North to Alaska: Cruise Day 5

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Jill English Johnston

Juneau

We arrived with several other cruise ships, which—I’ve come to find out—means crowded streets, shops, and restaurants, as well as clogged cell towers. I’m amazed by the size of these floating cities and how many of them pull into these tiny port cities/towns and descend upon them for a day. All summer long. Since it’s late in the season, we’ll soon discover how many of the small towns close down and clear out for the winter.

Juneau feels and looks more like what I expected Alaska to be. It’s definitely getting cooler and cloudier.

I’m impressed how this city nestles in the shadow of looming mountains and hugs the waterways. As Alaska’s capital, it’s interesting to note that the only access into and out of the city is by plane and boat. No road access. I’m sure it gives the state government an appreciation for the challenges many of its residents face.

We signed up for one of the ship’s excursions: the Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Photo Safari with Gastineau Guiding Company with tour guide Claire.

Claire told us about the local vegetation as we walked the Trail of Time through the Tongass National Rainforest. Along the way, Claire pointed out the various vegetation (lichens, mosses, mushrooms, trees like spruces, hemlock, alder, willow, and bushes like squash berry and devils club). We encountered no bear or any other animal encounters but Claire mentioned that spring mama bear had used an area tucked between tourist walkways as a napping place for her and her cub. Apparently she felt it a safe place for her young one.

The Trail of Time has time markers (hence the name) to indicate the location of Mendenhall Glacier in years past, giving us a sense of glacier melt. The rock, over a mile from the glacier, says “ice limit 1926”.

We could feel the cold air flowing off Mendenhall Glacier along the trail as we approached—even before we could see it. We finished our hike at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center with a view of the glacier and Mendenhall Lake (which did not exist before 1910). The glacier has retreated approximately 2 1/2 miles in recent centuries.

We met up with Captain Mitch at a marina on Auke Bay. His safari vessel is specifically designed for maximum wildlife photo encounters. The sheltered cabin has large panel windows that keep photographers dry enroute and open for unrestricted views when idling.

As we boarded the vessel, we saw lots of gulls and bald eagles fighting over the dead salmon washed up on the shore. The sight gives a different perspective of the majestic eagle. We cruised Auke Bay, Stephens Passage, and Favorite Channel and were taken to two whale encounter locations. At the first stop we met Captain Hook, a lone transient Orca, named because of his hooked dorsal fin.

Then we found the pod of humpbacks—about a half dozen—including calves with their mamas. We saw lots and lots of spouts and tail fins as they feasted on anchovies, herring, sand lance, and sardines in the cold waters. They needed to fatten up before their winter migration to warmer waters in the lower latitudes. During migration and calving season they don’t eat but rely on their fat stores for energy. (For more information on the humpback whale visit the International Whaling Commission).

Captain Mitch said humpback whales eat about 20 hours a day during the feeding season and gain about 12 pounds a day. 12 pounds! A day! It’s kinda how I feel on this cruise with the all you can eat buffet and desserts.

On the way back to the marina we paused near an ocean buoy where some sea lions were taking an afternoon nap.

On the bus ride back to the ship we asked Claire for a recommendation for lunch and she pointed us to Alaska Fish & Chips Company located at the Flight Deck near the cruise terminal. We sat outside on the patio; I had the Seafood Chowder and the husband had a halibut sandwich—which we both thoroughly enjoyed.

Our traveling companions took a ride on the nearby Goldbelt Tram up the mountainside, but with the low clouds and visibility, we opted not to do so. Maybe next time.

We found our Juneau bear in one of the gift shops.

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North to Alaska: Cruise Day 4

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Jill English Johnston

Sitka

We didn’t book an excursion for Sitka but rather took our own walking tour. It’s a cute town but the cruise ships dock about a ten minute bus ride from Harrigan Centennial Hall in downtown Sitka.

From there we headed to the nearby Baranof Castle State Historic Site—not quite what I expected. I expected a castle. Instead, it was a stone walled circular lookout area at the top of several flights of stone steps. The hill was once a fortified site for the Tlingit people who occupied the land, but was unfortunately taken over by Russians in 1804. The Russians held the area until it 1867, when it was transferred to the United States.

We wanted to visit the Raptor Center—which we discovered is a lot cheaper when not purchased through the ship, especially if you can get a military discount. But transportation is not included. We took a bit of a hike to get there (racking up those steps), but it’s a great way to see the town. At the Raptor Center, we watched a short video about the raptor rehabilitation program, viewed several still in the early stages of healing inside and some further along outside. The raptors they care for include bald eagles, golden hawks, falcons, kestrels, and owls.

