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Southeast Alaska 2024
  • Jessica Indyk
  • Keanan Smith

Southeast Alaska 2024

Et 18-dagers eventyr av Jessica & Keanan Les mer
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  • Reisens start
    2. august 2024
    Southeast Alaska 2024

    Ready for a vacation!

    31. juli 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Hi everyone! We're back! In less than 48hrs, we'll be off on our next big adventure - SE Alaska! Since many of the communities can only be reached by boat or float plane, we're trying something new and taking our first cruise! It's probably not the type of cruise that comes to mind immediately - the boat holds less than 50 people, our room is 100sqft including our private shoilet (or showlet depending on the source) and we fully expect to be less than half the average age of our fellow passengers. But with that, we hope to be able to get closer to the wildlife and scenery than the big boats can, take full advantage of the on board kayaks when we want to be even closer, and have an overall more intimate and authentic experience with the less touristed places we see along the way.

    The attached map gives a preview of where we'll be. The green line is where we'll be self-traveling for the first few days - exploring Haines and Skagway and the adjacent regions of Canada. From there, it's a float plane to Sitka where we embark on our cruise following roughly the red line.

    Since our boat unsurprisingly does not have wifi, and we expect to have very little service in general, I make no promises on post frequency. That coupled with the fact that I plan to take most of my photos with a real camera rather than my phone (already caused some serious delays in Japan for anyone following along on that one) could very well mean that this is the last post you'll see before we get home haha.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Sunset as we were landing in Seattle

    Overdue for some better travel luck...

    3. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    We've spent a lot of time sitting on planes at the gate/ on the runway today... Weather in Boston delayed us on our way out - enough to make our connection in Seattle tighter than we would have preferred, but not unmakeable. But no worries, one of our flight attendants was lost in the Seattle airport, delaying boarding for our Juneau flight, so we ended up having plenty of time. Then, once we had all boarded, they discovered a maintenance issue and we spent an extra hour crammed into the plane while they sorted that out. We ended up landing in Juneau around 1:30am local time, a solid 24hrs after we began our day on the east coast.

    Thankfully, our hotel still came to grab us at the airport and we were able to sleep for a solid 3hrs in a bed before we needed to get up to grab breakfast and the shuttle to our ferry. Needless to say, we're both pretty exhausted today and are hoping to catch a little more sleep on our ferry ride today.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    1Sea lions sunbathing on a buoyStrange looking lighthouse that someone said was Alaska's first?

    Ferry down the Lynn Canal

    3. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    Today we got an early start to hop on the Alaska Marine Highway System ferry to Skagway. We found some comfy chairs with a good view out the windows and settled in for our 6.5 hour trip down the fjord. I snuck in a much needed nap early in the trip and then did a lot of alternating between reading my camera manual and going outside to test out features on the gorgeous landscape surrounding us. It was pretty chilly, especially with the wind, which was honestly quite nice after all the hot and humid weather we've been having back home. We arrived in Skagway, greeted by views of the 2 large cruise ships docked for the day. We checked into our hotel for the night and then set out to explore the town and get dinner.Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024

    Skagway Wanderings

    3. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Skagway is an interesting town. Once a gold rush hub, it's now preserved in that style for the masses of cruise ship tourists they now depend on. It's a small place - only about 900 people live there year round and this year's graduating high school class only had 7 students. Their singular grocery store is stocked with a once a week boat from Seattle, and there are no hospitals or doctors. It's very cute with the old western style shops, but as expected, the shops are all very touristy. Some highlights from our 2 evenings here were spruce tip ale from Skagway Brewing and many delicious cocktails from Skagway Spirits gin. There are also incredible views all through town of the surrounding mountains and waterways, and the perfect weather helped all of that shine.Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    At the center of this frame you can catch a glimpse of Skagway and the Lynn Canal

    White Pass Railway - Part 1

    4. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    I'm splitting this day into multiple posts since I have so many photos! Today we rode the entire length of the White Pass Railway up into the Yukon and then made our way back to Skagway on the Klondike Highway. The White Pass Railway was constructed as an improved way to transport gold rushers from Skagway to the gold in the Yukon. Prior to its construction, a gold rusher's journey began with a 33 mile trek up the steep Chilkoot Trail. Unfortunately, by the time the railway was completed, the gold rush was over.

    We were extremely lucky with the weather today, as you may notice with the cloudless skies! Apparently this summer has been awful and rainy here, so we're very grateful our timing worked out this well! We also were in the last car of the train and had the ability to go out onto the back platform which made for some awesome views as we climbed!    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    1There's a sign on that island signifying our entry into the Yukon

    Bennett Lake (WPRW Part 2)

    4. august 2024, Canada ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    At the southern tip of Bennett Lake is the "town" of Bennett. This is where the Chilkoot Trail ends, and gold rushers continued into the Yukon on rafts. There's not too much here, but we were given some time to get off the train and explore a bit. We hiked up to a church and a beautiful overlook of the lake. The Chilkoot Trail, while a popular backpacking route in present times, is closed this year for some post land slide trail maintenance. There are no roads here, so the only way to get here this year is by train.

