Alaska summer ’08
Jessica and Michael took a cruise to Alaska in the summer of 2008. Holland America offers an affordable 7-day round-trip cruise out of Seattle with stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria. We bought a verandah suite in the back of the Oosterdam and enjoyed the ship tremendously, but the highlights were Hubbard Glacier and our excursions.
Our balcony offered a panoramic view of the skyline as we left the Port of Seattle. We visited Seattle for a couple of days before embarking, dining at the Pike Place Market and otherwise enjoying the city.
After leaving Seattle, the cruise took this path along southeastern Alaska’s unforgettable coastline. The base image is courtesy of NASA.
A. After a couple of days cruising the open waters of the Pacific, the Oosterdam made port in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. We enjoyed shopping the port early in the morning, but the real treat was an excursion by helicopter to the Norris Glacier, where a summer dog sled camp was set up. This was the first time either of us had been on a helicopter, a glacier, or a dog sled.
This is a picture of Jessica in the helicopter as we are about to take off over the Juneau icefields.
An hour later, after an amazing flight over glacial gulleys and deep ice chasms, we were dropped off at Dog World, a dog sledding camp on the Norris Glacier, as the helicopters returned to their base.
After riding and driving our dog sled team with a handler for an hour or so, we returned to the dog camp and posed with the professionals. These dogs are treated quite well: they compete annually in the Iditarod and Yukon Quest dog sled races.
B. From Juneau, the Oosterdam sailed toward Disenchantment Bay. As we entered the Bay the next morning, we got to see ice floes against spectacular vistas of snow-capped peaks.
While Disenchantment Bay is famous because of the Hubbard Glacier, it was the Turner Glacier spilling into the Pacific that we got to see first.
But the blue ice of North America’s largest tidewater glacier stole the show. The Hubbard Glacier is one of very few glaciers that has been thickening and advancing over the last century.
The Oosterdam came pretty close before turning around, giving us a close-up view of the Hubbard’s blue ice.
As we cruised off in the picture-perfect afternoon, we saw both glaciers spilling into the Bay.
C. The next morning’s sunrise found us sailing toward Sitka. As we entered the Alexander Archipelago, we were treated to a rainbow by Mount Edgecrumbe, a dormant volcano which last erupted over 4,000 years ago. The native Tlingit peoples called the volcano L’ux.
As we sailed past L’ux, the ocean landscape of Alexander Archipelago came into relief. A thousand verdant islands rise out of the Pacific here.
As we got closer to Sitka, we noticed that quite a few folks had built their homes on the islands of the Archipelago.
We spent a few hours in Sitka, visiting various sites of the first capital of Alaska, a former Russian fortress. This is Michael at St. Michael’s, a Russian Orthodox Cathedral which is a National Historical Landmark. The Russian for the Cathedral is spelled: Собор Святого Архангела Михаила.
Leaving Sitka that afternoon, we began to attend to the mainland backdrop for the Archipelago. The Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rainforest in the world, is a spectacular expanse of green. Clouds pregnant with water hovered wispily over the trees that afternoon.
As the ship sailed out toward Ketchikan, we were treated to a pair of Bald Eagles enjoying the day.
D. In Ketchikan the next day, we had arranged an excursion to take a floatplane from the harbor to the George Inlet Lodge in the Tongass National Forest. It was our first floatplane trip and we got to have it on a historic De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver. Michael got the front seat.
The George Inlet Lodge is nestled on the shores of the George Inlet Waterway, surrounded by 17 million acres of the Tongass National Forest. The flight in offered a spectacular view of the waterway.
After a satisfying lunch of Alaskan Dungeness Crab, we explored the surroundings. Here Jessica posed at the lodge with her shillelagh.
Afterwards, we were headed toward Victoria and on to Seattle to end the cruise, returning to more familiar landscapes. Jessica came out to the balcony wrapped in a blanket the next morning.
Michael took his cup of coffee out to the foredeck and made like a salty dog.
As the ship neared Victoria, we were escorted-in by a schooner.
A summer vacation to remember: full of first experiences and unique moments. We’ll end this travelogue with a photo taken on the Oosterdam.
