June 18-21, 2018 Aboard the Alaskan Dream

Day 7

We travel to Mitkof Island and the community of Petersburg. This is Alaska’s Little Norway. Settled in 1890’s by Norwegian fisherman, this small town has become one of Alaska’s top producing commercial fishing communities. We saw vessels representing the 4 major methods of fishing, gill netters, power trawlers,seiners and long liners. All the major breeds of Salmon caught up here are, king, silver, sockeye, pink and chum. Petersburg remains populated with people of Scandinavian decent. Many of the homes are painted bright colors and have shutters with Norway rosemalings of flowers. We were entertained in the Sons of Norway hall by a group of kids ranging from 12-14 years of age doing native Norwegian dances in costume. The outfits were hand made and beautifully embroidered with flowers, each different than the next. They served us 3 different handmaid pastries, created by 2 Norwegian women right in the Hall. Delicious. We spoke with some of the kids after, they were so grounded and so close to one another. Would not trade their isolated up-bringing for any big city. In order to play a sport, teams travel on ferries and stay with families in the competitors town. They graduated 45 seniors this year, the most ever! Delightful stopover! As we were leaving this stop we were treated to an extraordinary display by about 6-8 Humpback Wales. Working together, they formed a bubble barrier around a school of small fish. They then all surfaced at once, gorging themselves, rising high out of the water. They were vocalizing the whole time. We watched this behavior for 40 minutes with it happening 4-5 times. We could not have asked for a better display of wildlife.

Day 8

We travelled on to Wrangell, population 2000 year round residents. It has been under the jurisdiction of three flags and ruled by 4 nations, Tlingit, Russia, England and the United States. We did 2 walks, one to a beach with ancient petroglyphs, believed to be 1000 years old. The second, was up Mount Dewey for a beautiful view of the Harbor. The trail was all steps, several thousand! Russia established a fort here in 1833 and sold it to the Hudson Bay Company for 2000 otter skins a year! This was in 1867, at which time the United States took over. Wrangell graduated only 9 seniors. The towns get smaller as we move forward. Each of these town are so different but all share such friendly people. If you are waiting to cross a street, they stop and signal you across. Also, the flowers are splendid. Hanging baskets are stunning and most yards have are well kept with color. To my surprise, Rhododendrons and Fuchias are every where, in every color and are huge plants. A species of Shasta daisies are wild every where, also For Get Me Nots, a delicate light blue flower, the Alaskan State Flower. 

Day 9

We travel to the eastern side of the Prince of Wales Island to Thorn Bay, population 530. This area began as floating logging camps, built on spruce logs with planking on top. They were constructed for the Ketchikan Pulp Company and housed 1500 people at their peak. When one area was clear cut they floated to another area. At one time there were 15 such camps. In 1960, they were hauled ashore into Thorne Bay. Really!Even today there are floating houses. Each of the towns we have visited have excellent libraries. They are often the newest and nicest building in town. They are an important part of people’s lives in these isolated villages. Thorn Bay, had the smallest and most incomplete one but are raising funds to build a new 3000 square foot building! They have most of the money raised by bake sales and walking tours of the town and were hoping for donations from the tourists. In the afternoon we moved on to our next destination, Kasaan, population 49. In 1700 a group of Haida Natives migrated here and settled. More recently a cannery was opened in 1902 and functioned until 1953. The highlight of this stop was the totem poles! There was a large carving barn which was the center of community activity. They had just completed a 40 foot carving done with handmade tools, which will be raised soon to greet visitors. It has taken 4 months to complete. The wood was a spruce, a tree 4 feet in diameter. There were 8 totems standing in the forest. We were offered a salmon recipe and cooking board as a token of their appreciation for the visit. Our ship is the only one allowed to come into their Bay. We were met by a handmade canoe with four native members of the Haida community. Quite an honor! As you may have guessed by now, the waters we have been in for the last 4 days are not negotiable by the larger ships. Have met some really nice folks. Many of them have limited mobility and cannot do some of the activities. I admire them for getting out and traveling. One daughter and Mother couple, the rest are all married. We have been dubbed the "newly weds". One couple from Great Britain and one from Australia. Several from N. California. We were treated to a surprise from our Captain and our Chef this evening. They obtained a freshly caught halibut at our last stop, 35 pounds. They demonstrated how to carve it. Halibut have a piece of ivory in one of their eyes. This will be served tonight, our last dinner together. Just about everyone on board has gotten the respiratory bug. Ed has been hit hard. I am immune, so far. On to Metlakatla.

