INSIDE PASSAGE

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Saturday, 24 July:  En route to Ketchikan - Today we boarded the M/V Matanuksa, one ship in the fleet of nine ferries that comprise the Alaska Marine Highway System.  These ferries (most commonly referred to as the AMHS) provide service to the villages of the Inside Passage that are accessible only by sea; that is, there are no roads connecting them to any other towns.  After securing our Accord on the car deck, we went upstairs to a “recliner lounge” and  settled in to enjoy the 6 hour ride from Prince Rupert, B.C. to Ketchikan, AK. 

Although the day began with drizzling rain, it cleared as we went north so we had some really nice views of the islands and coastal mountains that comprise the southern end of the Inside Passage.  We also took advantage of a lecture given by a U.S. Park Ranger who explained that we were traveling through the Tongass National Rain Forest that comprises some 17 million acres of land, islands & sea.  We docked at Ketchikan’s ferry terminal as it was now late afternoon, we didn’t do any touring.  We found a great dinner of halibut tacos and pasta with halibut.  Welcome to Alaska’s great treats from the sea!  Yum, yum!!!

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Sunday, 25 July:  Ketchikan - Today we took a fly/cruise tour of Misty Fiord National Park.  Thankfully, it wasn’t too misty so we got lots of great views.  We took a 30 minute ride on a float plane that subsequently docked with a catamaran in the fiords.  We saw the fiords first from the air and then got a closer look as we quietly motored from spot to spot making our way back to Ketchikan.  Again, it was quite beautiful & untouched by man.

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Monday, 26 July:  Ketchikan - This morning we toured the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, a collection of exhibits describing heritage of the area, including the history of its native peoples, the Tlingets & Haida.  It was very informative and worthwhile.  Next, we went to Totem Bight, a park containing numerous totem poles and a clan house.  The park is set on a small, sheltered bay that looks like some had taken “a bite” from the land as the seashore curves just like the shape or a cookie with a missing bit.  Hence, the term “bight” for describing the setting.  The park had incredible totems with the largest being over 70’ tall!  Each was carved with various images which often included bears, frogs, eagles and ravens.  Also, the use of eye carvings, human and animal) was quite extensive and often times had these images within other eye images (an eye within an eye).

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We also walked through the Creek Street district, a collection of wooden houses built on stilts.  This was Ketchikan’s former “red lite” district now revitalized into artist shops and, yes, a few touristy spots featuring the ladies of the night.  We ended our day boarding the M/V Kennicott, our overnight home for the trip to Wrangell.  We were really impressed with the cabins.  What a bargain and a great way to sleep and shower so you can be ready to go touring as soon as the ship docks and we offload the car.

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Tuesday, 27 July:  Wrangell – We arrived at Wrangell at 7:30AM (talk about an early wake-up call!).  Judy & John Baker, our hosts at Grandview Bed & Breakfast (www.grandviewbnb.com), graciously allowed us to drop off our gear at their place.  We then found a breakfast spot and relaxed until beginning our tour of AnAn commencing at 8:00AM. 

AnAn Bear & Wildlife Observatory is known as a place where bears and eagles can be observed feeding on spawning salmon.  Our host at An An was Jim Leslie of Alaska Waters (www.alaskawaters.com).  Jim took us by boat ~30 miles to reach AnAn.  We then took a brief walk to reach the viewing platform.  We didn’t encounter any bears on the trail but others who arrived later did.  Once at the viewing platform, it was a continuous show.  We saw 20 – 30 bald eagles enjoying the salmon run.  Then, bears appeared almost every 10-15 minutes, a few staying 20-30 minutes while gorging on fish roe and brains.  We learned that the black bears can discern the gender of the fish and they select and eat only the females.  The bears also eat only their favorite parts of the salmon since they are so plentiful.  The balance of the salmon carcass provides food for eagles and scavengers.  We had a great day of wildlife viewing in this unique and wonderful place.

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Wednesday, 28 July:  Petersburg – We had another early morning as we had a 5:00AM departure from Wrangell.  At 3:30AM, we queued the car for our next ferry journey on the M/V Matanuska (yes, a repeat ship) as we headed for Petersburg, the “Little Norway of the North.”  We arrived at 8:00AM and found a local cafe for a leisurely breakfast.  Afterwards, we went to the Fisherman’s Memorial and the town’s Visitors Center.  In the afternoon, we went for a half-day of sport fishing (not our regular fly fishing).  Lindy caught a 20lb. halibut and a huge sculpin (the latter being amazing to us as Ed ties small sculpin flies for fly fishing for trout).  As the day was cold and rainy, were were pretty beat after the fishing and called it a day.

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Thursday, 29 July:  Petersburg – For today we had previously arranged a charter for whale watching with Barry Bracken of Kaleidoscope Cruises (www.alaska.net/~bbsea/welcome.html).  Barry, a marine biologist, did an outstanding job of locating the whales and putting us in their midst without disturbing them.  Barry would find whales and then position the boat near a likely feeding path.  He would then turn off the motor.  This let us hear their blowhole breathing as we watching them swim and feed.  At one point, we estimated some 30 humpback whales were in the protected harbor with us.  On average, they are 45’ long and weigh between 25-40 tons.  A real thrill occurred when eight whales came right to the boat and two of them actually swam underneath it.  We got lots of incredible views with great photo opportunities.  Each whale has distinctive tail markings as you can see in the photographs below.  All in all, it was a wonderful experience we will treasure.

