Cruising is one of my favorite ways of travel (along with trains). On a cruise you unpack once and then repack when you leave. You let the captain take you to beautiful and exciting locations. Your meals are prepared with professional skill and your room is cleaned every time you leave the room.
However, I should have remembered from past trips that internet is not as reliable as at home. I did not realize just how far from land we would be in Alaska when at sea, and how limited my cell phone service would be when in port. I did have Facebook, but this blog suffered.
All of this is to explain why this blog post will cover our three port adventures and our National Park adventure at Glacier Bay National Park from the ship. My outline will be, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan.
JUNEAU, ALASKA
Juneau is surrounded by mountains and water. The roads in Juneau lead up and down the land below the mountains but nowhere else. The only way to visit is by water or by air! We arrived in Alaska in the rainy season, so we were not surprised to find that this day required waterproof shoes and raincoats.
Bruce and I had selected to visit the Mendenhall Glacier. The glacier is located about 12 miles from Juneau and is over 13 miles long. The glacier has created the Mendenhall Lake. To the right of the glacier is a beautiful very large waterfall, Nugget Falls. In the photos look for the tiny people who were brave enough to walk to its edge.
Harriet went on an expedition to travel across the lake to the edge of the glacier and the waterfall. While we were at our location, we saw a large Tlingit (pronounced: KLINK IT), native style canoe crossing the lake. Looking closely at my photo, there was Harriet next to the helmsman.
Harriet’s story and photos of her adventure: “Rain gear and boots were provided to all 15 of my canoe mates. Since it was actively raining and cold, that was a good thing. We learned to row together quickly. although Shane our guide did most of the work. We were able to get fairly close to the glacier and then got out of the canoe right in front of Nugget Falls for a break. Then back in the canoe for the trip to the warm dry bus. My biggest challenge was getting into and out of this huge canoe without falling in the water. I was definitely the senior member of this rowing team!”
SKAGWAY, ALASKA
Our second adventure was not in our original program. Because of the incoming storms from the West, our captain changed course and took us in the town that GOLD helped to build, Skagway.
This was an original native area of the Tlingit tribe who named the town, Skagway, which means “where the north wind blows”. As a town it was founded as a gateway town to the goldfields in the Yukon and Klondike areas.
For our tour, all three of us went on a three hour bus tour up the Alaskan Highway into Canada. This was the trail that those seeking gold took from the new town of Skagway in the late 1890’s to the goldfields over 400 miles away.
Few who arrived by steamer struck it rich, but the town flourished for a short time. By 1889 Skagway had a population of 8,000 to 10,000. Crews came to build a railroad, two daily newspapers flourished and business men struck it rich by supplying the gold rushers with supplies. Those seeking gold had more than 400 miles over steep mountains to reach their destination.
GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA
The third adventure was experienced from the ship as we sailed into Glacier Bay National Park.
As we entered to view this bay, you realize that the only way to experience this National Park is from the water! As recently as 1750, the 65 mile Fjord we are sailing in was a glacier thousands of feet thick.
Glaciers are compressed and compacted snow that can actually move mountains and create valleys as they deposits rocks, gravel and soil as they move. Glaciers follow the path of least resistance creating beauty as they go! As glaciers melt in warmer water, they create inlets and glacier bays and fjords.
Glacier Bay National Park covers 523,000 acres and was set aside as a national monument in 1925 by President Calvin Coolidge. It was designated a National Park in 1980. The park is currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I stayed on the stern which was fortunate as only about 20 guests thought this was a good idea. I enjoyed the experience and photo opportunities and the hot pea soup at 10:30 on the bow with Harriet and Bruce. This is an experience I would do again and again.
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
The last adventure on our cruise was in Ketchikan, Alaska. At this site I took a photography tour of the area while Harriet and Bruce were on a boat tour looking for wild life. They were able to see whales and American Bald Eagles. We all saw the rainbows, I was on the ship, they were still in the inlet returning to the ship.
photo 1. Harriet and Bruce got to see a double rainbow plus intensified light from their tour boat.
My tour provided opportunities to see salmon as they moved upstream and as they were spawning in the shallow waters before they passed away. I also saw an eagle at a distance.
My tour included opportunities to visit a native area where artists are preserving the ancient carving of totems. Below is a collection of those we were able to photograph.
Harriet and Bruce also saw eagles from a distance and orcas .
Harriet says: “We went on a Nature Tour via boat. The morning’s rain had ceased and the sun came out. Our captain told us that orcas had just been sighted by other vessels so we went in search of them. Success!!! They were at a distance so it was hard to photograph them. We also saw lots of birds on the rocks and eagles soaring over our heads. The highlight of our tour was a brilliant rainbow that appeared as we returned to the dock. At times it was a double. Wow!”
One benefit of coming so late in the season was that we got to see the fall colors of Alaska! While not in their prime, they were still beautiful against the evergreens
Thanks for sharing our Alaskan experience with us. Coming soon…our shipboard experience. Ellen and Harriet authors and photographers.
Ellen’s Travel Journal 2016-2025 