Tracy C. Reynolds (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tcreynolds) wrote2022-09-14 11:01 pm
tcreynolds) wrote2022-09-14 11:01 pm
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ALASKA CRUISE REPORT
I did the thing I've been wanting to do for awhile. I packed a bag, locked up my apartment, took the Seabus across Vancouver Harbor and hopped on a cruise ship.
Photos are here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25408107@N07/sets/72177720301950500
DAY 1: Vancouver
The cruise ship terminal was a fun and busy place. I got my Covid test done and had my bag X-rayed. Somehow my bag traveled with me and I didn't have to get it delivered to my room, I simply took it with me right into my room. It's a cheap interior room, cozy and comfortable enough, but I intend to spend as little time in it as possible. On the Lido deck I found the outdoor pool and eating areas (along with the smoking area, ugh.) The casual buffet was bustling and I grabbed a salad for lunch with bay shrimp ceviche and cantelope. The sweet melon and the salty shrimp go well together, the shrimp was dressed with mint and lime juice. I had this lunch combo often, along with an orzo pasta salad with grilled squash.
We did not have to do a full emergency drill, but we did have to check into our muster stations, and watch a video on the tv in our rooms. There were a few announcements throughout the afternoon, notifying everyone that there were still a significant amount of people that hadn't done this, and we couldn't set sail until every single passenger had done this, so I think we finally left a bit late at around 4:30. The lines were cast off and the engines swiveled around and we took off from the pier. (Later in the cruise was a very interesting seminar about how the ship is designed for maximum comfort and maneuverability. The engines can swivel in any direction and there are additional steering engines built into the sides.) Soon we were steaming away underneath the Lions Gate bridge, a unique perspective to be sure.
I had my one and only meal in the dining room, met up with some very nice random folks including one of the ships' piano players. Conversation was pleasant, but the meal itself wasn't anything special and I wasn't comfortable being in a room with lots of other people sharing the air, and it took a long time to be served. I was much happier grabbing a plate from the "casual buffet" and eating outside on the deck. The buffet food was just as nice as the dining room. Anyway I had some sort of beef dish, I think it was a pot roast, which sounds odd to have on a cruise ship but beef is so expensive in Canada and I hadn't had pot roast in so long, it was good.
There was a forecast for high aurora activity, so I was waiting for full dark, and I saw a lot of whale spouts and some back fins. I couldn't tell if they were greys or humpbacks, but they definitely weren't orcas.
Unfortunately one of the more interesting areas we traveled through, the Narrows north of Campbell River, was done in the dead of night. Previously I had scouted out an area of the ship where nobody was around yet, a separate higher deck with cabanas that you could rent for more money. There were gates with signs to this effect, but since there was nobody around I ignored them. It was dark, cold and windy up there, the canvas snapped like whips banging against the metal poles of the cabanas. We were in a dark area of countryside, but when I tried taking photos of the night sky using Night Mode, I discovered that the ship itself puts out a lot of light pollution, and since we were so close to the shore on the north side, it bounced right off the hills. I didn't see any aurora, but nearly had a heart attack when from behind me out of the darkness, right overhead, came some power lines that had those huge visibility balls on them. I got spooked. Eventually I figured I could go to my cabin and sleep, and was gently rocked to sleep, which was nice. What was not nice was being woken up at 2am by the ship's horns going off because we were running through some fog. Every time we hit fog the horns would blow every two minutes, for safety. I eventually fell asleep despite the horn and probably dreamed they were whales hooting and honking.
DAY 2: At Sea
I was ready to be out of my cabin around 7am, I couldn't wait to see where we were and what the weather was like. I checked the weather on the TV briefly to decide how heavy to dress. (Pants and jacket.) We had just left the protected channel and were out in open ocean; I staggered and weaved as I walked to a breakfast of coffee and an egg white omelette. The weather was beautiful, for the entire trip it was mostly sunny with pleasantly mild temperatures, so lucky! Today is a day at sea, so I explored the ship, journaled, doodled. The previous night I had found a nice place to hang out, on a top deck, but today it was closed to the public. You had to pay extra to rent a "cabana" on this deck. After breakfast I walked around and looked over the bow, and a single pacific white-sided dolphin was racing alongside! I made some excited noises and afraid I startled a maintenance worker. He probably thought I was a fool to get so excited about a dolphin.
I had a dip in the outside pool, it was fairly cold, don't think it was heated at all. But I did my thing where I would soak in the hot tub until I was too hot, then go into the too cold pool, back and forth a few times. There was another pool that looked heated, but was mostly indoors and the water didn't look as clean as the outside pool, so I avoided that one. By mostly indoors, I mean it has a cool roof that can open and close! For this trip it was open/closed around 50/50. The temps outside were mostly pleasant, but if we were moving and it was windy, they'd close it.
