|
  | |  |
The Inside Passage
Entry 19 of 33 | show all | print this entry |
|
It's a 25-hour ferry trip from Price Rupert, B.C. to Juneau, Alaska up the Inside Passage. But, unlike air travel, the seats are spacious, there's plenty of room to walk about, there's a cafeteria, cocktail lounge and little gift shop. Plus, you always have the option to go out on deck for a scenic view or just to get some fresh air. It's a much more leisurely way to travel and we didn't mind a minute of it. The weather was pretty socked-in - low hanging clouds hung to the islands looking like grey fingers with dark green clay oozing up between the knuckles. Rain dripped from the sky for the majority of the trip making us thankful we were in a warm boat and not out on a trail. Occasionally, a snow spotted mountain or gushing waterfall would appear through the veil of clouds. We had brief stops in Ketchikan and Wrangell and as darkness fell around 11pm, we unrolled our sleeping bags and lay down in front of our seats (it seemed everyone else did the same - some passengers even had fully inflatable air mattresses). In the middle of the night we awoke when the purser announced the stop in Petersburg, then shortly after dawn, we got up, got a coffee and landed in Juneau.
The ferry terminal is 14 miles outside of town which made us glad we had our car. Already on the north side of town, we immediately headed to the wonder of the Mendenhall Glacier. This 12 mile long tongue of ice spills from the Juneau Ice Field and is readily accessible from the road. The shimmering blue-white cracks and crevasses were mesmerizing and the floating chucks of ice in the lake below ranged from a granite-filled grey to a brilliant white to an almost iridescent blue. We promised ourselves a trip back here to hike closer to the river of snow and then headed to town for food and to check in to our B&B.
We stayed at the Alaska Capital Inn - a seven bedroom bed and breakfast that was formerly a mansion built by gold rush pioneer John Olds. It is just blocks from downtown and tucked right beside Mt. Robinson with a view across the Gastineau Channel - a great base for our three-day stay. The scent of coffee and grilled sausage woke us up the next day and we joined the other guests for a scrumptious gourmet breakfast. Aili had to do some work so after a leisurely morning, I decided to burn off the extra doughnut and hike up the nearby hilltop. Juneau is built so tightly to the mountainside that some of its sidewalks are actually stairs. Our B&B was on 5th street and the trailhead was at the end of 6th Street - just four blocks down (and only six blocks off the sea!). The trail consisted of a chain of switchbacks all the way up 1300 feet to an observation deck and interpretive center. On the top, I watched the soaring eagles and sat through a film on the native tribes then took the aerial tramway back down. I wandered through town, first past the gaggle of cruise ship passengers, then stopping in the Alaska Hotel and Saloon - a historic building constructed during the gold rush days.
The next day we were treated to another giant breakfast of quiche, ham, fresh fruit, scones, and coffee. While Aili finished up some work, I visited the local fish hatchery. There was long fish ladder (an artificial "stream") filled with thousands of salmon running up to spawn in the bins at the top.
These hatcheries protect the fish and greatly increase the numbers that survive the trip back to open ocean. Inside the visitor center there was a large salt water aquarium with rockfish, crabs, tiny halibut, and colorful starfish. Next, I picked up Aili and we headed back to the glacier for a hike up close. We walked along the glacier fed lake up to the tumbling waterfall that blocked the path to the ice itself. We watched as the tiny icebergs spawned from the melting glacier floated past.
After our fill of icy views, we were off to the Alaskan Brewing Company for a brief tour and lots of samples. Each of the beers had a unique label and was brewed with the pure water from the glacier. Since the Inn was booked for the third night, we moved to a B&B on Auk Lake conveniently located between the Brewery and the Ferry Terminal. In the morning, we took their canoe out for a paddle around the scenic lake surrounded by snow capped mountains.
On the way to the ferry for our continued journey north, I had to brake hard as another black bear scurried across the road in front of our car. We departed for Haines and passed several more glaciers flowing out of the coastal mountains and another humpback whale just a few feet from the ferry. We arrived just as daylight was fading to dusk and were welcomed with a pink hew shining on the rocky peaks above town.
From the docks, the Haines "skyline" is dominated by old Fort Seward. Built as Alaska's first military post, its buildings are now in a state of disrepair or have been renovated into private residences or hotels. We stayed in the old NCO residence, now converted into the Hotel Halsingland. The floorboards creaked and the plumbing popped but it kept us warm and dry. After strolling through town, we stopped by the
Hammer Museum, a quirky museum dedicated to, well... hammers. My favorite was the Stanley 24k gold hammer; Aili's favorite was the hammer used to crack a skull during an autopsy. After, we drove out to visit the Haines Brewery. Only available locally, we sampled all six varieties and voted the Spruce Ale (brewed with the tips of spruce branches picked in early spring) as our favorite. There is a bald eagle preserve just outside town and in November thousands return to breed. We must have seen as least a dozen fly by or perch high in a tree just while we wandered the town. We headed back to the old fort for a good night sleep before our long drive inland tomorrow.
|
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Alaska, United States or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
