Welcome to Alaska and the Inside Passage. This monumental trip (Sep 7-17, 2012) came courtesy of my father David and Road Scholar (aka Elderhostel). My parents, Dave and Nancy, have been dedicated Elderhostel travelers since practically its inception, and with this being his 23rd trip, Dave was the senior statesman of all present on our voyage. He also turned 87 years old on the boat. I was the lucky recipient of passage because my mother couldn’t see her way to scampering up and down those steep boat stairs (more like ladders really).
The first leg was MPLS to Seattle, then Seattle to Sitka. The lower 48 was sunny and warm, and the flight up the Pacific Coast of Canada was brilliant. Tremendous scenery. But when we dropped into Sitka, the cloud cover was 500 feet off the deck and raining, temps about 48F. And this was a sign of the week to come.
We walked Sitka in the rain that first day, had dinner in our hotel.
(Note: Click indicated thumbnails below to see an associated photo gallery, which will open in a different tab/window. Close that tab/window when finished to return control to this page.)
Sitka Day 2: We loaded into two cute Tribal Tour buses for the brief, 14 mile circle that is Sitka. After that, the Russian Bishop’s House, then the Russian Orthodox Church, in a steady rain. Onto a large pontoon boat for a tour of Sitka Harbor. Some portions of this leg were too socked in to see much. (click.)
The excitement came when we transferred from the pontoon boat to our home for the next week, the Admiralty Dream, out in the middle of big water. Here’s some pictures of our digs for the week: (Click below)
The entire crew was lined up when we came aboard. The boat captain and various first mates, crewmen, and mechanics. The four waitresses / room service gals, 4-5 kitchen folks, the bartender, the ship’s cultural liason, Lee. These folks proved themselves to be skilled, professional, and relentlessly cheerful and service oriented. Every retail operation in the world could learn a thing or two here.
Now is a good time to express proper appreciation to our Road Scholar group leaders, Marilyn and Janet. These two were calm, organized, friendly and approachable, with a clear love of these waters, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
I must add that we, the paying customers, were also a hardy band of skilled and cheerful folk, easy going and low maintenance, and above all appreciative.
We ate three meals a day on this boat and the food was varied and excellent.
A shot of an Alaskan Ferry. These are big boats that ply the waters between the various AK towns cut off from the Canadian highway system.
After sailing all night, we found ourselves near Juneau, in Auk bay. Buses transported us to the visitor center at the Mendenhall Glacier. This was our first look at a glacier. We were also thrilled by a brief patch of sunshine. (Click below)
We bused into Juneau (pop 30,000+), a much larger city than Sitka (< 9,000), and strolled about town in the ubiquitous downpour. It was here I got my first closeup view of some truly gargantuan cruise ships. (click below)
Day four of the trip, Monday Sep 10, we sail to Glacier Bay. On the way, we drifted slowly by a small, remote island covered with sea lions. These creatures put out a steady drone of sound that’s hard to describe, sort of like hundreds of didgeridoos. Click below
We also made a sighting of a mountain goat. My fellow photographers with beefy wildlife lenses did a lot better with this than me. (click below)
The approach in Glacier Bay, into Tarr Inlet. The glaciers we came up to were the Grand Pacific glacier, straight ahead, and Margerie Glacier to the left. As the boat would get closer and closer to a glacier, the water would usually become a jade green, and floating ice would go from small and occasional to large and plentiful.
Some of these photos are forward, towards our destination, and some rearward, catching the breathtaking scenery of the steep cliffs of this fiord. (click below)
Once we got close (but not too close), the boat idled and everyone shamelessly snapped away with whatever they had. Apologies in advance. I tried to toss a goodly number of these pictures, I really did. But these remain, probably too many. Every different way of looking that these ice structures fascinates. Margerie even dropped a few big chunks in the water for our pleasure. (click)
Hanging out in the lounge. (Click below)
On to Skagway, a small town with a deep harbor and many cruise ships. We tour the town in buses, ride the narrow gauge to Whitehorse Pass, then do a walk-about around town. The narrow gauge was fun. White Pass is a long, deep valley with our train on one side and an actual highway (something we hadn’t seen the entire trip) to Whitehorse on the other. I perched outside, between cars, for the most part to snag some good shots. Not easy – things flew by with little warning. The big thrill was bridge crossing. One moment you’re looking at the ground beside the track, then in a blink you’re suspended hundreds of feet in the air. (click below)
A day in Tracy Arm, with the Twin Sawyer glacier. A gorgeous place, full of waterfalls, esp in this wettest of years. (click below)
For the only time in the trip, we stay in the same place for a day and a night: Hobart Bay. A small dock, middle of nowhere, stocked with golf carts, kayaks, and motorized single person boats called Zego Runabouts. I opted for the first two. It poured all day. I lucked out with the kayaks and scored my own 14′ Necky, with only Andrew the Bartender as my able companion. Kayaking in the rain has never been a problem for me. We came to a small rocky point with 10-15 eagles hanging out. Most of them left in disgust at our arrival. Later in the afternoon I awoke from an all too common nap to a brilliant blue sky, on the most unlikely of days.
Last day, the run back to Sitka. Some sun, and our only sighting of whales.
And that was all she wrote. Once back in Sitka, it was straight to the airport, straight to Seattle, straight back into the sun . . . and everyone went their separate ways.