I found my favorite lounge, called The Crow's Nest. It has windows that wrap around the bow and both sides of the ship. When I needed a break from the sun, cold or wind, I'd be in there, usually sketching, watching the world go by. Before the trip I had bought a cheap pair of binoculars, and I practiced finding things with them, which was sometimes hard. I'd see things with my eyes, and to try and see them with the binocs, I would have a hard time finding the item again. I got better though. I practiced on birds, moving pieces of driftwood, etc. There was lots of whale activity, I could identify them positively as humpbacks this time. There was no doubt, when I could use the binocs to get a better look, at the breaches and the pectoral fin slapping. Someone said that when the cruise ships pass by, it excites the whales and they will breach, tail lob and pec slap. "Get away from my baby!", "Danger approaches, stay alert," and, "Oh yeah?? watch this guys I'll show them whose ocean this is, that's right, come get some. Yeah, you'd better run."
The countryside we were traveling through was so undeveloped, it made me wonder what it is about a place that humans will choose to develop, or not? I saw rivers, so water wasn't an issue. Later on I saw towns that started out as obvious hunting/trapping/gold camps, but some towns remain even those activities are in the past. Some even grow into cities. Some vanish into the past and are swallowed up by the wilderness. I almost got bored watching the sunset, but I saw constant whale blows and it was relaxing, having nothing to do but watch the sun go down.
It was a night with cloud cover and fog, so no chance of aurora watching.
DAY 3: Juneau
Up early again at 6:30 or so, I learned that the coffee is much better if you get it early so here I am, Alaska! As soon as I came outside I could smell fish, kelp, and life. You could just tell this was a place stiff with wildlife. We were inside the Passage now and the water was not quite "smooth as glass", but there was no swell. I ate breakfast and was wandering around on the deck, watching rocky islands move through the fog. The water was so still that it was quite a shock to suddenly see right under my very gaze, an orca! Travelling casually right alongside the ship, heading in the opposite direction. Probably less than 50 feet away from me. The orca rose and took a breath, the water was so clear I could see everything. I gasped and made monkey noises, it happened so fast there was no time to get my phone out, but it was amazing. I wonder if me and the bridge crew were the only ones who saw it.
We sailed in and out of patches of fog, the horn occasionally blowing. I took lots of photos, there was a "sunbow" created when fog and light conditions were right. Later we saw humpbacks, one diving to show us the tail. I went inside to the crows nest to sit for awhile, but I had my binoculars. I saw dorsal fins so I leaped to my feet and located a pod of orcas with my binoculars. People looked around in confusion, and five seconds later the captain announced, "We have orcas on the starboard bow." Everyone stampeded to the windows. It's neat to think the bridge and I spotted them at the same time, but then again there's always at least two crew looking for things not to run over.
We sailed further up the sound, closer to Juneau, the water grew cloudy from glacial silt and river flood runoff (there had been bad flooding the week prior) and the wildlife sightings stopped. We landed at 1pm and my first shore excursion, a whale watching boat trip, wasn't until 5, so I wandered around the town a bit. There were a couple of breweries I wanted to check out, Devils' Club being the most interesting, so I had a flight there. I also checked out the quilt shop and picked up a couple of fabrics for my hoard.
I play Pokemon Go on my phone, there's a specific Pokemon that only appears north of 52 degrees latitude, so I hunted for that while I explored. I saw one but couldn't get to it in time before it despawned.
Soon it was time to hop on the coach to go to the marina. It was about 10 miles to the cove, we got on a nice little boat and I took my Dramamine. But I don't think it was necessary, or else, it worked just fine because I felt no discomfort at all. There isn't anything to get seasick over, in the protected Inside Passage. On the way to the boat the guide asked how we were all feeling, and I said "Stoked", which made him smile. "I guarantee we will see whales today," and sure enough it wasn't long before we were pulling alongside (respectfully) a snoozing humpback. The rules for whale watching were, have to stay a certain distance away (but they could drift closer if they happened to), if one comes too close we can't move, and we can't stay with any one whale for longer than five minutes. The whales are here to eat and put on weight, and they aren't paying much attention to their surroundings, so we have to not distract them from their task.
No orcas, but loads of humpbacks, blowing, snoozing and diving. We went around Shelter Island, I spotted a pod of Dall's porpoises, but they were moving fast away from the boat and didn't want anything to do with us. We circled around to see if they wanted to play in the boat wake, but we never saw them again. They were cute.
Next the captain took us to a rookery of Steller's sea lions. The males were on the beach shoving away at each other and grunt-roaring. Most of the females and younger males were in the water, they did acrobatic flips. Very interesting to hear and to watch.
I got back to the ship past the dinnertime, but managed to grab something. I was having a bit of anxiety over my shore excursions, I couldn't tell if they had been cancelled or if my phone reception was making the app bug out.
