Alaskan Dream Cruise

Ketchikan and the Trip Home - August 12 - 14

12/10/2013

Day 11 of the Cruise
We arrived in Ketchikan about 7 AM, making our first stop at the Ketchikan Airport. The airport is on an island across from the city and is accessible only by ferry. About a third of our passengers have early flights home so the Captain will dock at the airport so that they can catch their flights. For those of us staying over, the cruise company provides free ferry passes.

Ketchikan is by far the most touristy port we have visited. During our two day layover six different huge cruise ships will be in port, disgorging at least 20,000 shopping crazed passengers. We've booked ourselves into the Cape Fox Lodge which sits on a hill above the port area. It's very nice and is accessed from town via a funicular.

Along the way up the coast we encountered an active seiner fishing. It was very interesting to see the whole process from initial deployment of the net to reeling in the catch.

After the cannery tour we boarded a large tour bus for the ride back to Ketchikan during which we got a taste of what the large cruise ship passengers experience. The boat ride to the cannery was conducted by Alan Marine, the parent company of Alaskan Dream Cruises, and was just as interesting and enjoyable as the rest of our cruise had been. The tour bus was contracted by the large cruise lines. The narration was vapid, the information sketchy, and the focus almost entirely on shopping opportunities. The cannery tour was so good, and the bus ride was so ordinary that we appreciated even more how friendly, knowledgeable, personal, and professional the Alaskan Dream staff is.

Alaskan Dream gave us tickets for a tour of an old, now defunct, cannery. It was interesting and educational. We boarded a small cruise boat for the long ride up the coast from Ketchikan.

Once at the cannery we were guided through the whole process, from the arrival of the fish to the final sealed cans. The cannery's equipment is being restored so that all the machinery will function just as it did in its heyday.

The experience reinforced that the big ships are not for us.

We did stop on the way back at a totem display which was pretty interesting.

Well, this is the end of the trip. We boarded a plane for the flight back to Anchorage, passing over the wilderness that makes up most of southeast Alaska. We got a couple of photos from the plane's window which gave us a different perspective of the area through which we had cruised.

As much fun as we had, we were glad to finally get home. We had a lot of information and experiences to digest which writing these blog entries has helped us to relive. Thanks for coming along.
Mike & Jan

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Misty Fjords National Monument - August 11

12/9/2013

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Misty Fjords Photo Gallery

Day 10 of the Cruise
Today, our last cruising day, we will be traveling through the Misty Fjords National Monument. Tomorrow we will disembark in Ketchikan.

We travel through the wilderness on the Behm Canal. It is more than 100 miles long and is renowned for its length and depth the latter being as much as 2,000 feet. Included among Behm Canal's many scenic wonders is New Eddystone Rock. This is a basalt tower rising 230 feet from the water's surface, just south of Rudyerd Bay. It is believed to be the core of an ancient volcanic vent that survived the glacial scouring that formed the Behm Canal.

We spent several hours around New Eddystone Rock to give passengers a chance to kayak or ride in the DIB around the island.

Misty Fiords National Monument is 22 miles east of Ketchikan. It is a spectacular collection of sea cliffs, steep fjords and rock walls rising as much as 3,000 feet straight out of the ocean. It gets its name from its nearly constant precipitation and is covered with thick rainforests that grow on nearly vertical slopes from sea level to mountaintops. Waterfalls in numbers too many to count plunge into the salt water through narrow clefts or course over great rounded granite shoulders fed by lakes and streams that absorb more than 150 inches of rainfall each year.

As we continued down the canal we enjoyed a sumptuous farewell dinner and a final Orca performance.

Not to mention a beautiful crescent moonrise bisected by a sunset-colored contrail.

Tomorrow morning we will arrive in Ketchikan and our most excellent cruise will be over. It has been a great trip, one that we may choose to repeat.

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Thorne Bay and Kasaan - August 10

12/9/2013

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Thorne Bay and Kasaan Photo Gallery

Day 9 of the Cruise
We are making two stops today. The first is Thorne Bay, a former logging community. It is a tidy little community where the Captain and crew will re-provision the Alaskan Dream. At its peak in the 1980s and 90s, it had a population of over 1500 and was the largest logging camp in the world. Today its population of 405, more or less, are seasonal residents and the major employers are the National Forest Service and public education.