    The entire rest of our train journey hugged the shore of Bennett Lake. As we traveled, the water color shifted from a more green hue at the southern tip to more blue as we approached Carcross.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Emerald Lake
    Last week's mudslide siteCarcross Town Center

    Yukon Highway

    4. august 2024, Canada ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    We had a little bit of time to explore Carcross between our train arriving and minibus departing. We used that time to grab ice cream at the general store before heading down to the beach to watch several kids in wetsuits jump off a bridge into the lake. You know it's cold when even kids choose wetsuits! We then wandered thrive Carcross Commons, a mall of sorts decorated with First Nations artwork and boutiques of local artisans. Carcross's economy is nearly entirely tourism based, with people coming from Alaska on the railroad and neighboring Whitehorse for a beach day on the lake. There are no grocery stores, schools or utilities, so the small resident population is dependent on Whitehorse for all of these things.

    Upon leaving Carcross, the first attraction was the Carcross desert. It's small, but the sand dunes look very out of place with the surrounding forest. We also stopped at Emerald Lake before officially starting our trip down the Klondike Highway back into Skagway. Along the way, we stopped at many beautiful viewpoints that highlighted the diverse landscape carved out by the glaciers.

    One new "attraction" was the site of the mudslide 10 days ago. They've cleared the road enough that cars can pass in one direction at a time and you must wait for the "pilot car" to lead you though (sounds like a thrilling job). They estimate that they will need to remove 2500 truckloads of dirt to fully clear the road, but the amount of progress they've already made is impressive.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Summit of Haines Highway
    Million Dollar FallsMillion Dollar Falls downstreamKathleen LakeDezadeash LakeTrumpeter swans

    Haines Highway

    5. august 2024, Canada ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    There were a couple big cruise ships in town today, so we decided to go on a scenic drive on the Haines Highway. Our B&B host started us off with the location of some trumpeter swans, which we most definitely would not have spotted on our own. Next stop was the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. We caught a few quick glimpses of them while driving but had no luck in the locations we were able to stop.

    We then crossed into Canada and had the road pretty much to ourselves. The scenery was vast and incredible and it really hammered home how much open space there is here. Along the way we stopped at a few lakes and a very torrential waterfall.

    Haines Junction was our turn around point for the day. Here we had lunch at a bakery and stopped at the visitor center for Kluane National Park and the Da Ku Cultural Center to learn some about the natural forces that have shaped this landscape and the history of the people who have called it home.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024

    Cliffhanger B&B

    5. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ 🌙 61 °F

    This was our gorgeous home base while in Haines! We enjoyed breakfasts on the porch and relaxing in the hot tub while soaking in these views!

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
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    Chilkoot River Fly Fishing

    6. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    We had a fun morning fly fishing on the Chilkoot River! Not being a fishing person myself, I was mainly hoping that where there are salmon, there may be bears. I enjoyed learning to fly fish and found it very peaceful being out on the river enjoying the incredible scenery and babbling river sounds. Being the incredibly graceful person that I am, I fell into the river twice while wading to new spots, making for some very cold and numb feet by the end of it all. But it was all worth it since I caught fish! I was surprised with how strong they were and how difficult they were to hold onto for photos! The guide took Keanan's fish photos so we're still waiting on those. To top it all off, a bear came to join us at the end! He seemed completely unconcerned with our presence - I guess we weren't threatening his salmon supply much!Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Look at those claws!

    Chilkoot Lake and Bears!

    6. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    These guys put on a show for us tonight! The first guy (we think the same as was hanging out with us while fishing earlier) swam across the river looking for salmon (didn't appear successful) and then right as he disappeared up the far bank, a second came down the hill behind us! This one didn't seem interested in getting wet, so after not finding any easy catches right on the shore, decided to head back up the hill. We were there with a relatively small group as the cruise ship had already left and everyone seemed to give the bears space, which was nice to see.Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Battery Point
    View from the very steep hike up Ripinski2

    Haines Hiking

    7. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Today was our final day in Haines and decided to spend it on some local trails. Since our B&B was perched part of the way up Mt Ripinski, we asked if there were any shortcut trails that linked up to the trail to that summit. Our host enthusiastically confirmed that there was just down the road! We set off and found this shortcut trail to be well cleared and easy to follow, but seemed to head in a straight line up the mountain. We trekked on, eager to meet the real trail and planning to take the real trail on the way back down into Haines as well to avoid sliding down the steep pine needled trail we were taking up. After climbing ~1000ft over the course of a half mile, the trail seemed to end abruptly. We waded through some chest deep spiky leaved plants and some trampled plants, hoping to find the trail on the other side. No luck. So we turned around and slid down the mountain, deciding we'd rather not be lost in the Alaskan wilderness.