DAY 4: Skagway
I woke up to find that the expeditions had been cancelled due to a lack of salmon. The rivers were still full of glacial silt and the salmon don't like that and won't spawn in it, so all the wildlife viewing tours were cancelled. Bummer! No river float or bear safaris. There's not much to do in Skagway, but I walked and walked and wandered around with complete freedom and loads of free time to kill, an a beautiful place, so that was nice. The cruise dock is surprisingly modern for such a tiny town, with the most beautiful public bathroom ever. I used that and filled my canteen, then started an epic walk. First I followed a nature trail next to Dewey creek, that my research indicated was a good place to see salmon, but of course there were no salmon running at that time. The creek ran alongside the train tracks of the White Pass and Yukon Route rail line, so I was able to see that rumble on by. I walked past a train station that had been converted into a museum and admired the apple trees. I'm used to apple trees looking mangy and covered in lichens and moss, with apples all buggy and lumpy, but these trees looked like something from a model railroad kit, almost too perfect. Took loads of photos. I came to a trail junction and heard some animals raising a ruckus, and looked all over with my binoculars, I saw some animals darting around and at first I thought they were weasels, but when I review the videos I think they are some kind of rock squirrel. The area was starting to look a little industrial, so I turned into a residential area and someone had a table with home grown produce set out for sale. I admired some lovely gardens and snapped photos of some cute small homes. I walked some more and came to the large train yard for the Yukon Route, toyed with the idea of asking for a lift but it wasn't open to the public so I mentally shrugged and kept walking. I thought it'd be a nice goal to see the river, and after crossing the river the main road became the Yukon Highway, hopefully there would be a sign I could take a selfie next to. There wasn't, but I did briefly walk on the Yukon Highway and then there was a neat garden and glass tourist destination. The gift shop was sort of open, but everything else looked closed and abandoned; the garden, the restaurant, the glass studio. The lady working the till said that the owners decided not to open for tourism this year, and they also decided not to maintain the garden beds, but I would be free to wander around and explore if I liked. Well sure! I blew up my phone taking photos of this "abandoned" botanical garden, all the plants and flowers still there of course, but now with this wild beauty. I really enjoy the camera on my phone and am glad I got the Pro version. I found all sorts of interesting compositions and subjects.
Eventually I had to use the bathroom ;p so I walked to the park next door and did my business (in an actual toilet, don't get any ideas!). I was starting to wish I had packed a couple of snacks because I was getting pretty tired, but I plodded back into town, briefly walking along the rushing river. Nothing interesting except a couple of mallards. Skagway brewing company had a spruce-tipped blonde ale that was good, but they didn't have any outdoor seating so I didn't linger. One of my google map "pins" was an interesting looking rock shop, and it turned out to be a...hidden gem...snurk. Very different from the "rock shops" in the tourist area, this was a real labor of love with not only an indoor shop but an expansive outdoor area, with cute chairs under an apple tree. Although, it was picking time and the tree was overloaded, so plop! Apples would hit the ground. I would have loved to buy something local but my budget only allowed me a small reticulated quartz for a souvenier. A lot of stores were already closed; I went into a touristy shop and all the magnets were made in china resin cast (still looking for the wooden salmons to add to my collection) and all the coffee for sale was pre-ground. I watched the ship leave Skagway while I was in the hot tub, I ended up walking over 8 miles that day so a hot soak felt nice.
DAY 5: Glacier Bay
As soon as I emerged, I regretted sleeping in. It was already so interesting and pretty and I had missed some mountain goat sightings. The water was colorful and beautiful with glacial silts.
While I had been showering, a boat pulled up alongside the cruise ship, and a pack of park rangers and their gear came onto the ship. They brought the whole gift shop with them too! They set up the gift shop in the Crow's Nest lounge, and the park rangers were roaming around to give talks about what we would see that day. The cruise ship opened up a section of the bow that had been previously closed to guests, and I made a beeline for that. We were approaching the end of the bay and a huge glacier was reaching into the water. The closer we came to the glacier, the more ice there was in the water. Technically not icebergs, but smaller chunks called squeakers and groaners, or growlers, I think? The ice became thicker and thicker and the ship came to a very slow halt. A slow wave of ice chunks made it way from the bow, millions of ice chunks making a tinkling sound. The captain made an announcement that there was so much ice, the ship wouldn't be able to turn in a 180 as they had planned, to give both sides of the ship a view of the glacier. Instead the ship would be backing out of the ice.
As we were watching the glacier there was a small ice fall, then a minute later the glacier made a cracking boom like a cannon shot. The ship slowly backed out of the bay and when the ice cleared a bit more, turned around and headed out.
I thought I'd make some art but the scenery was so beautiful and kept changing, so I ran all over the ship photographing the different views. We saw many, many sea otters, including the hilarious sight of one that was so deeply asleep, not even the huge passing cruise ship could rouse them from their slumber. The ship's wake didn't even wake them up! Most of the sea otters swam away from the ship, some lazily backstroking and others diving away in a panic.
We also saw another pod of orcas, and loads of humpbacks doing all the stunts; breaching, tail lobbing and pec slapping. Napping on a lounge chair sounded more comfortable than it ended up being.
At one point one of the park rangers announced to the ship that there was a grizzly bear walking along the beach, so everyone went to go look. The binoculars helped a lot, I saw the bear enter the water and swim around a rocky point before pulling out and continuing its walk into the bushes.
At the mouth of the bay was Boulder Island, a huge bird nesting rookery, there were a lot of auks, puffins and murres. Some auks/murres also were swimming in the water and the movements looked a lot like penguins as they swam quickly away from the ship.
Soon the little boat could be once again seen coming out of a side bay and approaching our ship, which slowed down, but did not stop. The boat came alongside, the park rangers hopped on with their gift shop all boxed up in big plastic totes, and they sailed off to their ranger station, waving goodbye to everyone.