Upon returning to Petersburg, we had dinner and then boarded the M/V Malaspina on is overnight run to Sitka.  Again, we had an onboard cabin.

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Friday, 30 July:  Sitka – We arrived in Sitka at 6:30AM after a quiet night on the ship.  After finding a spot for breakfast, we began our tour of town.  We started at St. Michael’s, a Russian Orthodox Church.  It housed traditional icons and a variety of paintings.  It is still in use today.  Interestingly, it has no pews so worshippers stand throughout the service.  We next visited the Alaska Raptor Center.  The center focuses on rehabilitation of injured birds of prey.  They are able to save ~2/3 of the birds in their care.  About half of those are returned to the wild.  The others are adopted by zoos.  Lastly, we visited Sitka National Park.  Here we again walked through a collection of Tlinget totem poles.  We also learned about an 1804 battle between Russian forces and the Tlinget.

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Saturday, 31 July:  Sitka – Today we took an all-day nature cruise in the islands near Sitka, including St. Lazaria Wildlife Refuge.  We saw sea otters and seals as well as several whales.  The highlight for us was seeing the Puffin, Alaska’s colorful sea bird.  It seems to fit a jungle setting more than this Alaska rain forest!

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Sunday, 1 August:  En route to Juneau – We boarded the M/V Fairweather to continue our trek north.  The Fairweather is the newest ship in the AMHS fleet.  It’s a high-speed catamaran that makes the trip from Sitka to Juneau in five hours.  The traditional ferry boats make the passage in 10 hours.  Quite  a time saver!  Upon arriving in Junean, we were greeted by an eagle atop a street light pole.  Everyday stuff up here but amazing to us.  We settled in for the 1^st of our four nights in Juneau.

Monday, 2 August:  Juneau – Today we explored downtown Juneau.  Our first stop was the Alaska State Museum.  Although small, it contained a lot of information about the Eskimo culture and the Alaska Gold Rush.  Since Juneau is Alaska’s capitol, we decided to visit the Capitol Building where we took a self-guided tour.  We next took a break at the Red Dog Saloon.  Ed had been there during his visit in 1965 and it hadn’t changed.  The swinging doors and sawdust on the floor are trademarks.  So is the Alaska mouse trap and the Texas bear trap (you’ve got to see them to understand!).  We enjoyed a Red Dog ale and listened to live music.  We next went to a salmon fish hatchery.  We ended our day at the Alaskan Brewery.  They do a great tour and serve some tasty beer.  Our favorite was the Alaska Amber.  We couldn’t leave without a t-shirt and cap.

Tuesday, 3 August:  Juneau – This morning we boarded the Adventure Bound for an all-day tour of Tracy Arm Fiord.  Captain and owner, Steve Weber, took us on this voyage of incredible iceberg and glacier viewing (www.adventureboundalaska.com).  It takes ~2 hours to reach the fiord.  Once there, we motored through fields of incredibly blue icebergs.  Captain Weber took us around several huge beauties to we could get great close-up views.  Next, we headed to North Sawyer Glacier.  We drove through a sea of icebergs (amazing in itself) to again get close-up access.  It was sunny and the glacier was glistening & shiny.  It was also very active with lots of “calving” – ice breaking off and falling into the sea (thus our “sea of icebergs”).  Truly impressive views and sounds.  When a few other boats appeared, Captain Weber decided to go to South Sawyer Glacier.  Again, wonderful views of this impressive ice flow.  We later learned that no other boats travel to this glacier so it was a real treat to experience it.  We returned to dock at 6:00PM after a memorable day.

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Wednesday, 4 August:  Juneau – We drove to Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier.  We began at the Visitors Center where we viewed a brief film about the glacier and its changing form (currently receding).  We took a few photographs as it was sunny and the lake in front of Mendenhall was absolutely still, providing a perfect mirror image of the glacier.  We then drove to a trailhead to hike the West Glacier Trail (recommended by Barry Braken of Kaleidoscope Cruises) to get close to the glacier.  Well, we had no idea how close we would be!  After a hike of ~2 miles (always making noise to warn bears) with a scramble over boulders and steep slopes, we looked down on the glacier a few hundred feet below.  Wow!  We hiked down to it and took lots of photographs.  There was a waterfall coming out of a side crevasse that was gorgeous.  We also walked out onto the glacier’s surface.  It’s actually a pretty nasty looking thing up close.  Rather than being white and pristine, it collects dust, pollen and seeds.  Once on the glacier, these items form a gray cloak.  Underneath, however, it retains that incredible blue color.  The hike out was easy, especially after leaving the boulders and steep slopes.  The day remained bright and sunny and was the perfect way to end our time in Juneau and the Inside Passage.

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