The main stop for the day is the Haida village of Kasaan. The village has 49 residents, a small school, and an Indian clinic run by a nurse. The nearest medical facility is Ketchikan about 30 miles to the southeast, and mail is delivered from Ketchikan by a contract carrier once a week. Kasaan is home to the Haida people who are culturally related to the Tlingit natives. The principal focus of the population of Kasaan is the preservation of Haida culture and is manifested in the Totem Park and Son-I-Hat Whale House renovation.

Michael took a hike through Totem Park and visited the Whale House. Totems are dispersed throughout the heavily wooded park and the Whale House is nestled in the woods overlooking the bay.

Another of the community's activities is carving traditional canoes from the trunks of the indigenous Western Red Cedar trees. While Michael was soaking up the local history Jan visited the wood shop and spoke to the father / son team of craftsmen who were working on a new canoe.

Like most of southeast Alaska Thorne Bay is only reachable by boat or air and while we relaxed on the upper observation deck, two air taxis came and went.

Stormy Hamar and his son create the canoes using only traditional hand tools. They also teach local children how to use the tools as part of the children's cultural education.

Stormy's wife, Bonnie, came by the workshop and introduced herself. When she learned that Jan was on her own she offered to take Jan for a tour around town including a most welcome cool beverage at Bonnie's home. Bonnie, mayor of Kasaan, showed Jan some of Stormy's traditional paintings and other work.

We met up late in the afternoon and Bonnie gave us a ride back to the dock. We repaired to the forward lounge to compare notes.

Our next destination is Misty Fjords National Monument.

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Wrangell and Stikine River - August 9

12/9/2013

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Day 8 of the Cruise
Today we dock in Wrangell, at the north end of Wrangell Island. Wrangell was a major Russian settlement for trapping sea otters in the early 1800s. The Hudson's Bay Company leased the rights from Russia until the sea otters were hunted to near extinction. After Alaska was acquired by the U.S., it became an entry point for the Yukon gold rush and a center of commercial fishing. Today its economy is based on fishing, logging, and tourism. One of the two major sawmills in southeast Alaska is located in Wrangell.

Once the fog had lifted just enough, we boarded our jet boats and headed out for the River. The pilots are intimately familiar with the route and sped along to make up for lost time (click on the short video). Along the way we were treated to some wildlife sightings, although it was difficult to catch them on camera clearly. We did manage to get a fair photo of this bald eagle, though.

We headed into the Lake, passing loads more icebergs, and ended at Shakes Glacier. After waiting around to see if it would calve (it didn't) we headed for a brief sojourn ashore in a picturesque alpine valley. Then we headed back down the lake to the iceberg barrier. Well, the floater had, in fact, returned to its original position blocking the gap we had come through. After much discussion and thought by our pilot (another tour operator had apparently been in the same position and had taken more than three hours to get free), he determined that he could nudge the berg just enough to get the stern of the boat up against the cliff with the bow touching the iceberg, which he did. This boat has no propeller but, rather, the motor forces water through turbines much like a jet engine pushes air. The theory was that the cliff would provide resistance for the water to push against, giving the boat enough power to shove the iceberg out of the way. It worked! By way of unexpected consequences, though, Jan, and I to a lesser extent, enjoyed a brisk surprise shower of near-freezing water. The jet of water hit the cliff, flowed up the cliff face, made a perfect wave curl and broke right on top of us. It was quite a laugh. The pilot was horrified, probably because he thought we would complain, but we assured him it would just make a unique memory. We were right.
We made it through the gap and headed back to Wrangell harbor, the boat's speed making for a nice, clothes-drying breeze.

Tomorrow, on to Thorne Bay and the very small native village of Kasaan.

Our adventure for today is a jet boat ride up the Stikine River to Shakes Glacier in Shakes Lake. We arrived in Wrangell harbor in dense fog which delayed our departure until visibility improved. The mouth of the Stikine river is braided, meaning that there are numerous, shifting, shallow channels to navigate before getting into the river proper. Here's a video of a small boat coming to the dock in the fog.