Our final day on Ship

Last night after dinner we had some very rough water and I resorted to Dramamine. We turned into a different passage and it calmed right down but I slept like a baby! We awakened this morning tucked way back in a cove, very close to a beautiful waterfall. I could have stayed there all day. After breakfast, (I had lemon poppyseed pancakes with spruce tip syrup), we kayaked and zodiac floated to within 50 yards of a brown bear. We watched him for quite a long time. A single Humpback performed for us before lunch waving and slapping his fin on the water. This Island, which is the only native reservation in Alaska, is home to the third major group of natives, the Tsimshian. In 1887, 823 people canoed from British Columbia. They were led by an Anglican minister, Father Duncan, who stayed with them for 63 years. He met with President Cleveland and was granted permission to choose a group of Islands to establish a new community, the current town of Metlakatla. Since they are a reservation, they are allowed to have an casino. It was a nice town with an active fish processing center. We were treated to another example of Native Dancers. This one was more enjoyable than the previous one. It was composed of whole families and was very fun. They are very proud of the fact that they are reviving their native language by teaching it the their school. There only about 1,000 people in the community that spoke it. Back on board our boat, we went to a dinner of the beautiful fresh halibut we had been introduced to a night ago. It was so delicious. We watched a collage of pictures taken by crew members during the trip. It was really well done. It has been a wonderful trip but as always we are looking forward to getting home.

Sons of Norway Dancers 

View from Mt. Dewey

Floating house in Thorne Bay

Totem in Kasaan

Brown "Grizzly" Bear

Dancers in Metlakatla 

June 15-17, 2018 Aboard the Alaskan Dream

We docked in Auk Bay early this morning, 0800. We boarded a bus and had a narrated trip to the famous Mendenhall Glacier. We hiked about 2 miles to the closest point. There was also a beautiful waterfall here, Nugget Falls. Then back to the bus to go downtown Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Amazingly, you cannot drive to Juneau. We had the afternoon on our own. We went to the Alaska State Museum which had separate sections devoted to the Russian period of time, the native history and mining times. For all the history of the Klondike gold rush, which brought a flood of stampeding prospectors in, very little gold was actually found. We did the tourist shopping thing, all I bought was some sourdough starter. Lots of jewelry stores, and Native owned shops with authentic native hand made creations. Alaska is doing a great job honoring the Native history, mainly the Tlingit clans in this particular area. The evening meal tonight was the best of all, all you could eat prime rib, salmon and.....HUGH king crab legs. Some chunks of crab were an inch and a half square and 4 inches long. So delicious! This meal was served at a beautiful private lodge which Alaskan Dream Cruises owns on Colt Island. Still waiting for whale sightings and moose! We are having 19 hours of daylight currently! 

Today we left the ship really early, 0730. Amazing that they can get 40 people up, fed and on their way! They gave us breakfast burritos and orange juice and a sack lunch. We boarded the historical White Pass and Yukon railroad which will take us into Canada. Built in 1898, it climbs 3000 feet in 20 miles! The original purpose of the railroad was to get miners to the gold fields in the Yukon. Each prospector was required to have 2000 pounds of gear. Canada was afraid the huge influx of people would drain their country of food and supplies. Later in the afternoon we went to Haines, a community just over 1000 people. It is the most authentic town, least affected by tourism so far. We spent an hour in a Hammer Museum! Ed loved it. There were upwards of a thousand different kinds of hammers and even a bike made of hammers! There was the pre World War I Fort Seward National Historic Site. There was a distillery and a brewery. We walked a lot, which was good. This is the first night we have have been even remotely hungry!

Today we traveled all night to Tracy Arm Fjord. John Muir referred to it as "a wild unfinished Yosemite." It terminated in two glaciers, Sawyer and South Sawyer. The passage was fairly narrow with steeply rising rock walls abundant with long waterfalls. We were unable to reach the more northern one because there were too many icebergs but the one we did reach was the most blue of all. All of these glaciers create their own wind, called a catatonic wind, quite brisk. On the way out of the Fjord we saw a mama seal with a tiny baby and 2 bears........then suddenly we were surrounded by 6-8 Humpback Whales, all blowing, surfacing and tail slapping. It appeared as though they were setting up bubble traps for the small krill. This will be one of the highlights of the trip. We watched for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, many people onboard are coming down with a respiratory bug, of which Ed is one.

