I'll Ask Ya to Alaska - 2013 Sept Alaskan Cruise

After spending a week in Mount Rainier National Park, we arrive in Seattle, Washington where we board Holland America’s Westerdam for a 7-day Alaskan cruise.  This is the Westerdam's last Alaskan cruise for the 2013 season. 

Day 3 – Ketchikan

At 6:45 am, I hear the ship's side thrusters signaling our arrival in Ketchikan.   I go outside on our balcony to see what the temperature is like ... definitely winter-coat weather.  Typical for this time of the year, it has been raining and the misty clouds are hovering around the tops of the mountains.  It seems appropriate since our shore excursion today is "Magnificent Misty Fjords by Floatplane". 

We did a similar tour back in 1999 and enjoyed it.  We board the floatplane and put on our seatbelts and headphones.  Up, up, and away ... the floatplane glides across the water and we soar about 1,000 feet above the land and seascape.  Sam (our pilot) tells us about Ketchikan and the land we are seeing.  We enter Misty Fjords National Monument.  We see lots of waterfalls cascading hundreds of feet down mountain sides, a virgin forest, deep lakes loaded with fish, and endless ridges of mountains.  Sam tells us you could fly around for a week and still not see all the scenic wonders this vast wilderness has to offer.  Just like our last visit here, we land on a lake near a waterfall (but not the same waterfall).  Five of us get out and stand on the pontoons to enjoy the quiet scenic beauty.  This is my favorite part of the tour.

            

Misty Fjords National Monument

After our floatplane tour returns to Ketchikan, we still have time for an afternoon tour. This tour is operated by Sourdough Tours and Justin is our guide.  We stop at Herring Cove where we see a black bear foraging for food by the river bank.  At Saxman Village (home to an authentic clan house and the world's largest collection of standing totem poles), we stand in the cold steady rain while Justin gives us a brief description on the totem poles.  We have a few minutes to walk the grounds. 

   

Saxman Village

We return to Ketchikan where Justin drops us off near Dolly's House on Historic Creek Street (former busy red-light district).  Since our tour includes admission through it, we make a brief walk-through visit.  We did a more thorough tour on a previous trip.  We make a quick stroll down Creek Street and through a couple of shops near the pier.  My fingers are so cold I am fumbling to work zippers and trying to handle my ID card.  We are back on-board ship by 3pm and set sail for Glacier Bay National Park.

Day 4 – Glacier Bay National Park

The ship enters Glacier Bay at 6:45am and two National Park Rangers board the Westerdam.  During our early cruising, a pod of Orca whales is seen off the port side and later a humpback whale breaches out of the water.  Unfortunately, we are on the wrong side of the ship to see them.  The good news ... the weather today is great - especially for this time of the year. 

The wispy clouds float around the mountain tops and waterfalls cascade hundreds of feet down the mountain sides.  The Park Ranger tells us the things that look like brown jelly beans on the floating pieces of ice are seals and the white specks on the mountain sides are mountain goats.  A few mountain peaks have a fresh layer of snow.  The ship slowly cruises the 65 miles to Margerie Glacier (a 21-mile-long tide water glacier).  We spend about 30 minutes here admiring the scenery and listening to the berg seltzer crackling and the sound of ice thunder.  We see some minor calving. 

    

Margerie Glacier

On our way to/from Johns Hopkins Glacier, the ship passes by Lamplaugh Glacier and Honnoh Glacier. We enter the Johns Hopkins Inlet which is closed from May to September 1st (due to seal pups habitat).   So, cruise traffic is allowed here only after that date. 

                 

Lamplaugh Glacier    Honnoh Glacier       Johns Hopkins Glacier

We spend 30 minutes here before leaving the Inlet.  At 6:15pm, the park boat comes along side ship and the two park rangers climb down a rope ladder to their small boat that speeds them away to the remote Visitor Center where they are spending the winter.  We leave Glacier Bay and head for our next port of call - Juneau.  

Day 5 - Juneau

When I awake this morning (7:45am), the ship is already docked.  I pull back our room curtains and take a peek out the glass door.   It is so foggy I can barely make out the mountains and the dock area.   However, within the hour, the sun burns off the fog revealing blue skies. 

Our "Five Glacier Seaplane Exploration" is a 40 minute flight over five different glaciers which are part of the 1,500 square miles Grand Juneau Ice Field.  The bus takes us to Wings Aviation where we board our seaplane and taxi down the Gastineau Channel for a smooth water take-off.  It does not take long to arrive at the first two glaciers (Taku and Norris or Nourse - not sure which the pilot said).  The sunny day is adding to the visual delight of seeing the snow/ice fields from the air.  This rugged terrain is full of jagged high peaks and steep slopes. 