For some reason I can't recall, the captain decided to leave the inside passage and travel to Ketchikan out in the open ocean, so we sailed right into a beautiful fogbank that gave us dramatic views as it spilled over the mountains like a cresting wave.
DAY 6: Ketchikan
Up fairly early for some salmon fishing! Originally I had booked a "catch and cook" excursion where you'd put out crab pots, then go fishing for whatever was biting that day, come back after checking the pots, and then be taken to a private camp in the forest where they'd cook whatever you caught and be served a gourmet meal. This was fairly expensive and I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I should do it. There were lots of options for other shore excursions but catching a big salmon is on my bucket list, so I thought I should bang that out. Well I got a nice letter in my cabin that said sorry, but not enough people signed up and they had to cancel the excursion! Last night I had to scramble to find another one, and it ended up being a literal coin toss; smaller day of salmon fishing, or sea kayaking?
I was glad the coin toss didn't say kayaking, because it ended up being a brisk, breezy day and kayaking isnt much fun on a windy day. Also my fitness level would have slowed everyone down.
Anyway, salmon fishing! A short trip in a van, and we arrived at Knudson Cove marina, met our captain and crew (his wife) and off we went! The fishing grounds were five minutes away from the marina, which was great. The captain used a four-rod rig, with flashers, at various depths. We saw salmon leaping out of the water, to tease us, but the captain said don't get excited, when they are leaping they aren't feeding, they're feeling their oats and getting hyped for the spawn.
We caught a few fish, but when it was my turn to take the rod, I lost the fish. I remember in trout fishing it was important to have the tip up, but apparently I enabled the salmon to spit out the hook by doing that. I didn't get a second chance at a hookup. Still, it was interesting to see even the by-catch, some pretty red rockfish and some baby king salmon. The captain said that only the baby king salmon smell like fresh cut grass, so I said "I want to smell that!" and we did catch another one, so I was able to smell it. It smelled sweet like the sea, and I think I know what he meant by it, but I wouldn't call it fresh cut grass. It smelled like some high quality sashimi! but of course we had to let them go, because they were babies.
One guy caught a nice big king salmon and the captain gently suggested that he could perhaps, share with some other passengers who didn't catch anything, but he said nah, he's got a family to feed, and the captain backed off quickly and politely. I appreciated the gesture though!
Someone else caught a nice size salmon, but the captain recommended that it be tossed back, it had started to transform into its spawning form, getting the long fighting jaw and the humped back. He said the meat is no good when they look like that, and so the fish was let go. It was still a great day out, once again the weather was perfect and the forecasted rain never showed up. We also caught 4 more fish than the other fishing boat that went out, they caught only a single fish.
There were a few hours left until the cruise ship left port, so I wandered into town and found a bar that had lots of local taps. I chatted with some locals and eavesdropped shamelessly in the outdoor patio area. Someone was cooking chicken thighs on the grill and they offered me some, I said "Don't tease me now, that smells amazing," and they said "It's complimentary!" and they had scalloped potatoes and salad too. It was a nice change from cruise ship food, and of course I needed a pint to go with dinner, to show my appreciation. It had been a very good idea to set an alarm for the time to go back to the ship, I was one of the last people back on board, and I staggered on deck to watch the ship leave and the sunset.
DAY 7: At Sea
For some unknown reason I was awake at 4:30 so instead of turning around and being frustrated and bored, I got up, put yesterday's clothes on and went out on deck. It was interesting walking through the long public areas to get to the outside, a very few crew members were cleaning and mopping. I walked out into the predawn darkness. Another cruise ship was behind us, all lit up, we also passed by various small boats that were anchored way out in the channel, next to their buoys, were they checking their nets or traps? Were they sleeping? Over the next hour the sky became more and more brilliant with red lights of dawn, mostly near the eastern horizon, and not spreading over us too much. Still I took loads of photos. I stared at the water and realized that I have serious FOMO for whale sightings, I kept expecting to see something amazing with all the good luck I've had recently, and I kept wishing something like that would happen again. But, not this morning. Eventually I wandered back to my cabin and fell asleep again and had weird but pleasant dreams.
At sea there was not much going on, I wandered around and looked for whales, always. I thought the next time I travel on the Zuiderdam I might enjoy the 10,000 series of rooms, because they are the closest to the Crow's Nest, but I would not enjoy all the foot traffic. This is totally not "those grapes are sour" but maybe it is a little, because those rooms are all veranda rooms and easily twice the cost of my interior cabin. My cabin suits my needs just fine, I sleep and shower there and that's it. I'm hardly ever in it. Just please don't stick me down in the lower decks. I don't like that.
DAY 8: Vancouver
I was eager to get back to my pets, so I was up around 6:30 and felt like I could have a relaxing breakfast. I think all I had was a croissant and some of that good early morning fresh perc coffee. Surprisingly, we weren't already docked and I got to see the ship moving into the cruise dock. I didn't need to bother with a luggage porter, I tossed my stuff in my bag and wheeled out through customs and nobody even looked in my bag! I could have had five halibuts in there and nobody would have known. Oh well. Me and my luggage walked to the Seabus, hopped on the Busbus, got home and it felt real good. BECAUSE I HOP ON A PLANE THE VERY NEXT DAY AAAHHHHH I'm so tired.