The Stikine River originates in Northwestern British Columbia and runs about 379 miles to the Eastern Passage of Frederick Sound in Southeast Alaska. It is the fastest navigable free-flowing river in North America. Our trip covers about 35 miles up the river to Shakes Lake, a body of water originating at the Shakes Glacier, which flows into the river. There are a number of rental cabins along the river some on the shore and some on floating platforms. The ones on shore are controlled by the US Forest Service while the floaters are run by the state. The two videos below show some of the icebergs we encountered once we entered the lake.

Partway up the body of water that flows out of Shakes Lake the is a narrow section which is almost entirely blocked by icebergs. The water depth here is about 90 feet and these huge, blocking bergs are resting on the bottom. There is a gap just a little wider than the width of our jet boat which is blocked by a smaller, floating iceberg. Our intrepid pilot decided he could move the berg so that we could continue on our way to Shakes Glacier at the northern end of the lake. The next video is our boat pushing the iceberg out of the way and the other boat coming through the gap he just cleared. It was a slightly scary, very interesting experience. The floating iceberg was on the lake-side of the barrier and, once we entered the lake some of us wondered aloud what would happen if the iceberg floated back into the gap. More about that later...

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Petersburg - August 8

12/8/2013

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Petersburg Photo Gallery

Day 7 of the Cruise

Petersburg was settled by Norwegian fishermen more than 100 years ago. It's named after Peter Buschmann, a Norwegian immigrant who arrived in the late 1890s and homesteaded on the north end of Mitkof Island. The cannery his family built has operated continuously since about 1900. Petersburg is one of Alaska's top fishing communities but has retained its small town feel. Its harbor is too narrow for the large cruise ships so Petersburg is unspoiled by the usual tacky gift shops and trendy eateries so common in many other Southeast Alaska ports.

We disembarked and headed for the Sons of Norway Hall for a demonstration of traditional Norwegian dancing, performed by local kids aged 6 to 14. This wasn't really a tourist performance, it's sponsored by the town as a way to give children some exposure to being in front of groups of strangers. This is such a small community, about 3000, that there is not much opportunity for interaction with people they don't know.

We met our driver / guide, Hapi, for the ride to the William Musson Memorial Pathway. We learned that most homes in Petersburg are built on pilings due to the high water table. All building materials come from outside by barge which makes for some expensive housing.

Across the harbor on Kupreanof Island is the town of Kupreanof. It consists mostly of a few homesteads, with no infrastructure. There are no roads, no gas, no electricity, all by the choice of the residents. Alaskans can be seriously independent.

The harbor was packed with commercial fishing vessels including the famous Time Bandit from the TV show, "Deadliest Catch".

After a great show and some light, authentic Norwegian refreshments, we headed out for a drive to a nature hike through a moraine preserve. On the way to meet our driver we spotted a small herd of Sitka deer.

Our hike through coastal moraine, the land left after a glacier has receded. It ranged from forest to open fields.

Back in downtown Petersburg after the hike, we found a hole-in-the-wall Mexican food vendor. This was no restaurant, just a trailer with a wood framework covered in clear plastic sheeting to keep out the rain. The food, however, was very good. A pleasant surprise in this small town.

Back aboard in time for dinner, a bald eagle perched on a dock piling, bid us adieu as we set sail (so to speak) for our next port of call, Wrangell.

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Hobart Bay - August 7

12/6/2013

Hobart Bay Photo Gallery

Day 6 of the Cruise
Today is a play day in Hobart Bay, site of a former logging camp about 50 miles south of Tracy Arm, east of Sitka and north of Petersburg. In its heyday (1990) Hobart Bay had a population of about 40, most of whom worked at the camp. By the 2010 census there was only one full-time resident who acted as caretaker of the few remaining facilities.

Hobart Bay is currently owned by one of Alaska's 13 native corporations, Goldbelt Incorporated. Alaskan Dream Cruises has an exclusive arrangement for the use of Hobart Bay for its passengers.

Hobart Bay

The day dawned clear and cool as we gathered in the forward lounge for a briefing about the day's activities. Four adventures were on the agenda: exploring the bay by kayak and Zego, and exploring the shore on foot and by RTV (rough terrain vehicle).

All four activities occurred simultaneously with a quarter of the passengers engaging in each, then switching to another activity at intervals throughout the day. As with other aspects of the cruise, there was a lot of flexibility and passengers could participate or not in any of the offerings or repeat an activity if the wished.

