I hope you enjoyed the journey of a lifetime with us. We understand there were a few followers and hopefully you were able to experience some of the wonderful places we had visited. I have decided to end it today for we are madly packing and landing in LA tomorrow morning. Then it is homeward bound. If you would like to share with me what you thought of the blog, then please write in the blog comments. I am going to have that open now. Click on comments located just below this write-up. Thank you for taking the time to follow along. Good -bye and wishing all of you many adventures in your travels to come.
Sharon & Doug
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
KETICHIKAN, ALASKA
We arrived in Ketichikan to beautiful sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. As I looked out my balcony below, the town reminded me of Banff with the mountains in the background and all the souvenier shops everywhere. Approximately 2 to 6 cruise ships arrive every day in the summer. We were particularly lucky because there was only one other cruise ship docked. Doug and I decided to walk into town and look around. We viewed the Tongass Historical Museum which was very well done. We then walked around the streets and saw totem poles everywhere. A short distance away was Creek Street known for the stores that were built on top of a creek. It looked so quaint. There were souvenier shops everywhere. Along Creek Street we came upon Dolly's House which was the original House of ill repute. This town was very busy in the 1800s.
Today, Ketchikan is the salmon capital of the world and is a haven for tourists from cruise ships. We had booked a flight on a seaplane to take us to Misty Fjord National Monument. We would fly over the soaring cliffs, lakes and fjords. We would land on a lake in the middle of the mountain range and then take a leisurely boat ride back to Ketchikan. Thank goodness the sea plane ride was okay, at times scary, but the landing on the lake was smooth. The wildlife we happened upon were some mountain goats and harbour seals and bald eagles. The scenery was awesome and the day was just perfect for flying and boating. The guides told us how lucky we were to have this perfect weather for it usually rains all year round.
We thought Ketchikan had a lot to offer anyone coming up this way. Everyone had a delightful day.
Today, Ketchikan is the salmon capital of the world and is a haven for tourists from cruise ships. We had booked a flight on a seaplane to take us to Misty Fjord National Monument. We would fly over the soaring cliffs, lakes and fjords. We would land on a lake in the middle of the mountain range and then take a leisurely boat ride back to Ketchikan. Thank goodness the sea plane ride was okay, at times scary, but the landing on the lake was smooth. The wildlife we happened upon were some mountain goats and harbour seals and bald eagles. The scenery was awesome and the day was just perfect for flying and boating. The guides told us how lucky we were to have this perfect weather for it usually rains all year round.
We thought Ketchikan had a lot to offer anyone coming up this way. Everyone had a delightful day.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
CRUISING GLACIER BAY
Early this morning two park rangers came by in a small pilot boat alongside our ship and climbed a ladder to get on board. The rangers helped the captain guide our ship up Glacier Bay. We were up bright and early to see the beautiful views of the ice capped mountains on either side of the ship. We went up to the Palm Court to get panoramic views of the bay. The sun was shining brightly as we took turns taking photos of the glaciers. The waiters were coming around with hot chocolate and rum. Hmmmm a great warm drink. The following is what we learned from the rangers as we were cruising.
First of all, we were guided to Reid Glacier, then Grand Pacific Glacier, and finally Margerie Glacier. These are all tidewater glaciers for anything that touches the sea is called a tidewater glacier. Tidewater glaciers are formed in only three places on earth: Chile, Scandinavia, and here in Alaska. Glacier Bay Park includes some 12 tidewater glaciers that calve (break off) into the bay. Calving is when great blocks of the glacier up to 200 ft high break loose and crash into the water. Today, we saw a little bit of calving with the accompanying loud noise as it broke off and crashed into the water. The sound was thunderous and gunshot like. The broken pieces that fall and float on the water are called bergs and these may last a week or more, providing perches for bald eagles, seals, and puffins. These bergs are of different colors. Blue bergs are dense, greenish-black bergs have calved off from glacier bottoms and dark-striped brown bergs carry moraine: rocky rubble picked up along the way.