Photos are here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/25408107@N07/sets/72177720301950500
DAY 1: Vancouver
The cruise ship terminal was a fun and busy place. I got my Covid test done and had my bag X-rayed. Somehow my bag traveled with me and I didn't have to get it delivered to my room, I simply took it with me right into my room. It's a cheap interior room, cozy and comfortable enough, but I intend to spend as little time in it as possible. On the Lido deck I found the outdoor pool and eating areas (along with the smoking area, ugh.) The casual buffet was bustling and I grabbed a salad for lunch with bay shrimp ceviche and cantelope. The sweet melon and the salty shrimp go well together, the shrimp was dressed with mint and lime juice. I had this lunch combo often, along with an orzo pasta salad with grilled squash.
We did not have to do a full emergency drill, but we did have to check into our muster stations, and watch a video on the tv in our rooms. There were a few announcements throughout the afternoon, notifying everyone that there were still a significant amount of people that hadn't done this, and we couldn't set sail until every single passenger had done this, so I think we finally left a bit late at around 4:30. The lines were cast off and the engines swiveled around and we took off from the pier. (Later in the cruise was a very interesting seminar about how the ship is designed for maximum comfort and maneuverability. The engines can swivel in any direction and there are additional steering engines built into the sides.) Soon we were steaming away underneath the Lions Gate bridge, a unique perspective to be sure.
I had my one and only meal in the dining room, met up with some very nice random folks including one of the ships' piano players. Conversation was pleasant, but the meal itself wasn't anything special and I wasn't comfortable being in a room with lots of other people sharing the air, and it took a long time to be served. I was much happier grabbing a plate from the "casual buffet" and eating outside on the deck. The buffet food was just as nice as the dining room. Anyway I had some sort of beef dish, I think it was a pot roast, which sounds odd to have on a cruise ship but beef is so expensive in Canada and I hadn't had pot roast in so long, it was good.
There was a forecast for high aurora activity, so I was waiting for full dark, and I saw a lot of whale spouts and some back fins. I couldn't tell if they were greys or humpbacks, but they definitely weren't orcas.
Unfortunately one of the more interesting areas we traveled through, the Narrows north of Campbell River, was done in the dead of night. Previously I had scouted out an area of the ship where nobody was around yet, a separate higher deck with cabanas that you could rent for more money. There were gates with signs to this effect, but since there was nobody around I ignored them. It was dark, cold and windy up there, the canvas snapped like whips banging against the metal poles of the cabanas. We were in a dark area of countryside, but when I tried taking photos of the night sky using Night Mode, I discovered that the ship itself puts out a lot of light pollution, and since we were so close to the shore on the north side, it bounced right off the hills. I didn't see any aurora, but nearly had a heart attack when from behind me out of the darkness, right overhead, came some power lines that had those huge visibility balls on them. I got spooked. Eventually I figured I could go to my cabin and sleep, and was gently rocked to sleep, which was nice. What was not nice was being woken up at 2am by the ship's horns going off because we were running through some fog. Every time we hit fog the horns would blow every two minutes, for safety. I eventually fell asleep despite the horn and probably dreamed they were whales hooting and honking.
DAY 2: At Sea
I was ready to be out of my cabin around 7am, I couldn't wait to see where we were and what the weather was like. I checked the weather on the TV briefly to decide how heavy to dress. (Pants and jacket.) We had just left the protected channel and were out in open ocean; I staggered and weaved as I walked to a breakfast of coffee and an egg white omelette. The weather was beautiful, for the entire trip it was mostly sunny with pleasantly mild temperatures, so lucky! Today is a day at sea, so I explored the ship, journaled, doodled. The previous night I had found a nice place to hang out, on a top deck, but today it was closed to the public. You had to pay extra to rent a "cabana" on this deck. After breakfast I walked around and looked over the bow, and a single pacific white-sided dolphin was racing alongside! I made some excited noises and afraid I startled a maintenance worker. He probably thought I was a fool to get so excited about a dolphin.
I had a dip in the outside pool, it was fairly cold, don't think it was heated at all. But I did my thing where I would soak in the hot tub until I was too hot, then go into the too cold pool, back and forth a few times. There was another pool that looked heated, but was mostly indoors and the water didn't look as clean as the outside pool, so I avoided that one. By mostly indoors, I mean it has a cool roof that can open and close! For this trip it was open/closed around 50/50. The temps outside were mostly pleasant, but if we were moving and it was windy, they'd close it.
I found my favorite lounge, called The Crow's Nest. It has windows that wrap around the bow and both sides of the ship. When I needed a break from the sun, cold or wind, I'd be in there, usually sketching, watching the world go by. Before the trip I had bought a cheap pair of binoculars, and I practiced finding things with them, which was sometimes hard. I'd see things with my eyes, and to try and see them with the binocs, I would have a hard time finding the item again. I got better though. I practiced on birds, moving pieces of driftwood, etc. There was lots of whale activity, I could identify them positively as humpbacks this time. There was no doubt, when I could use the binocs to get a better look, at the breaches and the pectoral fin slapping. Someone said that when the cruise ships pass by, it excites the whales and they will breach, tail lob and pec slap. "Get away from my baby!", "Danger approaches, stay alert," and, "Oh yeah?? watch this guys I'll show them whose ocean this is, that's right, come get some. Yeah, you'd better run."