Getting into, and out of, the kayaks was easy using the Alaskan Dream's kayak launching ramp. Getting in was accomplished out of the water (no danger of tipping over), then kayak and passenger were rolled down the ramp into the water. The process was reversed for exiting the kayak.

While watching the first group head off on their Zegos, we saw an interesting phenomenon; silver salmon leaping in the lake. No one is sure why they do this, with theories running the gamut of, "preparing for swimming upstream to spawn", to "because it's fun!" Whatever the reason, it was both interesting and fun to observe.

We donned our life jackets and gingerly climbed aboard our Zego. We backed away from the mother ship and took off like some Zego synchronized drill team. A crew member led the way into the bay and we were off. What was envisioned as a leisurely trail ride turned into a watery free-for-all as Zegos struck out on their own (many were piloted by Texans, so...). We cruised across open water and into secluded coves. The scenery was fabulous and, in many places, reminded us of coastal Maine.

The second waterborne adventure involved a small, outboard-motor powered, pontoon type craft called a Zego, built by a company in New Zealand. They can accommodate two passengers on a motorcycle-style seat. While ours were powered by relatively tame 15 horsepower motors, the ones operated by the crew had 75 horsepower motors which could practically take the craft airborne.

There was no shortage of wildlife to view although catching them on camera from a moving Zego wasn't successful. At one point we thought we saw a brown bear but, after enlarging the photo, we realized it was just a boulder. Alas.

Brown Bear?

After a couple of hours cruising the Bay we headed back to the Alaskan Dream to share our adventures over a bite of lunch.

Alas, just a boulder.

After lunch we climbed the ramp from the dock to our RTVs. These are two-passenger, four wheel drive vehicles designed for serious off-road use. We took a long drive into the hills above Hobart Bay, enjoying some great scenery and wildlife. We finally got to see our bear!

Here's our black bear fishing for his/her afternoon snack.

Adventures over, with all passengers back aboard the Alaskan Dream, we settled in for another relaxing evening while on our way to our next destination, Petersburg. Along the way we were treated to another humpback whale show.

Tracy Arm Fjord - August 6

10/22/2013

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Tracy Arm Fjord Photos

Day 5 of the Cruise
Our destination for today is Tracy Arm fjord. Tracy Arm was named for Secretary of the Navy and friend of William H. Seward, Benjamin Franklin Tracy. Located about 45 miles SSE of Juneau, Tracy Arm is roughly 30 miles long, starting at Stephens Passage, and terminating at the South Sawyer Glacier. The fjord is about a mile wide, on average, and has a maximum depth of about 1250 feet. Tracy Arm (and the nearby Endicott Arm) is part of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness Area.

Tracy Arm fjord

Like most of Southeast Alaska (with the exception of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve), Tracy Arm is part of the Tongass National Forest. The Tongass was designated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 and, at 17 million acres, is the largest national forest in the U.S. The Tongass is part of the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the
world and is the home to about 10% of the states population.

Williams Cove

The Alaskan Dream carried six kayaks stowed on its foredeck and, the weather being so cooperative, the Captain decided to give anyone who was interested the chance for a some paddle time.

Cannery ruins and plilings from the old cannery pier.

Tongass National Forest

The morning was beautifully warm and clear so, before sailing down the Arm we made a stop in Williams Cove, a cozy bay just in from Stephens Passage.

Alaskan Dream in Williams Cove. Kyakers just off the dock to the right.

Kayakers in Williams Cove.

There are also the remnants of an old cannery and a cabin that is available for rent in the Cove. While some of our fellow passengers went exploring in the kayaks, we explored the ruins on foot.

After several hours of off-boat time we boarded for the journey down the fjord.

Naturalists, travel professionals, and travelers alike rate Tracy Arm Fjord as one of the most dramatic locations in all of North America. It is a relatively narrow passage framed by mountains as tall as 7,000 feet, with sheer granite walls of up to 2000 feet. Cruising along you could easily imagine yourself being in Norway. A Viking longship would not be out of place.

The views are spectacular with countless glacier-fed waterfalls, forests, and interesting rock formations. Naturalist John Muir compared Tracy Arms sheer granite cliffs to Yosemite, saying that this region was even more spectacular than the Yosemite valley. We've never been to Yosemite but it's hard to imagine a more awe-inspiring setting.

