with our gear and excitement for the hike ahead of us. The trail began in old growth rain forest, and as we climbed higher, the trail became more rocky. After a couple of hours, we reached a lookout area, with a 360 view of mountain and the massive Laughton Glacier. As we reached the glacier, we attached crampons to our hiking shoes to continue onto the ever changing frozen glacier. As we were there in August, there was glacier melt and we were constantly having to avoid the crevasses and other dangerous features of the frozen landscape. After sandwiches and hot drinks, we departed the glacier, hiked back down the trail, and met the returning train for the scenic ride back to Skagway.
We saw many of our fellow passengers in Skagway, browsing the cheesy souvenir shops and the dozens of jewelry stores. We commented to each other that it seemed such a waste to travel to Alaska, and spend your time shopping for stuff you could buy in the mall at home.
The remainder of the cruise was spent enjoying the passing scenery, listening to the nature guides tell of all we were seeing, and viewing the magnificent glaciers and mountains that seemed to be never-ending. Realizing that this cruise did not even allow us to see the main largest part of this massive state, I quickly realized that another trip to Alaska should definitely be on our agenda.
Arriving at our last stop, Whittier, the wind was so strong that the ship's captain had to try three times to dock before being successful. Whittier is the port closest to Anchorage, a former military base built in WWII, and consists of a population of about 200 persons. All of these people live in one high rise apartment building built in the '50's. Next to this building is another smaller building attached by a tunnel, which houses all of the other shops, services, and school. Whittier is the port for the Alaska Marine Highway, consisting of boats, ferries, and ships that service all of southern Alaska, and the towns and cities which have no land access. Whittier is also the terminus for the railroad, which carries many passengers to Anchorage and points beyond in mainland Alaska. A one lane tunnel is used by both the railroad and cars and buses.
Taking the bus to Anchorage, we arrived the same day President Obama was making a visit to Anchorage, commemorating the name change of the tallest mountain in Alaska from Mt. McKinley to Mt. Denali. Knowing that another visit to Alaska should be in our plans, we boarded our Air Canada flight back to Vancouver, and the final portions of our Alaska Adventure.
A little hard to see, but the rain gauge in Ketchikan, where rain falls most days of the year
This eagle was keeping watch over our ship
Lot's of icebergs in the Tracy Arm fjord
These glaciers are constantly growing and shrinking. Today, in August, it was shrinking.
Our little group, ready for a hike to the Laughton glacier
Treacherous hiking on ice and snow.
Quick scenery change, coming down from the glacier into the rain forest.
Back to Skagway, with this little guy following our train.