Prelude
We are taking this dream vacation to Alaska in celebration of our 20th anniversary and Dick’s 50th birthday. The plan is to spend a few days in Juneau on the front end, enjoy a small boat cruise & kayak adventure in Alaska’s southeast islands and Glacier Bay, check out Glacier Bay National Park, and finish up back in Juneau.
Wednesday, July 17, 2002
Juneau
We have an early 3:00 am start to catch the 6:00 am flight to Philly from Pittsburgh. It seems weird going east to go west. The next leg is Philly to Seattle with a 5-hour layover in Seattle. Five hours is a long wait, but there’s a great micropub at the airport in Seattle where we enjoy cold salmon plate and, of course, some good beer and wine to while-away the time. We hit Juneau around 4:30 AKDT, (4 hours difference from Pittsburgh) and have been traveling for 17 hours. Alas, Dick’s luggage is missing.
Our lodging is at the Glacier Trail B&B, in sight of Mendenhall Glacier, in a nice neighborhood and short walk to the West Glacier Trail. Juneau harbor is quite close and we find a little place there known as “The Hanger”. It’s a great place, highly recommended, for a beverage, appetizers and view of the float planes coming in and out of the harbor. Dick needed to pick up clothes to tide him over until the luggage shows up so we head to town and scour the shops.
Thursday, July 18, 2002
Juneau
Yea! The wayward suitcase arrives at the B&B. Dick takes a short hike up West Glacier Trail early in the morning. Our B&B hosts prepare a fantastic breakfast of crab quiche and fresh fruit. This is a good omen of things to come.
For some reason we rented a car in a town that is water-locked and has only 31 miles of road. Duh. To take full advantage of our stupidity, we made sure to cover all 31. We drove south to the ‘end of road’ and had a nice lunch of burgers and AK beer at the Douglas Café. Then, we drove north to the other ‘end of road’ and toured the Alaskan Brewery on the way back. A 32nd of a tank of gas later, we headed back to Juneau’s commercial district.
Dinner at the ‘Twisted Fish’ on the wharf was awesome! We both order the salmon daily catch and when asked where it was sourced from, the waitress pointed out the window to the Gastineau Channel and said “There”. I guess it is fresh!
Friday, July 19, 2002
Juneau
After another great breakfast (waffles and fresh strawberries) we made our way north of the city to the Herbert Glacier Trail. It was a 9.2 Mile hike to get to the glacier (and back). The trail was very rocky with lots of exposed tree roots that made hiking difficult, but well worth the effort. We saw a group of mountain goats and had a great view of the Glacier.
After the hike, we headed back to town and dined at “The Hanger”. It’s an easy place to like! Good food, beers, and a fantastic view of the water. While there, we met the marketing manager of Alaskan Brewing! After dinner we took a walk down the dock to check out the “Wilderness Adventurer“, the boat we’d be boarding the next day and met some of the crew – a bunch of cheerful, eager youngsters. On our ‘check-out in Juneau’ list was the nearby bar at the “Alaskan Hotel” so we stopped in for a draft. Lo and behold, our boat crew was in the bar doing their pre-cruise drinking and enjoying a fun, local band. We had a few pitchers of beer delivered to the table where the crew was. They invited us to join them – had a blast! Plus, we built up some serious karma!
Saturday, July 20, 2002
Wilderness Adventurer
Another great breakfast – chive omelet & fruit. Conversation at the dining table was lively with the other two couples staying at the B&B, one from Hawaii and the other Tucson. The West Glacier trail runs just behind the B&B and was a good challenge with lot’s of adventure, streams to ford, and rock slopes to scramble (yes, Mary was whining at this point). What a reward – fantastic views of Mendenhall Glacier and crevasse overlooks.
As we’re trying hard to justify our car rental, we take a another drive over to Douglas for a repeat lunch at the Douglas Café. Hey, how many times are you going to be here? Plus, the food is pretty good! Check-in on the boat is 4:30. The crew all remembered us (and our good-will gift) from the night before. Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised to see we got an upgraded room for the trip – Thank You, Guys!!!! Set sail at 5PM. We had a great salmon dinner and met some nice people from Arizona and Boston at our table.
Sunday, July 21, 2002
ABC Islands
It’s our first morning on the boat. Our cabin is small, but has a private bath and window. We are slightly diverted from our intended route due to an emergency with a sister ship which ended up having no real impact on the itinerary. We arrived at Chicaghof Island earlier than due and, although raining, were able to do some exploring in our kayaks. We also checked out some abandoned canneries on the island. Lots of wildlife – jumping herring, eagles and, surprisingly, many jellyfish – “lion’s main” and “moon” species.
The ship has a naturalist and cultural historian on board. Our guy, Howard, is Native Alaskan, Tlinglet, and he provides an in-depth discussion on Tlinglet culture. We are treated to a great talk on the birds of Southeast Alaska. He provides a nice intro to a movie about the Japanese invasion of Aleut. The whales are active and the boat slows to aid whale watching for a few hours before and after dinner.
Monday, July 22, 2002
Glacier Bay
After breakfast, we transfer to a faster boat to get the cruise back on track after our diversion the day before. Our vessel heads up into Glacier Bay’s West Arm and beautiful views of Margerie, John Hopkins, and Reid glaciers. We observed some small calving at the Reid and a couple of humpbacks along the ship’s route. Unfortunately, the boat couldn’t stop to look due to park regulations.