The countryside we were traveling through was so undeveloped, it made me wonder what it is about a place that humans will choose to develop, or not? I saw rivers, so water wasn't an issue. Later on I saw towns that started out as obvious hunting/trapping/gold camps, but some towns remain even those activities are in the past. Some even grow into cities. Some vanish into the past and are swallowed up by the wilderness. I almost got bored watching the sunset, but I saw constant whale blows and it was relaxing, having nothing to do but watch the sun go down.
It was a night with cloud cover and fog, so no chance of aurora watching.
DAY 3: Juneau
Up early again at 6:30 or so, I learned that the coffee is much better if you get it early so here I am, Alaska! As soon as I came outside I could smell fish, kelp, and life. You could just tell this was a place stiff with wildlife. We were inside the Passage now and the water was not quite "smooth as glass", but there was no swell. I ate breakfast and was wandering around on the deck, watching rocky islands move through the fog. The water was so still that it was quite a shock to suddenly see right under my very gaze, an orca! Travelling casually right alongside the ship, heading in the opposite direction. Probably less than 50 feet away from me. The orca rose and took a breath, the water was so clear I could see everything. I gasped and made monkey noises, it happened so fast there was no time to get my phone out, but it was amazing. I wonder if me and the bridge crew were the only ones who saw it.
We sailed in and out of patches of fog, the horn occasionally blowing. I took lots of photos, there was a "sunbow" created when fog and light conditions were right. Later we saw humpbacks, one diving to show us the tail. I went inside to the crows nest to sit for awhile, but I had my binoculars. I saw dorsal fins so I leaped to my feet and located a pod of orcas with my binoculars. People looked around in confusion, and five seconds later the captain announced, "We have orcas on the starboard bow." Everyone stampeded to the windows. It's neat to think the bridge and I spotted them at the same time, but then again there's always at least two crew looking for things not to run over.
We sailed further up the sound, closer to Juneau, the water grew cloudy from glacial silt and river flood runoff (there had been bad flooding the week prior) and the wildlife sightings stopped. We landed at 1pm and my first shore excursion, a whale watching boat trip, wasn't until 5, so I wandered around the town a bit. There were a couple of breweries I wanted to check out, Devils' Club being the most interesting, so I had a flight there. I also checked out the quilt shop and picked up a couple of fabrics for my hoard.
I play Pokemon Go on my phone, there's a specific Pokemon that only appears north of 52 degrees latitude, so I hunted for that while I explored. I saw one but couldn't get to it in time before it despawned.
Soon it was time to hop on the coach to go to the marina. It was about 10 miles to the cove, we got on a nice little boat and I took my Dramamine. But I don't think it was necessary, or else, it worked just fine because I felt no discomfort at all. There isn't anything to get seasick over, in the protected Inside Passage. On the way to the boat the guide asked how we were all feeling, and I said "Stoked", which made him smile. "I guarantee we will see whales today," and sure enough it wasn't long before we were pulling alongside (respectfully) a snoozing humpback. The rules for whale watching were, have to stay a certain distance away (but they could drift closer if they happened to), if one comes too close we can't move, and we can't stay with any one whale for longer than five minutes. The whales are here to eat and put on weight, and they aren't paying much attention to their surroundings, so we have to not distract them from their task.
No orcas, but loads of humpbacks, blowing, snoozing and diving. We went around Shelter Island, I spotted a pod of Dall's porpoises, but they were moving fast away from the boat and didn't want anything to do with us. We circled around to see if they wanted to play in the boat wake, but we never saw them again. They were cute.
Next the captain took us to a rookery of Steller's sea lions. The males were on the beach shoving away at each other and grunt-roaring. Most of the females and younger males were in the water, they did acrobatic flips. Very interesting to hear and to watch.
I got back to the ship past the dinnertime, but managed to grab something. I was having a bit of anxiety over my shore excursions, I couldn't tell if they had been cancelled or if my phone reception was making the app bug out.