There are two glaciers at the end of the fjord, Sawyer Glacier and South Sawyer Glacier.

The Sawyer Galciers

South Sawyer is the larger and more active of the two at about 1/3 of a mile wide and several hundred feet high.
When we arrived at the glacier face the Captain positioned the boat about a quarter mile out. The crew launched the DIB and the passengers disembarked in groups of 10 to get a little closer.
DIB is an acronym for Demaree Inflatable Boat which can accommodate 20 passengers.
We were in the second group to go out and were able to get up close to a group of seals on a small iceberg. Once we go back aboard the Alaskan Dream we were treated to a decent sized calving which, unfortunately, we weren't quick enough to catch on video. Jan did get some good photos, though, which are in the slide show below. We even got to see a "shooter." A shooter occurs when ice breaks from the part of the glacier face that is below the water line and shoots to the surface. They can be fairly dangerous because they can surface well away from the glaciers face and tend to be very large. Ours was at least 100 feet long above the waters surface. We didn't catch the shooter on video but here is a link to a Youtube video of a pretty spectacular event. For an idea of the scale of the shooter, the glacier is about 300 feet high just above where the shooter occurs.

First look at the South Sawyer Glacier

Glaciers are noisy places. There are almost constant, very loud, cracking, popping, and thunder-clap noises as the glacial ice flows toward the waters edge. When ice separates from the face the sound is like a cannon firing before the ice falls in what looks like slow-motion.
A few words about the color of glacial ice which can run from bright white to gray-black, to deep blue. Un-compacted snow contains lots of trapped air which causes most of the light spectrum to be reflected. Gray-black ice gets its color from rocks, dirt, and silt that is picked up as the glacier flows. The deep blue colors occur in the oldest, most densely compacted ice which has little, if any, trapped air. The lack of trapped air allows most of the color spectrum to be absorbed leaving only light in the blue spectrum to be reflected.

Approaching the Sawyer Glacier

Once Nature's show was over we headed to the Sawyer Glacier, our final stop for the day. The Sawyer (some call it the North Sawyer) was quiet on this day with no calving activity. It was however, no less impressive.

Once we had all had our fill we headed back down the fjord heading toward Hobart Bay, our port of call for Wednesday, 8/7.

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Skagway and Haines - August 5

9/16/2013

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Skagway and Haines Photos

Day 4 of the Cruise
We left Colt Island in the early hours of Monday, 8/5, sailing north through Stephen's Passage into Lynn Canal on our way to the gold rush town of Skagway. In spite of its name, Lynn Canal is actually an inlet of the inside passage of the Gulf of Alaska. It is about 90 miles long from Stephens Passage to the Chilkat, Chilkoot, and Taiya Inlets. Lynn Canal is over 2,000 feet deep, is the deepest fjord in North America, and is one of the deepest and longest in the world.

Downtown Skagway.

Tourism is the principal economy today, with as many as five large cruise ships in port at one time during the summer. As we cruised into port there were two ships already docked. Painted on the cliffs above the harbor are advertisements, and logos of the cruise lines, a practice started by local merchants during the gold rush period.

Looking forward as the train passes over a trestle.

At Carcross, YT, after clearing Canadian customs, we boarded 2 small buses for the trip back to Skagway via the Klondike Highway. We traveled on only a short portion of the highway which runs all the way from Skagway to Dawson City, YT where it joins the AlCan Highway. After a brief stop to sample some wild blueberries, we continued to the US/Canada border where we stopped for a refreshing drink from a waterfall.

Picking wild blueberries on the trip back to Skagway.

After a brief sojourn we left Haines to sail about 140 miles back down Lynn Canal and Stephens Passage on our way to Tracy Arm Fjord south of Juneau.

It was a quiet trip punctuated by a great many spectacular waterfalls and a glimpse of one last glacier of the day.

The final sight was Eldred Rock Lighthouse. The lighthouse was manned continuously from 1906 until personnel were removed in 1973 when its operation was automated.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse.

Skagway, our first port of call for the day, is on the Taiya Inlet off the Lynn Canal. Prior to 1887, Skagua (a Tlingit word meaning windy place) was a hunting and fishing center used by the Chilkoot and Chilkat indians. After 1896 when gold was discovered 600 miles away in the Klondike area of the Canadian Yukon Territory, Skagway boomed as the starting point for prospectors heading over White Pass. Click here for more information about Skagway's history, and here to go to the Wikipedia entry about the Klondike Gold Rush.

