Alaska 2012
Inside Passage Cruise
To finish off our trip to Alaska, we took a 7-night cruise on the Admiralty Dream, a small cruise ship, in the inside passage.
The map above shows our cruise route in blue.
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Friday and Saturday: Sitka We arrived
in Sitka late Thursday evening after a long day from Brooks Camp.
On Friday, we visited the Alaska Raptor Center, which rescues injured
raptors for
rehabilitation. Saturday, as part of our cruise package, we
started with a city tour of Sitka, visiting the bishop's house, museum,
and Russian Orthodox Church. We then boarded a small boat for a
wildlife cruise in Sitka Sound, and this boat took us to meet our
cruise ship, the Admiralty Dream, north of Sitka.
Bald eagle at Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka, Russian
Orthodox Church in Sitka, Sea otters in Sitka Sound
Puffins, sea otter video |
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Sunday and Monday: Kake and Petersburg Our first
stop on the cruise was at Kake, a small native village. There we
saw a demonstration on totem pole carving, visited the tallest totem
pole in the world, and attended a native Tlinget Indian
dance. On Monday, we arrived in Petersburg, a town that has
Norwegian roots. There we went on a short hike and attended a
Norwegian dance show.
Tallest totem pole in the world in Kake, Bald eagle in
Petersburg
Orca spotted after leaving Petersburg, including a calf |
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Tuesday: Hobart Bay Our cruise operator has an agreement with the land owners in Hobart Bay that allows them use of this area. We had three activities here, sea kayaking, zego (a small motorized boat), and ATV on the local logging roads. Weather consisted of on-and-off sprinkles, but we enjoyed our time here despite the weather!
In dock at Hobart Bay, ATV that we rode in the afternoon
Enjoying kayaking, Black bear and bald eagle seen from
the zego
Our cabin
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Wednesday: Tracy Arm Tracy Arm is a fjord south of Juneau that is very deep, with very steep edges. It was somewhat reminicient of Yosemite Valley, although filled with sea water. At the end of this arm are two glaciers, the South Sawyer and the North Sawyer. The South Sawyer Glacier was quite active during our visit, as shown in the video clip below.
Views in Tracy Arm, top deck of the ship
South Sawyer Glacier
Icebergs and North Sawyer Glacier
nice sunset
Massive calving from South Sawyer Glacier |
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Thursday: Juneau In Juneau our first stop was the Mendenhall Glacier north of the city, which flows into Mendenhall Lake. After that, we went for lunch downtown and rode the Mt. Roberts Tram, which goes part of the way up Mt. Roberts for a view of the city below. The sky was unusually clear for Juneau on this day. The day ended with a king crab feed at Orca Point Lodge northwest of Juneau!
Mendenhall Glacier
View of Juneau from the Mt. Roberts Tram, Humpback
whale spouting off, Orca Point Lodge
Massive king crab legs at Orca Point Lodge, Humpback
whale and calf doing a dance |
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Friday: Glacier Bay National Park Our last day was spent cruising through Glacier Bay. We picked up a park ranger and a native Tlinget woman at Bartlett Cove in the morning, and they were with us on board until evening. The sky was overcast all day, with low clouds obscuring many of the views, but we had some interesting wildlife sightings as seen below.
Wolf and bear standing off (see video below), mountain
goat, Lamplugh Glacier
Lamplugh Glacier, Reid Glacier, sign at Bartlett Cove
A bear and wolf standing off |