Rugged & Jagged Peaks

Our last glacier is Mendenhall Glacier.  It is Juneau's "drive to" glacier.  In previous visits, we have visited Mendenhall Glacier and hiked a few of the trails and saw Nugget Creek Falls close-up but the aerial view of the lake, glacier, falls, and Visitor Center is a new perspective for us.  We return to Juneau with a smooth water landing. 

Mendenhall Glacier

We have some time to  ride the Mount Roberts Tramway.  The smooth 1,800 foot ascent to the mountain top is about four minutes long.  We walk the one-half mile Alpine Loop Trail to a couple of observation platforms.  They offer a bird's eye view of the channel, downtown Juneau, and the Chilkat Mountains.   It’s back to the Westerdam for our final port – Vancouver and then back to Seattle.

Catch You in Ketchikan AK & Misty Fjords NM

Ketchikan is known as the “Salmon Capital of the World” and its nickname is “the First City”.  It is the gateway to the glacial-sculpted Misty Fjords National Monument (a wilderness area almost four times the size of Rhode Island).   That is where we are heading today …

You Know 'Bout Juneau - Sled Dog Discovery & Mushers Camp - Juneau, AK

This visit to Juneau, we are doing something we have never done in Alaska – the “Sled Dog Discovery & Musher’s Camp”. 

The musher’s camp is located on Douglas Island (across the channel from Juneau).  A small bus takes us to the rustic camp where four teams of 16 dogs each are anxiously waiting for us.  When we arrive, we meet Shanie (our dog team musher).   These dogs are her babies.  They are barking and jumping in the air with excitement and eager to start running. 

Once the dogs get running, they are all business.  Our mile long ride takes us down dirt roads through an old-growth forest.  When Shanie gives commands like “Gee” for “right” and “Haw” for “left”, her voice is gentle but firm. 

After the ride, we are introduced to the dogs in our sled team.   Petting the dogs and interacting with them is strongly encouraged.   We have some Q&A time about the care given to these beautiful dogs, the Iditarod, and dog sled training.  Finally, we get to hold the puppies. 

For more information about the Iditarod, check out the following link:

Iditarod

Hoorah for Hoonah - Icy Strait Point, AK

Icy Strait Point (“where the north wind doesn’t blow”) is located on Chichagof Island about 1.5 miles from the town of Hoonah, Alaska.  The Tlingit people settled here about 2,000 years ago but were forced to leave their original village because of advancing glaciers. Today, Icy Strait Point is a cruise ship destination.

         

Since this is our first time visiting this port, we have booked two shore excursions – one for the morning (Forest & Nature Tram) and one for the afternoon (Spassaki River Valley Wildlife & Bear Search). 

After a short tender boat ride from ship to shore, we climb aboard the open-air tram for a ride through the forest and along the beach.  

We learn a little about the vegetation (Devil's Club and Skunk Cabbage) and about the locals (760 of them) who call Icy Strait Point their home.  In fact, there are more bears (3,500 of them) than people on this 75 mile long island which is mostly wilderness.  Along the shoreline, we pass a small waterfall and see eagles flying in the blue sky above us. The tram turns around and we follow the same road back to Icy Strait Point.

We have about 75 minutes before our afternoon tour.  So, we walk the half mile nature trail through an ancient forest and along a short stretch of gravelly beach. We watch people whiz by at 60mph on the world's longest and most exciting zip line.   Maybe I’ll try that on our next visit.

         

On our afternoon tour, we board a green school bus for a 35 minute ride to the trailhead in the Spasski River Valley.  Jacob is our tour guide.  Bear spray and proper precautions are taken to protect us and any bears we may encounter.  As soon as our bus driver stops at the trailhead, we see a grizzly/brown bear on the road ahead of us.  We quietly get out of the bus and watch the bear.   He is about 3 years old and weighs 700-800 pounds.  We keep at least 100 yards between us and the bear.  He is foraging for food and tolerates our presence.  Ultimately, he walks farther down the road. 

We hike the 1.25 mile trail walking by a boggy wet area called a muskeg.  The small pools of water are more than six feet deep, "so stay on the boardwalk," Jacob warns us.  The nature walk takes us through a spruce and hemlock forest traveling on a dirt and boardwalk path.   We stop at a couple of viewing platforms along the river.  During the months of June-September, the Spasski River is filled with salmon and that attracts bears (mid-May is too early in the season).  We do see another bear way downstream but he is camera shy and keeps hidden most of the time.  This tour is a wonderful opportunity to see bears in their natural habitat. 

         

It’s time to head back to Icy Strait Point and return to the cruise ship.

If you would like to learn more about Icy Strait Point and its history, check out this website:

Icy Strait Point