A merchant's advertisement on the cliff wall.

Our off-ship activity was a ride aboard the White Pass & Yukon railroad, a 67.5 mile trip that will take us over White Pass to Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada. The route was completed just as the gold boom was winding down and is now operated as a purely tourist oriented excursion. The route climbs steadily out of thick forest (at points clinging to the edge of steep cliffs) along the Skagway River, terminating above the tree-line in tundra covered mountains. As you can see from these photos (click here for more) it was a very foggy day so some of the scenery was obscured, but it was, nevertheless, ruggedly beautiful.

A foggy view of the gorge from the train.

Waterfall at the US border used by hikers and other travelers as a fresh water source.

Then it was back aboard ship for a trip to Haines, AK. Haines is the southern terminus for the Haines Highway which ends at Haines Junction, YT, Canada where it joins the AlCan highway. Formerly, Haines was a commercial fishing and cannery center until the last cannery closed in 1973. Now it is the starting point for various outdoor & wilderness activities.

Waterfall on the trip back down the Lynn Canal.

The next installment: cruising up Tracy Arm Fjord.

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Auke Bay, Juneau, and Orca Point Lodge - August 4

9/6/2013

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Auke Bay, Juneau, Orca Point Photos

Day 3 of the Cruise
We sailed from Glacier Bay and anchored in Auke Bay, a quiet, sheltered location where we spent the night. Our major destination for the next day was the state capitol, Juneau, which is not too far from Auke Bay. Our wake-up call for breakfast was to be 7:45 but a little before 7:00 the Captain announced over the intercom that we had humpback whales along our starboard side. Since that's the side our cabin was on we threw open the curtains and enjoyed the show. A great way to start the day. The whales stayed with us all through breakfast after which we took our leave to sail on to Juneau.

The Fairweather, a ferry of AK Maritime Highway System.

Leaving Auke Bay we got our first glimpse of the famous Mendenhall Glacier which is located east of Auke Bay, about 12 miles north of Juneau. We sailed around Douglas Island into Juneau harbor where we passed the Alaska Marine Highway system ferry, Fairweather. The ferries run year-round and are the primary method of transportation among the cities and villages of Southeast Alaska.

We disembarked and boarded a chartered bus that transported us to the Mendenhall Glacier where we spent the next several hours. The glacial ice flows some 13 miles from the 1500 mile Juneau Ice Field which feeds 38 glaciers. The ice takes between 200 and 250 years to flow to the glacier's face. The glacier was named for Thomas Corwin Mendenhall who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1889 to 1894. It takes about 100 feet of snowfall to make 1 foot of glacial ice.

Located near the glacier is Nugget falls. From the overlook to which we hiked we could see both but it was difficult to judge either the glacier's or the waterfall's scale. Fortunately, some of our fellow passengers undertook the 3-mile round trip hike to Nugget falls and we could see them (with the help of a 300 mm telephoto lens) at its base.

Closeup of the ice cave in the glacier's face.

We took one of the less challenging hikes along Mendenhall Lake and on the way out we encountered a porcupine having a nibble up a tree. Not wanting to get in the way of any flying quills, we observed from a respectful distance. We came upon some salmon heading upstream to spawn and downstream to escape from a bear who was feasting on the less wary. Alas, we didn't get to see the bear who had been spooked by gawkers before we could get to him. The scenery was worth the trip, though.

Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls.

Nuggett Falls. Note the little specks at the base of the falls...those are some of our more intrepid fellow passengers.

Another interesting feature of the glacier is a large ice cave at water level in the glacier's face. Typically, glacier caves are formed by water flowing from the top of the ice field through a vertical opening called a moulin. These shafts can go all the way to the glacier's base or, more typically, terminate at a crevasse through which the water flows until it reaches the glacier's face.

Our outdoor appetites having been satisfied, we boarded the bus and headed back to the less bucolic atmosphere of the state capitol. This was one of the very few rainy days of our trip and Juneau was shrouded in fog. After a delicious lunch of halibut fish and chips, we took a soggy,leisurely stroll about downtown. Since the fog was so dense we opted not to take the aerial tram to the top of Mount Roberts. We did, however find a very nice little yarn shop; enjoyable but dangerous.