DAY 4: Skagway
I woke up to find that the expeditions had been cancelled due to a lack of salmon. The rivers were still full of glacial silt and the salmon don't like that and won't spawn in it, so all the wildlife viewing tours were cancelled. Bummer! No river float or bear safaris. There's not much to do in Skagway, but I walked and walked and wandered around with complete freedom and loads of free time to kill, an a beautiful place, so that was nice. The cruise dock is surprisingly modern for such a tiny town, with the most beautiful public bathroom ever. I used that and filled my canteen, then started an epic walk. First I followed a nature trail next to Dewey creek, that my research indicated was a good place to see salmon, but of course there were no salmon running at that time. The creek ran alongside the train tracks of the White Pass and Yukon Route rail line, so I was able to see that rumble on by. I walked past a train station that had been converted into a museum and admired the apple trees. I'm used to apple trees looking mangy and covered in lichens and moss, with apples all buggy and lumpy, but these trees looked like something from a model railroad kit, almost too perfect. Took loads of photos. I came to a trail junction and heard some animals raising a ruckus, and looked all over with my binoculars, I saw some animals darting around and at first I thought they were weasels, but when I review the videos I think they are some kind of rock squirrel. The area was starting to look a little industrial, so I turned into a residential area and someone had a table with home grown produce set out for sale. I admired some lovely gardens and snapped photos of some cute small homes. I walked some more and came to the large train yard for the Yukon Route, toyed with the idea of asking for a lift but it wasn't open to the public so I mentally shrugged and kept walking. I thought it'd be a nice goal to see the river, and after crossing the river the main road became the Yukon Highway, hopefully there would be a sign I could take a selfie next to. There wasn't, but I did briefly walk on the Yukon Highway and then there was a neat garden and glass tourist destination. The gift shop was sort of open, but everything else looked closed and abandoned; the garden, the restaurant, the glass studio. The lady working the till said that the owners decided not to open for tourism this year, and they also decided not to maintain the garden beds, but I would be free to wander around and explore if I liked. Well sure! I blew up my phone taking photos of this "abandoned" botanical garden, all the plants and flowers still there of course, but now with this wild beauty. I really enjoy the camera on my phone and am glad I got the Pro version. I found all sorts of interesting compositions and subjects.
Eventually I had to use the bathroom ;p so I walked to the park next door and did my business (in an actual toilet, don't get any ideas!). I was starting to wish I had packed a couple of snacks because I was getting pretty tired, but I plodded back into town, briefly walking along the rushing river. Nothing interesting except a couple of mallards. Skagway brewing company had a spruce-tipped blonde ale that was good, but they didn't have any outdoor seating so I didn't linger. One of my google map "pins" was an interesting looking rock shop, and it turned out to be a...hidden gem...snurk. Very different from the "rock shops" in the tourist area, this was a real labor of love with not only an indoor shop but an expansive outdoor area, with cute chairs under an apple tree. Although, it was picking time and the tree was overloaded, so plop! Apples would hit the ground. I would have loved to buy something local but my budget only allowed me a small reticulated quartz for a souvenier. A lot of stores were already closed; I went into a touristy shop and all the magnets were made in china resin cast (still looking for the wooden salmons to add to my collection) and all the coffee for sale was pre-ground. I watched the ship leave Skagway while I was in the hot tub, I ended up walking over 8 miles that day so a hot soak felt nice.
DAY 5: Glacier Bay
As soon as I emerged, I regretted sleeping in. It was already so interesting and pretty and I had missed some mountain goat sightings. The water was colorful and beautiful with glacial silts.
While I had been showering, a boat pulled up alongside the cruise ship, and a pack of park rangers and their gear came onto the ship. They brought the whole gift shop with them too! They set up the gift shop in the Crow's Nest lounge, and the park rangers were roaming around to give talks about what we would see that day. The cruise ship opened up a section of the bow that had been previously closed to guests, and I made a beeline for that. We were approaching the end of the bay and a huge glacier was reaching into the water. The closer we came to the glacier, the more ice there was in the water. Technically not icebergs, but smaller chunks called squeakers and groaners, or growlers, I think? The ice became thicker and thicker and the ship came to a very slow halt. A slow wave of ice chunks made it way from the bow, millions of ice chunks making a tinkling sound. The captain made an announcement that there was so much ice, the ship wouldn't be able to turn in a 180 as they had planned, to give both sides of the ship a view of the glacier. Instead the ship would be backing out of the ice.
As we were watching the glacier there was a small ice fall, then a minute later the glacier made a cracking boom like a cannon shot. The ship slowly backed out of the bay and when the ice cleared a bit more, turned around and headed out.
I thought I'd make some art but the scenery was so beautiful and kept changing, so I ran all over the ship photographing the different views. We saw many, many sea otters, including the hilarious sight of one that was so deeply asleep, not even the huge passing cruise ship could rouse them from their slumber. The ship's wake didn't even wake them up! Most of the sea otters swam away from the ship, some lazily backstroking and others diving away in a panic.
We also saw another pod of orcas, and loads of humpbacks doing all the stunts; breaching, tail lobbing and pec slapping. Napping on a lounge chair sounded more comfortable than it ended up being.
At one point one of the park rangers announced to the ship that there was a grizzly bear walking along the beach, so everyone went to go look. The binoculars helped a lot, I saw the bear enter the water and swim around a rocky point before pulling out and continuing its walk into the bushes.
At the mouth of the bay was Boulder Island, a huge bird nesting rookery, there were a lot of auks, puffins and murres. Some auks/murres also were swimming in the water and the movements looked a lot like penguins as they swam quickly away from the ship.
Soon the little boat could be once again seen coming out of a side bay and approaching our ship, which slowed down, but did not stop. The boat came alongside, the park rangers hopped on with their gift shop all boxed up in big plastic totes, and they sailed off to their ranger station, waving goodbye to everyone.
For some reason I can't recall, the captain decided to leave the inside passage and travel to Ketchikan out in the open ocean, so we sailed right into a beautiful fogbank that gave us dramatic views as it spilled over the mountains like a cresting wave.