A walking path in the forest surrounding the Center took us along a river filled with spawning zombie salmon and dead salmon all over the rocky beach. Signs warned us that bears often frequented the area. The path also took us through a cool meadow area, which we discovered is called a muskeg—a kind of marsh or bog with thick layers of decaying vegetable matter usually formed over bedrock, with mosses and spongy foliage. I tentatively stepped on it. Definitely squishy with soggy firmness. 

From there we took the short cut back through Sitka National Historical Park, a 220 acre park with Tlingit Totem Poles. However, the short cut turned into a long cut since I wanted to explore the area. On the way back we hiked around it’s peninsula, past another creek filled with dead salmon and feasting gulls, and checked out some of the totem poles along the path.

As we explored the park, we crossed a bridge over a creek filled with spawning salmon. While they fight their way upstream, do the salmon see their fate rotting along the creek banks and in the silty bottom?

Ashmo’s Seafood truck had great reviews on google and we thought it would be an excellent place for lunch. But it wasn’t around. So we found The Fresh Fish, another food cart down a little alley and purchased almost the last bowl of Alaskan Seafood chowder. The cart seller scooped from the bottom of her large crock pot, which meant we had a bowl filled with seafood goodness and not a bunch of liquid. The seller said she made it with bacon broth, making it rich and complex. She spoke truth. We sat down on some nearby steps, ate our chowder, and watched sad customers be told she was sold out. Trying the different Alaskan chowders was definitely a must as we traveled.

We like to visit local artist galleries we find in towns we visit. I really need to increase my art budget if I want to buy anything other than prints. While at one of the shops we heard the ladies behind the counter talking about coffee. When we asked where the best coffee shop was, one of them took us out side and pointed in the direction of the shop. “Follow the coffee smell,” she said. 

And we did. 

Back Door Cafe was located through the back door of Old Harbor Books. Jon ordered café mocha and I enjoyed my chai latte while perusing the books. The berry crumble bar was a definite must also.

We found another little art gallery, Fate Accompli and we chatted with the owner, Rachel, about the local art. We were drawn to the bright colors of MK MacNaughton. The storeowner told us the artist was her favorite, even though she was not local, but from Juneau. We purchased a print of her muskegy landscape, Inside the Gray, since it reminded us of the short hike we took at the Raptor Center. 

We found our bear on a corner, not too far from the art gallery.

Back on the ship we attended our first show—an Elton John tribute: Remember When Rock Was Young. With the crowd demographics skewing toward those of the 70s, there was lots of crowd participation singing along to the songs.

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North to Alaska: Cruise Day 3

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Jill English Johnston

Ketchikan

For a place that can get up to 160 inches of rain (that’s 13 feet!), Ketchikan enticed us with sunny skies and mild temperatures—making for a beautiful port visit. It’s different than I thought. I expected towering white capped mountains but this south Alaskan town has smaller rolling mountains covered by the Tongass National Forest. It can only be accessed by boat, ferry, or plane.

We met up with Jon’s cousin’s wife’s sister for our personal tour of this cute little town.  She took us to one of her favorite walking places—Ward Lake Picnic Site—where we took a short walk to Ward Creek in the hopes of seeing a bear grabbing a late breakfast of salmon. Unfortunately all was quiet at the salmon buffet. I would have enjoyed the mile hike around the lake, but I wasn’t sure how long some of the other stops would take.

So we pressed on. We then went to Totem Bight State Historical Park—where Jon’s cousin’s wife worked summers as a teenager. The fourteen totems on display in the park have nothing to do with worship but rather record the history and identity of the Tlingit and Haida people who once lived in southeast Alaska.

We then went to Settlers Cove State Recreation Site where apparently the locals swim during the summer. XXX (what’s the average water temp?) Nope too cold for me. It had some nice views of the bay and interesting greenish yellow kelp growing on the rocks. Also XXX, clam looking creatures attached to the rocks. We followed a path up into the woods where a waterfall cascaded between the trees. Salmon jumping upstream XXX (how is this referred to? Salmon jumping up stream to spawn? Spawning salmon?) 

We asked about a favorite local place to eat and we headed to Knudson Cove Marina and had some amazing halibut fish and chips at the Barn Door Eatery.

Not wanting to take advantage of hospitality and take up our host’s whole Sunday, we were dropped off and—with a few recommendations of shops to visit—walked downtown Ketchikan. Creek Street seemed to be a place to go.