The impressive blue glacier called Margerie Glacier was 350 ft in height (picture a football field straight up) and was 100 ft in depth below the water line. The Grand Pacific Glacier was 21 miles inland from the water back. It was one mile from the Canadian border. As our ship proceeded down Glacier Bay, we were told that the length of the bay was 65 miles but 250 years ago, the Grand Pacific Glacier was by the sea. It had receded 65 miles in 250 years.
The glaciers were very impressive and we were told by many passengers who had been here 6 times, that they had never had such beautiful sunshine as we had today. The guide mentioned that on average 4 days out of the month of April are sunny so we are very thankful that together with Seward and today, we have been blessed with sunshine.
We hope that when we arrive in Ketchikan, we will have beautiful clear blue skies.
First of all, we were guided to Reid Glacier, then Grand Pacific Glacier, and finally Margerie Glacier. These are all tidewater glaciers for anything that touches the sea is called a tidewater glacier. Tidewater glaciers are formed in only three places on earth: Chile, Scandinavia, and here in Alaska. Glacier Bay Park includes some 12 tidewater glaciers that calve (break off) into the bay. Calving is when great blocks of the glacier up to 200 ft high break loose and crash into the water. Today, we saw a little bit of calving with the accompanying loud noise as it broke off and crashed into the water. The sound was thunderous and gunshot like. The broken pieces that fall and float on the water are called bergs and these may last a week or more, providing perches for bald eagles, seals, and puffins. These bergs are of different colors. Blue bergs are dense, greenish-black bergs have calved off from glacier bottoms and dark-striped brown bergs carry moraine: rocky rubble picked up along the way.
The impressive blue glacier called Margerie Glacier was 350 ft in height (picture a football field straight up) and was 100 ft in depth below the water line. The Grand Pacific Glacier was 21 miles inland from the water back. It was one mile from the Canadian border. As our ship proceeded down Glacier Bay, we were told that the length of the bay was 65 miles but 250 years ago, the Grand Pacific Glacier was by the sea. It had receded 65 miles in 250 years.
The glaciers were very impressive and we were told by many passengers who had been here 6 times, that they had never had such beautiful sunshine as we had today. The guide mentioned that on average 4 days out of the month of April are sunny so we are very thankful that together with Seward and today, we have been blessed with sunshine.
We hope that when we arrive in Ketchikan, we will have beautiful clear blue skies.
SEWARD, ALASKA
We arrived in Resurrection Bay to low low clouds and fog. We couldn't even see the tops of the mountains. We had a tour booked on a large boat for the entire day to see the surrounding bays and wildlife. We thought to ourselves as we boarded the boat, well this will be a disappointing day. But we were so very very lucky because the fog started to lift and the sun started to peak out of the sky and our guide told us how very very lucky we were to have such a lovely, sunny day which only happens one day out of the month.
As we travelled through Kenai Fjords National Park, we were able to see so much wildlife, including sea otters playing, sea lions basking in the sunshine, bald eagles flying overhead,Tufted puffins floating up and down on the boat's wake, three North Pacific humpback whales breaching, several mountain goats resting on craggy rocks, and some playful porpoises playing along side our boat.
The 120 mile cruise took us through the Chiswell Islands section of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. We also cruised our way to Holgate Glacier and Aialik Glacier, two of the largest tidewater glaciers in the 670,000 acre park.
We had a glorious day and saw so much beauty and wildlife. When we arrived back in Seward, we were amazed at the tall mountains surrounding our ship. Seward is situated in a beautiful bay. We have to come back here again.
As we travelled through Kenai Fjords National Park, we were able to see so much wildlife, including sea otters playing, sea lions basking in the sunshine, bald eagles flying overhead,Tufted puffins floating up and down on the boat's wake, three North Pacific humpback whales breaching, several mountain goats resting on craggy rocks, and some playful porpoises playing along side our boat.
The 120 mile cruise took us through the Chiswell Islands section of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. We also cruised our way to Holgate Glacier and Aialik Glacier, two of the largest tidewater glaciers in the 670,000 acre park.
We had a glorious day and saw so much beauty and wildlife. When we arrived back in Seward, we were amazed at the tall mountains surrounding our ship. Seward is situated in a beautiful bay. We have to come back here again.
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