A year ago Lindsey suggested we take this weeklong classic cruise often called the "Inside Passage." We found Holland America's Zaandam was the "smallest" big ship, and a $99 deposit a year in advance yielded big discounts on excursions, drinks, and more.
The sun did not shine much. Most days brought some mist, drizzle, or light rain. Not unusual since, in August, Juneau has only a 30% chance of clear skies along with a 40% chance of precipitation. But it was not too cold and was usually in the 50-65° range.
Juneau
In the Tongass National Forest just outside Juneau, we saw where the 13-mile
river of ice called the Mendenhall Glacier spills into this lake.
Contrasting to the ancient ice is the roaring water of nearby Nugget Falls.
Walking to catch an Uber back to Juneau we passed this perfect little lake.
Just as I was thinking the scene could not be more perfect, a duck and her
trailing brood paddled into view.
Little Juneau (pop. 32K) is an odd state capital — so remote from most of
Alaska. It is not even physically accessible by road, making Juneau the only
state capital impossible to drive to from the rest of its state.
For me, the highlight of Juneau, if not the whole cruise, was a tour of the
Storis, first new Coast Guard icebreaker in 25 years, with my friend
Captain Justin Nadolny, one of the leaders of the Coast Guard's Arctic District. The Storis was formally commissioned at a big ceremony two
days later.
This long-overdue icebreaker is a big deal. The US has just budgeted billions
for new icebreakers to try to catch up in the growing rivalry around the polar
frontier.
Update: Later news about the Storis!
Skagway
In 1897, news of gold in the Klondike region of the Yukon sparked a stampede
of more than 100,000 hopeful prospectors. During the Gold Rush, Skagway
transformed from a quiet inlet into a booming gateway to the north. The
fastest route to the Klondike was by ship to Skagway, followed by a grueling
overland trek through the treacherous White Pass Trail into Canada.
Somehow in the midst of the madness, the White Pass Railroad was
constructed. It was and still is a narrow-gauge engineering marvel, carved
through steep mountain passes to get gold seekers up into the remote
interior. Still operates over 125 years later. (Kathy's photo)
White Pass Railroad is the top priority to experience in Skagway. Even on a
foggy day like ours, every turn revealed a new, raw, rugged landscape.
The panorama seemed untouched, and largely is, but on the mountainside across
this valley, you can see evidence of the little road that goes to Whitehorse,
capital of the Yukon, about two hours away.
Down the main street of Skagway is our white cruise ship straight ahead. In
front of it is the black engine (red stripe) of the White Pass train, framed
by the town's frontier-themed shops and restaurants.
Lindsey and I in front of the Skagway Museum (Alaska's first stone
building). Nice, but be sure to see the Skagway Park Service Visitor Center.
Glacier Bay
The dirty dark glacier (shown in the series above) is called the Johns
Hopkins Glacier. It was annoyingly named in 1893 by a mid-career instructor
at that fairly new university. Seems suspicious to me. Could flattering his
school have helped him get promoted to full professor eight years later?!
Back to the beautiful Margerie Glacier (named for a pioneering French
geologist).
Trio of photos above includes the Margerie Glacier without us blocking
the view. Also includes an example of the foggy view (that had its own
charm) that we sometimes saw.
Dall's porpoises look like baby killer whales (orcas) and were speedsters as
they raced across the waves. I failed but Kathy caught them leaping.
Ketchikan
Skagway was the gold rush boomtown and gateway to the Yukon, while Ketchikan was more of a regional fishing and lumber town.
Above I mentioned fish and lumber, but apparently bootlegging and brothels
played a big role too. Colorful Creek Street above was said to be filled
with bordellos that operated as late as the 1950s.
Be sure to see the "Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show." It is padded with a ton of
awful, corny attempts at humor but the actual lumberjack competition was
entertaining and impressive.
These three fantastic totem poles at the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center
are each in the style of one of the three native tribes in Southeast
Alaska — the Tsimshian, Haida, and Tlingit.
Ketchikan has totem poles scattered around town as well as the groups of
totem poles in places like the Discovery Center and the Saxman Totem Park
where we visited. If I'd known I was going to find the carvings so
enthralling, I would have squeezed in a tour of more of them.
If you have a US passport, this totem pole in downtown Ketchikan should look
familiar. It is probably in your passport with a little artistic license taken
to make it more compact.
Lindsey had an eye for the most perfect geometric sunset.
The last night we were treated to this sunset with an array of golden light
that made me think of it as a bookend to the all of the echoes of the gold
rush.