    After getting back to our B&B, we decided on a more tame hike along the shoreline instead. It was a beautiful, mostly flat hike through the forest and was just what we needed after our morning adventure.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Davidson Glacier
    Our plane!Ready for takeoff!Rainbow GlacierTakeoff

    Haines to Juneau flight

    8. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Rather than spend more time on a ferry, we opted to fly from Haines to Sitka (through Juneau). Flying with Alaska Seaplanes was different than any other flight I've taken - we never needed to show ID, they didn't care how many bags we had or how big they were as long as the total weight was less than 50lbs and there was no security whatsoever.

    Most importantly, our flight was fully booked, so I got to sit in the copilot seat! The weather was perfect for flying and we enjoyed incredible views of the glaciers and mountains along the Lynn Canal. It was such a cool experience!    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    Leaving Juneau
    Mendenhall GlacierLanding in SitkaDowntown Sitka1Eagle!

    To Sitka!

    8. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Probably last post for a few days! Here's some photos from our flight to Sitka and wandering around town yesterday. We join the cruise group for a tour this afternoon and then we're off on the boat!

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
    1
    32All those black lines are salmon!

    Embarkation day!

    9. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ 🌫 61 °F

    This morning we packed and tagged our bags for pickup by our cruise line! Our first stop was Fortress of the Bear, an organization that rescues orphaned cubs. This was kind of our backup for if we weren't able to see bears in the wild but it was still really cool to see them close up and see how smart they are, learning sign language and manipulating the trainers to feed them more!

    We then took a short hike along a river before heading to meet up with our cruise for our predeparture tour. Arriving at the tour meet up, it's obvious that we're the youngest by probably 30 years. We walk down to the Sheldon Jackson museum and admire the collection of Alaskan native crafts. Some of the most impressive were the tightly woven spruce baskets and we were lucky enough to meet and get a demonstration from a local native woman.

    Next stop was the Raptor Center, which rescues injured birds with the goal of rehabbing and releasing them. They have a protected area that limits the birds' exposure to humans to improve their chances of release as well as permanent homes for birds that would not be able to survive in the wild.

    Last stop was the totem park, where we enjoyed a very wet walk in the forest amongst the totems. Then it was off to our boat!    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
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    Exploration day

    10. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Our first full cruise day had no set itinerary. We woke up to an announcement that there were bears visible on the shore! We anchored in Pavlov's Cove and got to spend the morning exploring via kayaks, SUPs, and zodiac boat. We signed up for the first kayak departure and paddled to the point where a river met the cove. There were 5 bears there! It was a mom and her 3 cubs as well as another perhaps adolescent bear. They were all ABC Brown bears, a subset of brown bears only found on Admirality, Baranof, and Chichagof islands. I was kicking myself for only bringing the waterproof camera! We hung out there just watching them hang out at the bottom of the falls and look for salmon for at least 20 mins! A couple we talked to at dinner later, who are in their late 70s and have been to Alaska more times than they can count, said it was the best bear watching they've ever had!

    We also went out on the SUP after returning from kayaking. I wasn't making much forward progress with the wind, so I gave up quickly, but Keanan made it pretty far and laid down for a nap in the cove. We also jumped on the last zodiac excursion where I brought my big camera, but unfortunately, the bears were no longer hanging around.

    In the afternoon, we started making our way to Glacier Bay. Since you only get a permit for a specific day, they try to make the most of it by crossing into the park just after midnight and driving to the end overnight so we can work our way back slowly during the day. The path to get there took us through Icy Strait, which is known for its high concentration of whales. We hadn't been in the strait long before we saw a group of humpbacks breaching in the distance! Their activity shifted to mostly blow hole spouts as we got closer.

    While we were eating dinner, the captain came in to announce that a pod of ~30 orcas was in front of our boat! We ran up to the deck and saw lots of spouts and some dorsal fins!

    There's a chance for northern lights tonight, so we signed up to be woken up if they make an appearance! Fingers crossed!    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
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    Glacier Bay

    11. august 2024, Coastal Waters Of Southeast Alaska And British Columbia ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    We didn't get any northern lights wake-up call last night :( it ended up being too cloudy. After our orca sighting, our boat was also recruited by the Coast Guard to help with a search and rescue in our area while they got helicopters and boats out to the area. It's kinda neat that everyone pitches in in these remote regions. We don't have any update, but it was called off before midnight, and we arrived in Glacier Bay on schedule this morning.

