Speaking of Alaska…

[Paul Wagner]

We’re just back from twelve days–and wish we’d had more time.  Dave Thomas, if the weather were like this all the time, you would have LOTS of company!

We started with a couple of sunny days in Vancouver…and then on to the Inside Passage:

On the second day, we were in Ketchikan, where we kayaked out to the Tatoosh Islands amid glorious sunny weather.  Bald eagles were everywhere out here, and we loved how close we could get to the shore…the vertical walls and gentle seas allowed us to touch the rocks in many cases, exploring the starfish below.

Day three was in Juneau. Among other things, we hiked out the Perseverance Trail to the Falls, along with most of the population of Juneau. It was a sunny Sunday, and the residents were all enthusiastic about getting out on the trail! Great hike, with great views, and we came back on the flume trail, giving us yet another view of the area.

On day four we were in Skagway, where we had signed up for a session of rock climbing.

Day five was in Sitka, where I joined a few people to take a ride out to the end of the road north of town, then a boat to the head of Katlian Bay, where we fished for bright silver Dolly Varden trout in the Katlian.

Day six was the only day we really had any true Alaskan summer weather, as the fog limited our visit to the Hubbard Glacier.

Day seven took us to Seward, where we ended the cruise.  We dropped off our luggage and consulted with the Kenai Fjords National Park visitors center in town.  That led us to the Exit Glacier shuttle, which took us out and back for $15. What a deal!

We hiked the Exit Glacier Trail and partway up the Harding Ice Field Trail to some amazing views.

We headed back to town to eat lunch and then visit to the Alaska Sea Life Center—a world-class museum along the lines of the Monterey Aquarium.

The next day we started with a short hike on the Two Lake Loop just outside of town, and it gave us a great sense of the rainforest here.

We had booked a tour on the Kenai Fjords Tours boat Coastal Explorer.   We had a magnificent sighting of a pod of humpback whales, complete with all their behaviors, from blowing and breaching to fin slapping and bubble-ring feeding. Better than National Geographic.

And then on to see fin whales. Steller dolphins, Steller sea lions, the Aialik glacier, puffins, murres, and so much more.

We then caught the bus evening into Anchorage along one of the most scenic highways on the planet.

And on the day of departure, we could see Denali from the airport, and got the birds-eye view as we flew out of Anchorage over the ice fields of Kenai Fjords on another sparkling day.

The whole trip report, with a link to ALL the photos, is here: https://www.backpackthesierra.com/post/alaska

 

[David Thomas]

After a snowy and cold winter, it has been an unusually dry and sunny spring and early summer.

Sounds like a great trip – you fit a lot in.  TIL about that Exit Glacier shuttle – good to know.  Glad your cruise ship didn’t hit a iceberg (one did, recently).  Kristin might have been on that Juneau trail with you – she was there for a conference and 4 rare days of sun.  She went paddleboarding in Gastineau Channel and had jumping salmon and feeding sea lions all around.

With more time, there’s the “surf & turf” option where you start (or end) with the cruise ship and then the train to Denali NP and sometimes on to Fairbanks.

It’s been a crazy year for tourists.  In normal years, rental cars are $29/day in winter and $500/week in summer, but they’re 2-3 times that now.  When my staff or I have hearings to attend in Anchorage, the business hotels downtown were $350/night last month and now $500 so we’re using AirBnB instead.

[Paul Wagner]

Thanks, Dave.  Yes, prices were steep, but I couldn’t really complain. Those folks have a short season to make a living, or at least part of one.  We tipped generously, too!

My next trip to Alaska will not be on a cruise ship, and I’ll have more time to actually poke around, But this one was basically on the house…and gave me some great ideas for next time.  I think I’ll focus more on the area around Seward/Anchorage/Homer…more than enough to explore there!

[Philip Tschersich]

You certainly packed a lot in. Nice job. And yes, this will give you a good basis from which to plan more specific trips in the future.

Years ago I paddled my sea kayak from Homer to Seward. It was a trip that took me through the entire length of Kenai Fjords National Park. I’ve traveled a fair amount in South-Central/Western Alaska and a little bit in Southeast, but my time in the fjords stands out as one of the most spectacular experiences I’ve had up here. Sadly the glaciers are in rapid retreat these days, so they calve much less frequently and the bays are no longer packed with icebergs and bergy bits. You haven’t lived until you have camped among calving tidewater glaciers (at an elevation safe from surge waves, of course). It’s like sleeping next to a randomly erupting volcano. Completely nuts. I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since.

A few years later, a friend was visiting from overseas and we took one of the glacier day cruises out of Seward into Kenai fjords. I had sort of looked down my nose at the tour boats plying the waters of Northwestern Fjord and Aialik Fjord during my sea kayak trip. But I have to say, it is a pretty incredible way to see such a spectacular piece of country if you don’t have the time, equipment, or background to get into that rugged country under your own power (it is a formidable section of coastline). We saw all manner of marine critters and bird life, and got up close and personal with the face of the Holgate and Aialik glaciers. It really was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Kenai Peninsula.

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