A pod of resident orcas on the way to Colt Island. Click on the button at the top of this post for more orca, and other, photos.

Once back aboard the Alaskan Dream we cruised to Colt Island, location of Orca Point Lodge. On the way we encountered a pod of resident orcas. Resident orcas consume fish; transient orcas eat sea mammals.

The lodge is quite remote but very nice. It's owned by Allen Marine, the parent company of Alaskan Dream Cruises. This was our dinner destination and what a feed we had! All we could eat of monster-sized shrimp, loads of salad, and seemingly unlimited quantities of Alaskan king crab legs. Oh, yes, and barbecued ribs. It was very, very good and no-one left hungry.

The only reasonable thing to do afterwards was head for our stateroom for some full-tummy snoozing.

Next installment, our trip back north to Skagway, from there, via the White Pass & Yukon Railway, to Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada, and back, then on to the fishing port of Haines.

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Glacier Bay - August 3rd

8/31/2013

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Glacier Bay Photos

Our route from Sitka to Glacier Bay.

Day 2 of the Cruise
After our full day cruising around Sitka, we boarded the Alaskan Dream and settled in to our commodious stateroom. We participated in a welcome aboard happy hour in the forward lounge, then headed to the dining room for the first of many fine dinners. After dinner there was a briefing about the next day's activities, then we headed to bed. During the night we sailed to our first destination, Glacier Bay.

Saturday morning we awoke to glorious scenery as we sailed to the Glacier Bay National Park visitor center to pick up a Park Ranger who would spend the day aboard, pointing out points of interest and scenic and wildlife highlights.

We cruised past the Beardslee Islands viewing what would be the first of many waterfalls in Glacier Bay, as well as a mountain goat, brown bear, numerous Stellar sea lions, and eagles.

Apologies for the bouncy video but we were, after all, on a moving vessel.

Our ultimate destination was to be the Johns Hopkins Glacier, a trip of about 55 miles from the park visitor center. Along the way we saw quite a few water falls and lesser glaciers.

According to the material provided by our Scientific Expedition Leader, Larisa,

"In 1794, when Captain George Vancouver visited the ice-filled waters of Icy Strait, there was a wall of ice resting in what is now known as Glacier Bay. In 1879, when John Muir visited this area, it was discovered that the ice had retreated more than 60 miles from its original discovery in 1794..." Well, all I can say is, so much for arctic glacial retreat being a modern-day, human-caused phenomenon.

The highlight of our Glacier Bay sojourn was arriving at the face of the Johns Hopkins Glacier. This glacier is different than most in Glacier Bay in that it is actually advancing, not receding. No-one is sure why this is the case.

Approaching the Johns Hopkins Glacier.

The point of rock on the left is Jaw Point. We are still more than a mile from the glacier face.

Carroll Glacier

Rednu Glacier

It is very difficult to perceive the actual scale of the scenery from the water. We were never closer than 1/4 mile from the face of the glacier (this is considered the closest one can get safely due the the threat of calving) but it felt much closer. The top of the glacier face was between 250 and 300 feet from the water but, as some of the photos will show, didn't seem that high. We learned that the face of the glacier actually extends to the floor of the channel, in some cases as much as 1,000 feet. The depth of the Johns Hopkins Inlet is about 900 feet. Most folks are familiar with pictures of huge chunks of ice falling from the glacier face, a process called calving. Calving can also occur from the glacier face that is below the surface of the water creating what are known as "shooters." The resulting icebergs, sometimes the size of buildings, will shoot from the bottom to the surface with incredible force (envision an ice cube rising from the bottom of a glass and apply several orders of magnitude) creating tsunamis of dangerous size. Fortunately, we didn't witness this phenomenon first-hand.

We had an amazing time at the glacier and got to witness (although didn't get any photos of) a major calving that resulted in a ship-sized iceberg and some rocking of our boat. Bidding the Johns Hopkins Glacier adieu, we headed back to the park headquarters to drop off our Ranger and take a short hike in the woods.

Along the forest trail at the visitors' center.

After our hike we boarded our water-borne home and began the journey to Alaska's state capitol, Juneau, our Sunday destination. Watch for our next post in a few days.

A Tlingit trail marker.

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