Off to Alaska 2022

Our last stop is Seward - and we have a full day here before loading up and heading for the Anchorage airport early tomorrow morning. The Alaska Sea Life Center appears to be the primary attraction in town.  We were waiting at the terminal for the Viking tour bus (not for the first time) when John spotted a free shuttle drive up.  We waited for a few more minutes for our bus, then decided that the shuttle looked like a better option.  It made a few additional stops around town, and the driver pointed out landmarks and gave us a commentary on the community before delivering us to the Sea Life Center. It’s a nice facility, funded in part by Exxon following the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. Downtown Seward is just up the street, so we decided to go for a walk through town before heading back to the ship. Of course we had to stop at the library - Those purple are red tiles are glass and change colors as the sun reflects off them - reminiscent of the Northern Lights.  The f...

Valdez isn’t a popular cruise port - unlike our previous stops with anywhere from three to six cruise ships in port at the same time, today we were the only strangers in town. It was raining - not a downpour, but soaking “beach rain.”  I overheard a crew member saying that it was the best weather she’d experienced here.  The ship provided umbrellas and we have good rain gear, so no problem. There aren’t a lot of tourist activities, but our first stop was the public library to use their WiFi to upload blog posts. It’s small, but it seems to have a nicely varied collection,and their WiFi was blazing fast. A very helpful staff member gave us directions to our next destination, Safeway.  She actually went outside with us and showed us exactly how to get there. Again, small but well stocked. En route to the local museum we spotted an outdoor supply store that caught John’s attention. When we arrived at the museum, it seemed overrun with cruise passengers - it’s a very small sp...

This morning we woke up to the sun shining brightly on one snow capped peak after another. Our planned stop in Sitka had to be scrapped because of gale force winds and high seas that would make using tenders to get people to shore treacherous at best.  So our itinerary was revised and we headed for Disappointment Bay to view the enormous Hubbard Glacier and its neighbor Valerie Glacier.  It was a great day for watching glaciers. Hubbard Glacier is particularly fast moving, and it’s six miles wide as it gets to the ocean. We heard it roaring and crashing, but didn’t see it “calve” (large chunks breaking off and crashing into the ocean). Hubbard Glacier is on the right, and Valerie Glacier is on the left. I did see a small chunk fall off Valerie Glacier and splash into the water, but it wasn’t particularly dramatic. After spending a few hours enjoying the glaciers, we headed back out of the bay and on to our next stop - Valdez.

Today we docked at Skagway, once a booming city and jumping-off spot for the Klondike gold rush and now a very small town that depends heavily on cruise ships for its economic survival.  There’s still some gold mining in the vicinity, but it’s the tourist trade that keeps the town alive. We skipped the tour of the town and just walked to the main street and checked out the shops. And we made friends with an old “sourdough” and his dog - After an early lunch aboard ship, we boarded the narrow-gauge White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad for an incredibly scenic ride to the summit of White Pass, following the original trail that the gold seekers climbed in the late 1890’s. We saw many waterfalls - This old caboose is available to rent for overnight stays, but I’m not convinced that the local bears would keep their distance… An obelisk at the summit marks the Continental Divide as well as the US/Canadian border. The original steel bridge was replaced in the 1960’s when it was determine...

Our next port of call is Icy Strait Point, which is a recreated Tlingit village near the community of Hoonah that’s been developed specifically to provide tourist activities for cruise ships. An abandoned fish cannery has been restored and now contains both a museum and an assortment of gift shops. We opted for the gondola rides (two gondolas) to the top of the mountain followed by an open-air tram ride through the forest.   The high-speed upper gondola just opened in May - it’s rises up very high above the ground, and the views would have been great had it not been overcast and raining. Despite the rain, it was fun.  The driver/guide was a lifetime resident of Hoonah and explained the history, flora and fauna, and lifestyle of the Tlingit community. The upper terminus of the high-speed gondola is an abandoned US Air Force and DEW (Distant Early Warning) installation.   There are no regular shipping docks, but two fairly elaborate steel docks with walkways appear to be sp...

The National Weather Service predicted heavy rain all day today for Juneau, the result of an “atmospheric river” - we seriously considered skipping our tour to the Mendenhall Glacier.And it was raining steadily in the morning as we headed for Juneau.   However, the rain let up as we approached, and by the time we docked, there were glimpses of sun through the overcast - and soon the overcast lifted.  Genuine mostly blue skies! We walked around the cruise ship/tourist area (referred to as “downtown”) before boarding the bus for our tour.  Today’s was the complete opposite of yesterday’s - it was organized, on time, with an interesting guide and a very worthwhile destination. Mendenhall Glacier is the most frequently visited glacier in Alaska - my guess is that this is because it’s so easily accessible from Juneau.  While it has receded significantly over the years, it’s still impressive. Had we had more time, we would have walked out to the falls. En route back to the...

We arrived in Ketchikan mid-morning today. Ketchikan appears to be an interesting mix of stunning natural beauty and tourist kitsch.   While once fishing fleets kept the town going, cruise ships now provide for the local fiscal wellbeing - at least during the summer.  There were six cruise ships docked here today. Considering the number of tourists getting off the ships, the business district was surprisingly uncrowded.  We window shopped and cheerfully declined the offers of great deals on jewelry.  We did, however, find a day pack for John in  small but incredibly well-stocked department store.  It reminded me of department stores from the 1950’s and’60’s, before they fell victim to one-stop shopping and Amazon.  Only places as remote as this (accessible only by air and water) still support old-school retail. After lunch we took a tour of the Potlatch Totem Park, which was disappointing.  After way too much standing around, we were herded around...

We woke up to the mournful sound of fog horns on our first day at sea (actually the calm waters between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia) and opened our drapes to take in the view. Fog - pea soup fog.  We couldn’t even see the water only five levels down.  We know the scenery should have been beautiful, but we couldn’t see it.  However, I love waking up to fog horns, so I guess that’s the price we had to pay. Later the sun tried to break through - Gorgeous blue sky above the fog.  We could see mountains towering above the fog, but the day remained overcast.  Not many photo ops. But we enjoyed a few lectures and did a lot of relaxing - not a bad way to start the trip!