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Baranof Island
A light rain again today – the crew spews the Alaskan Tourist Board ‘liquid sunshine’ propaganda. It’s actually quite pleasant – we cruise Baranof Island and hike in Baranof Warm Springs, a small community of 15 hardy souls. It was a great hike – good looks at starfish in the tide waters, seal, a very nice waterfall and a honker “banana slug”. Around the corner from Warm Springs is the fantastic ‘Red Bluff’ area. We got out late, but others saw a mother brown bear with her cub. A fun place to kayak, very calm water, and a magnificent waterfall that could be paddled right to. The spot was so cool that many of us did an after dinner kayak, very peaceful.
Wednesday. July 24, 2002
Admiralty Island
Morning starts off with an nice kayak along the bay where minks and eagles are everywhere. Howard leads us on a hike in the Admiralty forest. There’s definite evidence of brown bear and Howard keeps us alert. Much time is spent exploring the intertidal basin. The amount of small life under the rocks is remarkable. Howard is a big fan of the ‘creepy crawlies’ – hey, who are we to judge? None of us are sure who was more relieved we didn’t see any ‘griz’, Howard, or the group. Might be a toss-up.
Thursday, July 25, 2002
Endicott, Tracy Arm
Our boat spent the night anchored in Endicott Arm surrounded by beautiful waterfalls. It was a quiet night with no engines running. Endicott is a beautiful spot where we kayaked amongst the icebergs drifting down the arm. After our paddle, we left Endicott for Tracy Arm and enjoyed cocktails amongst the glaciers. The trip up Tracy Arm is stunning with seals, the south Sawyer Glacier, and much glacier calving. This was the night for the “Captains Dinner” of shrimp scampi and prime rib. Conversation at the dinner table was a blast as our dinner companions were from New Zealand (Robyn), South Africa and Seattle.
Friday, July 26, 2002
Juneau
Goodbye to all our cruise mates! After disembarking in Juneau we take the 4 hour ferry to Glacier Bay National Park. Several of our cruise passengers on board – Denver, San Fran and Texas folk (Cathy and Cal, Deanna and Howard). We’ll be staying in Bartlett Cove for 3 nights. On a hike along the river trail we have a close encounter with a young black bear. I was going away from the bear, Dick, however, keeps following it for a closer shot. This behavior would be repeated. Who in their right mind, goes toward a bear in the woods????
Saturday, July 27, 2002
Glacier Bay National Park
A nice, relaxing day. We joined our friends from the ship, Howard and Deanna, rented some kayaks and went for a quiet water tour of the area. We ran into some folks from the Wilderness Adventurer which was at dock and got a good look at the Wilderness Explorer, a sister ship which goes on longer expeditions.
Sunday, July 28, 2002
Glacier Bay National Park
A mother and young calf had been spotted in the park, so we were on the hunt for a photo opp. We even passed on breakfast to make sure we got the shot. After a fruitless morning on the trail we surrendered and hitched a ride to Gustavis to check out the sights. Not much there other than the Mercantile and Gas Station. Oh well, we hiked back to the park and set out again looking for Mom and baby Moose. Struck out.
Monday, July 29, 2002
Glacier Bay National Park
Missing the “Mother & Baby Moose” money shot is driving Dick crazy. He rose early and hit all the nearby trails scouting for the pair. Mary elects for a more relaxed morning and hangs around the lodge. Dick arrives back, distraught at his lack of luck locating the pair. Mary opens the curtains, and behold, there they are! Mom and baby are munching greens in front of the window. Luckily, Dick is quick with the camera and we are able to get the much-wanted pictures from our window. Sometimes life just works that way. We took a short, but beautiful ‘Wings of Alaska’ flight back to Juneau later that day.
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
Juneau
We arrive back in Juneau and explore the tourist haunts. First up is the “shopping district” and the famous Red Dog Saloon. It’s very interesting to be in Juneau and watch the ebb and flow of the town. When the cruise ships come in, it is total chaos, then once they leave, the town settles back to a very quiet normal. We decide to take a hike around town which is, by the way, very hilly. As we approach the government building (Juneau is the capital of Alaska), we perchance upon a black bear that is intent on trying to scavenge some garbage from the ‘bear proof’ garbage cans around the building. While I am trying to walk the other way, my wonderful husband says – get the camera out the backpack. Then he proceeds to follow the bear to get pictures. Needless to say, we were blocks apart when he decided he had had enough. What is this obsession anyway???? Why would you pursue a wild animal with only camera in hand???
Wednesday, July 31, 2002 Juneau
Happy 20th Anniversary. On our last full day in town, we take a couple of hikes around the outskirts of town, always on the lookout for the black bears. Down at the float plane dock, we talk ourselves into one of those ‘sure would like to’ things – a float plane trip. It’s a short one, but cool. We get nice view of the city & channel and an incredible perspective of the ice fields up and around the city. On our return, we hang out at the Hangar, watching float planes come in and out, and enjoying their incredible smoked salmon pate with good Alaskan beer and wine.
We will definitely will be back at this amazing part of the planet.