Vancouverianer: Alaska Cruise

This years summer vacation took us to a very isolated destination, Southeast Alaska. This southern tail (panhandle) of the 49th US State can basically only be reached by plane or by ship and we decided to go on our first cruise. The Inside Passage takes travellers along a series of passages between the mainland and the coastal islands. Departing from Vancouver our cruiseship, the Norwegian Sun, passed the sunshine coast (we waved to Duncan in Roberts Creek) and after one night and one day of travelling we arrived at our first port Ketchikan, Alaska.

Ketchikan is the southernmost city of Alaska. According to our "advisors" from the ship there is not much to do in Ketchikan apart from booking one of their adventurous and expensive tours, that included fly-fishing, exploring the back country with a jet boat or visiting the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. We did not want to spend all our money on the first trip so we tried to find out what to do in Katchikan on our own. First we went "downtown", which has a lot of souvenir shops and restaurants to supply the cruise ship loads that invade them every week. We decided to check out the Totem Heritage Centre that explained a lot about Totem Pole making and the living culture of Southeast Alaska's Native Americans. Right next to the Heritage centre we also visited the Deer Mountain Tribal Hatchery and Eagle Center, that specializes on raising king and silver salmon as well as steelhead trout. They raise and release over 350,000 fish each year, drastically enhancing their chance to survive the first year. After one year they are released to the nearby stream to which they will come back to spawn a few years later. Later we just strolled around the Harbour, saw a wild Eagle from about 50 feet distance (for free) sitting on a fence and found a nice coffee shop. Ketchikan is a very nice little town where you can spend a day learning a lot about Alaska, its people and its culture.

Ketchikan, Creek Street

Ketchikans second income after tourism: fishing

Ketchikan

Our next port was Juneau the capital of Alaska with its current governor Sarah Palin. In Juneau we decided to book a bus tour offered by the cruiseline because we wanted to see some of the surroundings, especially the Mendenhall glacier. First we visited the Glacier Gardens where you had a fantastic view on the Juneau valley and we were driven around the old growth forest in Golf carts.

Juneau valley

busy port of Juneau, still 4 cruiseships without us

The next stop was the Mendenhall Glacier which extends from the Juneau Icefield, its source, to Mendenhall Lake and ultimately the Mendenhall River. I have seen glaciers in Switzerland even skied on them but standing in front of this river of ice was still awsome. We even got to see two more glaciers that day when we did a little excursion with the cruise ship.

Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenhall Lake

Mendenhall glacier

Dawes glacier

Dawes Glacier is at the head of Endicott Arm, a steep waterway south of Juneau that runs 30 miles into the coastal mountains. The active glacier calves immense amounts of ice into the fjord. The face of the glacier is as high as a 33-story building.

Skagway was our final destination. During the Klondike gold rush Skagways population reached 30,000, composed largely of American prospectors. Today it attracks tourists wirh the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad and numerous other activities. Our choice for the stay was a trip to the nearby town of Haines and a hike in the temperal rainforest along the ocean. We booked the trip from the ship but were the only ones, we had our personal hiking guide. We enjoyed being away from the crowds for a while and after the hike our guide showed around Haines a bit more, a really interesting little place to visit.