DAY 6: Ketchikan
Up fairly early for some salmon fishing! Originally I had booked a "catch and cook" excursion where you'd put out crab pots, then go fishing for whatever was biting that day, come back after checking the pots, and then be taken to a private camp in the forest where they'd cook whatever you caught and be served a gourmet meal. This was fairly expensive and I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I should do it. There were lots of options for other shore excursions but catching a big salmon is on my bucket list, so I thought I should bang that out. Well I got a nice letter in my cabin that said sorry, but not enough people signed up and they had to cancel the excursion! Last night I had to scramble to find another one, and it ended up being a literal coin toss; smaller day of salmon fishing, or sea kayaking?
I was glad the coin toss didn't say kayaking, because it ended up being a brisk, breezy day and kayaking isnt much fun on a windy day. Also my fitness level would have slowed everyone down.
Anyway, salmon fishing! A short trip in a van, and we arrived at Knudson Cove marina, met our captain and crew (his wife) and off we went! The fishing grounds were five minutes away from the marina, which was great. The captain used a four-rod rig, with flashers, at various depths. We saw salmon leaping out of the water, to tease us, but the captain said don't get excited, when they are leaping they aren't feeding, they're feeling their oats and getting hyped for the spawn.
We caught a few fish, but when it was my turn to take the rod, I lost the fish. I remember in trout fishing it was important to have the tip up, but apparently I enabled the salmon to spit out the hook by doing that. I didn't get a second chance at a hookup. Still, it was interesting to see even the by-catch, some pretty red rockfish and some baby king salmon. The captain said that only the baby king salmon smell like fresh cut grass, so I said "I want to smell that!" and we did catch another one, so I was able to smell it. It smelled sweet like the sea, and I think I know what he meant by it, but I wouldn't call it fresh cut grass. It smelled like some high quality sashimi! but of course we had to let them go, because they were babies.
One guy caught a nice big king salmon and the captain gently suggested that he could perhaps, share with some other passengers who didn't catch anything, but he said nah, he's got a family to feed, and the captain backed off quickly and politely. I appreciated the gesture though!
Someone else caught a nice size salmon, but the captain recommended that it be tossed back, it had started to transform into its spawning form, getting the long fighting jaw and the humped back. He said the meat is no good when they look like that, and so the fish was let go. It was still a great day out, once again the weather was perfect and the forecasted rain never showed up. We also caught 4 more fish than the other fishing boat that went out, they caught only a single fish.
There were a few hours left until the cruise ship left port, so I wandered into town and found a bar that had lots of local taps. I chatted with some locals and eavesdropped shamelessly in the outdoor patio area. Someone was cooking chicken thighs on the grill and they offered me some, I said "Don't tease me now, that smells amazing," and they said "It's complimentary!" and they had scalloped potatoes and salad too. It was a nice change from cruise ship food, and of course I needed a pint to go with dinner, to show my appreciation. It had been a very good idea to set an alarm for the time to go back to the ship, I was one of the last people back on board, and I staggered on deck to watch the ship leave and the sunset.
DAY 7: At Sea
For some unknown reason I was awake at 4:30 so instead of turning around and being frustrated and bored, I got up, put yesterday's clothes on and went out on deck. It was interesting walking through the long public areas to get to the outside, a very few crew members were cleaning and mopping. I walked out into the predawn darkness. Another cruise ship was behind us, all lit up, we also passed by various small boats that were anchored way out in the channel, next to their buoys, were they checking their nets or traps? Were they sleeping? Over the next hour the sky became more and more brilliant with red lights of dawn, mostly near the eastern horizon, and not spreading over us too much. Still I took loads of photos. I stared at the water and realized that I have serious FOMO for whale sightings, I kept expecting to see something amazing with all the good luck I've had recently, and I kept wishing something like that would happen again. But, not this morning. Eventually I wandered back to my cabin and fell asleep again and had weird but pleasant dreams.
At sea there was not much going on, I wandered around and looked for whales, always. I thought the next time I travel on the Zuiderdam I might enjoy the 10,000 series of rooms, because they are the closest to the Crow's Nest, but I would not enjoy all the foot traffic. This is totally not "those grapes are sour" but maybe it is a little, because those rooms are all veranda rooms and easily twice the cost of my interior cabin. My cabin suits my needs just fine, I sleep and shower there and that's it. I'm hardly ever in it. Just please don't stick me down in the lower decks. I don't like that.
DAY 8: Vancouver
I was eager to get back to my pets, so I was up around 6:30 and felt like I could have a relaxing breakfast. I think all I had was a croissant and some of that good early morning fresh perc coffee. Surprisingly, we weren't already docked and I got to see the ship moving into the cruise dock. I didn't need to bother with a luggage porter, I tossed my stuff in my bag and wheeled out through customs and nobody even looked in my bag! I could have had five halibuts in there and nobody would have known. Oh well. Me and my luggage walked to the Seabus, hopped on the Busbus, got home and it felt real good. BECAUSE I HOP ON A PLANE THE VERY NEXT DAY AAAHHHHH I'm so tired.