Reflecting on Alaska

I'm working onf categorizing my De Hirsch pictures, just more of that hard work.  But I get the chance to look at some of my older pictures.  This is one from our Alaska trip not 3 months ago.  Seems like longer than that.  This was an Elderhostel (Roads Scholar) trip on the Alaska ferry. 

Our trip leaders would use their local connections to dream up activities.  The ferry had a mid day stop at Hanes.  They called their friend and asked him to set something up.  Surprise us! they said.  So their friend picked us up and we went down the road near the river and looked for and saw eagles.

Alaska is due north of us some large number of miles.  We live in the coastal northwest waters also.  What's the difference, especially looking at southeastern Alaska?  Not that much but more so.  Just a bit more.

I remember being kinda cold.  We can see eagles here.  OK, not that often.  But we were out there doing it.

I didn't really ramp up the color.  My brother ups that saturation close to brilliance.  When I mention it, he says it reflects how he saw it.  I don't know how he saw it, maybe he really did see it that way.  Who am I to say?

Near Hanes, Alaska in mid October.

Alaska map

Back to Alaska--

This was just a small part of the map they gave us with details of the inland passage to Alaska.  I know that I still have trouble making sense of the island, peninsulas, canals, etc in the Puget Sound region.

Sometimes I tried to figure out where we were but quickly I gave up.  I figured they knew where they were going and the stops were listed on the bulletin board at the Pursers.  I would just trust in them and watch the scenery.

Skagway was the most north we went.  Our leaders said Skagway would be deserted and it was.  It's been co-opted by the cruise ships and the cruise ships ended a month before we arrived.  The cruise ship lines own a lot of the jewelry and other shops and they were all closed up.  Weird.  I think Skagway is  legit town; was the gateway to the Klondyke.

Doggies on the car deck

On the Malaspina, you are not allowed to be on the car deck.  It's not an open deck like the Washington ferries.  Every 4-6 hours they would announce a 15 minute period when passengers could go down to the car deck.  I didn't quite get why until near the end of the trip.  People had their pets in their cars and they had to be tended to.  So the day before we came back, Barbara (another passenger I liked) and I would go down to the passenger deck to see what was going on.  Sure enough, people had their dogs out; they were supposed to relieve themselves on the deck and cleaning materials were provided.  Pretty soon, we made some dog friends.  That's Zeus in the foreground, a very friendly German Shepherd.  Also some angry cats who were not happy about the situation AT ALL as their staff cleaned out their pet carriers.

Only service animals were allowed above the car deck.  I went up the elevator with one pit bull service dog.  Her owner said that she was quite angry with him because she KNEW you were only supposed to pee and poop outside and what was up with this???  Yup, his pit bull service dog was looking reprovingly at him, this was just WRONG!

The scene on the car deck during one of the open intervals.

Also sometimes I felt like I was on a ship of vagrants because not everybody had a room.  There were some tents on the upper deck.  But basically you were allowed to curl up with your blankets or sleeping bag wherever.

So, did we get off the boat?

Sure we did.  But the stops were often limited to the ferry schedule and the tides for navigation.

These shots show us at a pole carving workshop in Ketchican.  It rains all the time there; we were there early on a Sunday morning.

Also looking at petrrglyphs at the Wrangell library.

And searching for eagles near Haines.

Also stops in Sitka and Skagway.  We stopped at Juneau in the middle of the night both ways.

I never even knew these places existed before I took this trip.

The group on the trip

On the last evening, our Road Scholar group gathered for a group portrait.  Dennis and I were probably the youngest (but not necessarily the most able).  Seventeen of us plus the two group leaders (Karen kneeling in the center with the black and white top; she has her hand on the shoulder of the other group leader, her husband Gere)

Very simpatico group with all being friendly with everybody hanging out with everybody else.

I'm wearing my mother's lighthouse jacket; she loved it.  It sat in my closet; I saw it and thought that a boat trip would suit it fine.  Everybody commented on it; closer showed that the lighthouses were mainly on the Great Lakes.

Picture provided by 'the other Sandy' seated far right.

Narrow passages

Some of the inside passages of southeast Alaska are very narrow.  The Malaspina is about the largest ship that can traverse them.  Even then, they use fairly elaborate navigational aids to help the pilot keep the ship in the channel.  Even so, when going through particularly narrow spots, an experienced watchman is at the bow of the ship, in contact with the pilot.  He's watching and listening, looking for boats or anything else amiss.  Serious business this navigation.

Scenery from Alaskan waters

Going up the Inside Passage in southeastern Alaska gives unending scenery opportunities.  A lot of times it was gray.  But sometimes the sun broke through to show endless miles of forested unoccupied lands.  Unoccupied by people that is.

This was right before we stopped at Haines and went off in a bus with local nature guy looking at the lakes and river with tons of eagles.

Imagine all of the scenery that we didn't see.  Being mid October, the sunset came early.  They also cut the lights in the forward lounge for navigation purposes.  And the boat ran around the clock.  The ferry kept going even as we slept.  Sometimes the stops were in the middle of the night.  Which didn't make for great sighseeing times.  In fact, we passed Juneau northbound and southbound in the middle of the night.

We enjoyed a smooth ride except for the few ocean crossings when we were subjected to the rough waters of the north Pacific.  Lots of rocking and rolling.  We used many of my seasickness remedies.

It was all about the ship

Early this morning Dennis and I returned from our trip to Alaska.  A Road Scholar tour focusing on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry.  Dennis was originally going to go with his mother but then she decided not to go.  So I went.  Really fun, in an understated Alaskan sort of way.

We made stops along the way but really this trip was about the ferry which traveled up the Instide Passage along the British Columbia coast to southeastern Alaska.  The Southeast it's called.

We spent he majority of the trip on the boat, the MV Malaspina, the oldest ship on the fleet, that's why she has the golden smokestack.  So we followed the rhythms of the ship.  Utilitarian, people on the ship getting things done.  Alaskans use this boat to travel between towns and back south.  Southeast has very few roads so if you need to go somewhere, you take the ferry.

We had a small room and we ate in the cafeteria.  Lots of interesting rough and ready folks with interesting stories. Riding the ferry, I felt much more in tune with the rhythms of Alaskan life.  None of that sissy cruise ship stuff.  People working all around us.  So the stops were short, no time to mess around.  Sometimes longer but mainly focused on the tide.

We did get off the boat and see things.  But it mostly was about the Malaspina, where she was going.

Here's the ship as we had a quick stop in Wrangell to see some petroglyphs.  The Wrangell dash.

M/V Malaspina

We'll go to Alaska on this boat, the M/V Malaspina.  Part of the Alaskan Ferry system rather than a cruise ship.  It goes up the inside passage of British Columbia to Southeast Alaska, Sitka, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway.  Not sure that's the right order.  People who live and work in these areas take this boat.  Lots of people pitch a tent on the deck.  Three days up and three days back.  We'll have a cabin but one without a window.  It's part of a package tour, a Road Scholar trip (used to be elderhostel).  Dennis was going to go with his mother but then she decided not to go so I said I would go with him.

It's not fancy!  Looks a lot like the Washington State Ferries in decor.  It does have a big recliner room; I think people can sleep there if they want.  We were watching youtube videos last night,  We wanted to see what the little cabins looked like and, most important, how big the luggage area was.  We found one that showed it.  Very very helpful.

There's no planes involved for us so we don't have to go strictly by the airline standards.  I can take whatever I want within reason.  That's the answer.  It's real small but it does have it's own bathroom.  Really just a box with bunk beds.  Also you could put the suitcases on the lower bunk during the day.