    It's been a very cloudy, foggy, and occasionally rainy day today, so visibility hasn't been the greatest. We hung out near (look up glacier name) glacier before breakfast and then, during breakfast, made our way towards Margerie Glacier. Along the way, we saw a bunch of sea otters playing around right outside our boat! At Margerie Glacier, we witnessed a few small calving events and saw some seals resting on chunks of ice in the distance. One of Holland America's smaller ships was there with us, and we were all very grateful to be on the small boat closer to the action.

    We've continued to see occasional humpbacks and sea otters, but nothing like their respective spectacles last night and at breakfast. Our next wildlife hub was South Marble Island, which is home to many stellar sea lions and lots of birds, including puffins!

    Our next stop is Bartlett Cove, where we will plant our feet on firm ground for the first time since leaving Sitka, visit the visitor's center, and have the chance to walk a short trail. We've also been told we have wifi access, so I've been prepping the posts from the past few days. It's also the site of our polar plunge! So far, there's only 8 of us signed up, but some of them are working on bribing others, so we reach the required 15 to convince some of the crew to join us.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024

    Juneau and Orca Point Lodge

    12. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ 🌫 52 °F

    We survived our polar plunge and followed it up with a hot toddy and a hot shower! In the morning, we were docked in Juneau. Our first stop was Mendenhall Glacier. As our Lyft arrived at the visitor's center, the glacier wasn't even visible through the rain and fog. We opted to check out the visitor's center first, while we waited for it to clear up a bit. Our patience paid off and by the time we had walked through the exhibits, the rain had stopped and the fog was beginning to lift. We enjoyed easy walks to Nugget Falls and other glacier viewing lookouts. We were appalled at how much this glacier has receded since they began tracking it, but were surprised to not see a stark difference between the photos my parents took here 4yrs ago and now.

    After an eventful taxi ride back into the center of town, we got pelmeni for lunch and decided to give the tram a try and hope for some gaps in the clouds. We couldn't see too much from up there, but on a nice day, I'm sure it's incredible.

    We then hustled down to the Alaska State Museum to meet up with our cruise group. We really enjoyed this museum, as it not only showcased the history of Alaska, but how native arts have evolved into the current times.

    Dinner tonight was at the Orca Point Lodge, where we enjoyed crab legs, a nice sunset and smores over the campfire.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
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    Tracy Arm Fjord

    13. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 45 °F

    I had a really tough time filtering through my photos and picking only ten for this one since the water was so blue and beautiful the whole way! The concentration of icebergs increased the closer we got to the glaciers, building the excitement.

    Today's notable wildlife spotting was mountain goats! It was crazy to see how high they were on seemingly vertical cliffs!

    We didn't see any calving today, but there were a bunch of seals to watch on the surrounding ice as we waited!    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024
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    Anan Creek Bears

    14. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Another exciting night as we docked to another boat in the middle of the passage to transfer a passenger having a medical emergency. It turned out to be a nasty reaction between their blood pressure meds and the OTC motion sickness patches and they were already doing better the morning after we dropped them at a hospital.

    Today is the excursion that I kind of planned this whole trip around and there's no way I can cut it down to just ten photos, so a second photos only post will follow.

    Anan creek is about an hour by speedboat away from Wrangell, where our cruise was docked today. It's known for being a place you can watch both black and brown bears fish during the salmon run, without needing a float or bush plane to access. The forest service has built up a viewing platform and photo blind, along with a nice trail from the point where the boats let you off.

    It was incredible! We saw about a dozen different bears over the time we were there, including a tiny cub! I think we saw nearly every one of them catch and eat salmon as well. After watching them for a bit, it was possible to see certain bears' fishing strategies and the pecking order. We were also so close to the action, especially down in the photo blind, with the bears practically within an arm's reach.

    We weren't sure this was going to be worth it, since we've now seen bears in a few places, but it totally was.    Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024

    Wrangell - Petroglyph Beach

    14. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    We still had some time in Wrangell after we returned from Anan, so we walked down to Petroglyph Beach. Here you can find petroglyphs of varying ages carved into the rocks and weathered by the tides. We weren't sure how many we'd be able to find without a guide but we did pretty well!Les mer

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  • Southeast Alaska 2024

    Kina Cove and Kasaan

    15. august 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☁️ 52 °F

    Today began and ended with a beautiful sunrise and sunset! In the morning we explored Kina Cove via kayak and zodiac. Nowhere near the excitement of the bears on day 1, but we enjoyed a leisurely paddle, looking mainly at the sea stars and jellies.

    In the afternoon, we went to the village of Kasaan, a Haida village with 84 residents. The chief gave us a tour around their totem poles and longhouse along the beautiful forested trail that connects the town.

    Our last stop was at a traditional canoe carver, who talked us through the process of catching a canoe and the tools he used. After hollowing it out with an adze, they are able to use hot water at the bottom to spread the opening much wider than the original tree trunk. They also have very intricate methods for filling cracks in the wood.    Les mer

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