On Creek Street, salmon come to spawn in Ketchikan Creek and eagles and seagulls often frequent the area to feast on the dying fish. I’ve always heard about salmon fighting the currents to swim up street and spawn. However, I didn’t know that once they do, they start to die—literally starving to death in the process. They become zombie fish. And when they die, there are then dead salmon all over. On the creek bottom. Along the sides of the creek. Which makes the whole experience of watching the spawning salmon a bit more gruesome. But the dying ground becomes a buffet for scavengers in the circle of life.

Not sure who remembers (or even knew about) the “bridge to nowhere.” Apparently Ketchikan was the source of controversy in the 2008 presidential campaign. The Gravina Island Bridge was an estimated $398 million bridge intended to connect Ketchikan to Gravina Island and the Ketchikan International Airport. The bridge needed to be tall enough to allow ship traffic, including cruise ships that frequent the town in the summer. The project was eventually cancelled and travelers continued to use a ferry that runs back and forth between the two islands.

When a young sailor, I passed through the Juneau airport on my way to my first duty station at Cubi Point Naval Air Station in the Philippines. All I remember is that it was dark in the middle of the day (I transferred in February) and that there was a huge polar bear in the terminal.

We found a similar one in Ketchikan and had to get a photo.

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North to Alaska: Cruise Day 2

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Jill English Johnston

At Sea

We’re not much for gambling, hanging at the bar, or partaking of the constant entertainment provided on board. Too many people and often too much noise for me. We do like to be outdoors though and we spent much of the day walking about topside, watching the sun play on the cold silvery water and getting some steps in by walking the ship on decks 5, 11, and 12.

I attended a couple of the informational presentations and was a bit disappointed. The excursion presentation highlighted a handful of excursions available for each port, but didn’t really provide the detailed differences between similar excursions I hoped for. The pictures of the White Pass train ride in Skagway, however, inspired us to add that to our excursion list (we only had one excursion scheduled for Juneau).

The other presentation was for shopping in town at each port visit. I had hoped it would provide a run down of the various stores available and what kind of merchandise Alaska and each town is known for.  Maybe mention some of the local galleries, local artists and best foods and restaurants. Nope. The presentation turned out to be a huge infomercial for a couple of high priced jewelry stores, a fancy sunglass store, and an environmentally friendly (read expensive) linen/clothing store. I won’t give them any advertising by mentioning the names of the businesses here because I’m sure they pay handsomely for the ship endorsements. I left about ten minutes into the presentation, annoyed with the commercialism, the lack of useful information, and the excitable loudness of the presenter’s voice. I definitely had a false expectation of the “shopping hints” presentation.

In the evening, we caught an amazing sunset over the North Pacific. 

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North to Alaska: Cruise Day 1

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Jill English Johnston

Underway

The Canadian coffee shop chain, Tim Horton’s, was near the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel so we popped in there for a quick breakfast. Their breakfast burritos were quite big and the husband and I shared one. We each had one of our own autumn muffins to celebrate September and the cooler temperatures.

After the hotel picked up our luggage from our room, we headed on over to the cruise terminal. I must say it was a much nicer experience than boarding Carnival in Galveston. For Carnival, we had our assigned boarding time and arrived about ten minutes after our departure window (lunch at a restaurant with ten couples took a bit longer than expected). We didn’t realize how strict Carnival was with their “windows” and since we were late, we had to go to the end of the line. We stood in the long line snaking along the side of the building and watched as the next “window” was announced and a crowd of cruisers passed us to board. So did the next window, and the next. Eventually we boarded as well, but it felt like the popular ride at Disney without a fast pass.

Royal Caribbean, however, moved everyone through quite quickly, even with customs. We arrived a little before our departure window and were told to go on in. The line move quickly and smoothly—passports, Covid vaccine cards, and security. Before we knew it, we were on board. 

We couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day in Vancouver to get underway. Sunny skies and warm temperatures as we passed under the Lion’s Gate Bridge. A fellow cruiser had posted on the Royal Caribbean FB group that the helo pad (forward, deck 6) was the place to be when departing, so that’s where we headed. It definitely was.

We had a great view as we left Vancouver and headed through the Strait of Georgia. We hung out there until sunset, enjoying the sunshine and scenery. And I was impressed with our cell coverage as we transited through the inner passage and past all the little Canadian towns.

That evening, after dinner—knowing it was a full moon—we headed to the fantail where we were treated to an amazing view of moonlight flooding the wake of the ship. I left the cabin curtains open when we went to bad, so we could watch the Canadian landscape pass by in the light of the full moon.

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