Sample dinner menu.  This changes with each meal.

Whale fluke

Seal and pup on floating ice

In front of Sawyer Glacier

At the Hammer Museum.  It is rideable.

Train to Whitehorse Pass

Mendenhall Glacier

June 11-15, 2018 Aboard the Alaskan Dream

Monday night

Arrived in Sitka about 8:30 pm. Ed’s bag did not arrive with us but mine did! Bad on Delta, but an Alaska flight brought it the next morning. 

Tuesday

We explored Sitka in the afternoon with our tour group. This included the Raptor Center, the Sheldon Jackson Museum of the Native people’s, the Tlingit. In addition, a show demonstrating their ancient songs and dances. The Captain greeted us as we boarded the ship and he and Ed immediately recognized one another from the 2016 trip. There were also several crew members who remembered him! We were quite tired, had a great meal and slept well. 

Wednesday 

Breakfast was at 0730. Many choices cooked to order. We feel as though all we have done is eat since leaving home. We had Oatmeal in-spite of many yummy choices. Next we kayaked and went on a zodiac run through the waters of Chatham Bay and the Icy Strait with our onboard naturalist. There were hundreds of large jellyfish everywhere near the boat. They were so beautiful and graceful. The tide came in so fast while we were on the beach it was amazing to watch. Lunch was a full menu, all homemade. Everyone read, played cards or napped in the afternoon. Dinner offered white salmon, which I had never heard of. I did not think it was as flavorful as the pink breeds. We had a lecture on Humpback whales in the evening, which was immediately preceded by the blowing and tail slapping of our first sighting of whales!

Thursday

A guide from the Hoonah Tlingit Natural Heritage Center and a Ranger from Glacier Bay National Park came aboard this morning. As we made our way toward the end of Glacier Bay to the magnificent Glacier, Margerie, they taught and shared insights of the area. This is a tidal Glacier which means it flows right to the sea. We saw only one bear in route, but many goats. We were fortunate to see some ice calving. The groans, creaking and "white thunder" cracking noises were impressive! As you will see in the photos, we watched a mama otter with her baby on her chest. She dumped him in the water and he protested loudly! The picture was from the Visitor center. This afternoon we are dropping our guests off at Bartlett Cove. We will go to the Visitor Center  and hike a bit. It was a beautiful wooded and marshy terrain. Saw two bear scat and it seemed a perfect place to see moose but we did not see either. There was an amazing reconstruction of a Humpback whale, named Snow. Scientists have learned a great deal from her carcass. She was "right finned" and still has remnants of a pelvis, that at one time, supported legs! Dinner was gourmet, clams and lamb chops with creme brûlée for dessert. On to Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier.

At the Margerie Glacier 

Humpback whale "Snow"

Mama and baby Otter.  We saw this live but didn't get a picture.

June 8-11, 2018 Anchorage, Alaska

Our trip began with a flight to Seattle and then on to Anchorage to spend the weekend with and old friend and former neighbor from Wilderness Ranch, Dennis McDonald. We met Rhonda,his new wife. She teaches children with special needs. We did a couple of hikes, one to Exit Glacier, an arm of the Harding Ice Field which once covered most of the Anchorage area. The history of it’s recession is very surprising and alarming. We saw remnants of the 1964 earthquake, dead fir trees and what remains of a small town that never rebuilt itself. These were way inland and the damage was the result of the tsunami. We did a lot of driving in beautiful weather, about 70 degrees, the first they had had. We were surrounded by beautiful snow capped peaks. Amazingly, we did not see any animals! We did see 6 bald eagles. Rhonda introduced us to the sport of Geo Caching! We found 4 sites on one hike. The dandelions were beautiful, no really, very large and would have made a nice bouquet! One of the takeaways of the trip will be a garage sale sign that read: "classy crap"! We spent Monday on airplanes. Back to Seattle and immediately boarded another flight back to Sitka. We board the Alaska Dream Cruise ship tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned for more.

Glacier near Anchorage 

Exit Glacier near Seward

Rhonda and Dennis 

Closer to Exit Glacier