Sunday, July 31, 2011

BC & The Inside Passage of Alaska

When we left Roslyn we drove west towards Seattle and it began to rain. Coupled with rain, gloom, and the worst urban sprawl I have seen anywhere, next perhaps to Washington DC, I would caution anyone from ever going to Seattle (unless you are being paid perhaps a million dollars a day). I understand for the first time why all of the Seattle sound bands sound like whiney little children with poop in their panties - if you lived there you would not be able to sound any other way. Also it finally becomes clear to me why Windoze continues to be an evolving piece of crap as Microsoft has settled there much like the fungus and mold that permeates the air thoughout Seattle and it's hideous suburbs. Go there only if you aspire to be a Zombie.

The rain continued for 3 days - all the way up the west coast of the US and about 800 miles into British Columbia as we stopped twice.

A rainy lake in BC

Finally, the rain let up for half a day in Smithers BC where we could take a walk

Twin Falls at the Hudson Bay Glacier - Smithers BC
The red headed Irish girl and I hiked to the base of the falls where we performed ceremonies to make her the "Goddess of the Twin Falls". It IS a rainforest so the smells were very wet and foresty. All of the forest glistened with wet in the brief sunlight. A great walk! The photo is taken from the campground we were staying in with a 450mm lens. I didn't take the camera with me on the walk as it is hard to be "in the moment" when I am thinking photo op and I needed a break from the rain.

Ketchikan
The next day we drove on to Prince Rupert, in the rain, where we were told it rains 330 days per year! We boarded our first ferry on the Alaska Maritime Highway. The 8 hour boat ride to Ketchikan - in the rain - was relaxing after so long in the motor home. It was in Ketchikan that we saw our first real wildlife - Bald Eagles!

Eagles

Spotted by my consulting detectives main henchperson ....

Bad Berta!

In Ketchikan we saw Totem poles...

Totem

Log Rolling...

Lumber Jacks Roll!
A Salmon spawning stream....

No Salmon yet...
and we ate dinner at Annabelles Saloon in downtown. No cruise ships were in and we had a wonderful view of the street - in the rain!

Petersburg:

The next day we were back on the boat by 6pm and traveled overnight to Petersburg where we spent 3 days....including the 4th of July. Petersburg is one of those small towns on the inside passage that are accessible only by boat. It is small enough that the cruise ships do not go there and everyone know everyone else. There is one grocery store and a couple of bars. Everything closed on the 4th even the tourist holes. We camped in a small campground right on the waterway and were surrounded by bald eagles in the trees. The first thing we did was drive to the end of the highway - in the rain.

The Actual End of the Highway, Alaska
To get a Big Stick Picture

Big Stick and me the end of the road.

As you can see by the sign, Alaskans love to kill signs. We have seen very few signs that haven't been shot by some Alaskan...not sure if they are using Helicopters like Sarah (who is NOT very well thought of here because she quit as Gov.) but there seems to be a nice mix of small arms involved in the shootings.

One of the most magnificent sights we have seen in Alaska was the LaConte glacier. We chartered a small boat with Capt'n Ron. Ron runs a charter service to see the glacier, whales or fishing. He also publishes the local newspaper and runs an office supply business....they tend to do alot of things in these small towns. After days and days of rain the sun came out for this trip and Ron got us close in to the Glacier. We were the only boat in the bay with the glacier and were lucky enough to see it calve a "corker". That is when a very large piece breaks off and falls into the ocean creating a large wave as it sinks but then, like a cork, it pushes back up through the surface and creates another large wave! Ron said he sees something like that maybe once in every twenty trips in - if he is lucky. Unlike the glaciers north in the inside passage that are jammed with ferries with cruise ship passengers we had the sight all to ourselves! A National Geographic cruise was at the mouth of the bay but was not small enough to get in close like we were. A truly once in a lifetime experience.

Cap'n Ron


At the LaConte Glacier

Icebergs from the Glacier

Ancient Blue Ice

Snowcaps & Bergs

Critters of the Berg

Juneau:

The bay coming into Juneau - whitecap mountains in the Background

On the Ferry again - in the rain of course - we continued North to the Capitol of Alaska - Juneau. This city can only be reached by boat or plane. There is no road that reaches here. Juneau is very small and really retains the feel of Alaska (without the cruise ships anyway) - I hope they aren't successful in moving it to Anchorage. After we land we see the huge and magnificent Mendenhall Glacier looming in the mountain as we drive down the road to our campground.

Our first day here we drove through the downtown and everything was closed. Turns out that the whole of the commercial side of downtown Juneau is only open when cruise ships are in port - they open and close on the schedule of the ships. We drove on out of town to a salmon sluice on the bay to watch the salmon swim upstream.


Salmon Hauling Fin up the stream
It was early in the season but this stream was alive with 'chum' salmon trying to work their way up the river.
The next day we took a walk back to the Menedenhall Glacier. Three cruise ships had landed at the port and it seemed most of the people taking excursions had opted for the glacier. There were so many of them I think the ambient temperature raised 10 Degrees. Still - if you were willing to walk off the path a bit it was a very pretty sight.

Mendenhall Glacier.

The glacier has been receding for years and the rate appears to be accelerating according to the rangers. As the glacier melts and retreats back up the mountain the runoff has split creating a beautiful waterfall to the right of the glacier.

Waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier

It was a very nice walk and it even stopped raining the 3+ hours we spent there!

Watching the Humpbacks do Bubble Net Feeding:

The following day we got up and went down to the docks to take a whale watching trip. It was a small boat with only 9 people on board and we were fortunate and got to witness the rare sight of Humpbacks "Bubble-Net Feeding". This is when a group of whales work together to corral and feed on herring. A female Humpback will dive and find a school of herring. She then circles around them herding them closer and closer while the males above circle around on the surface.

Circle of Humpback Whales

When she is ready she calls to the males above and they all dive under the water to where the female has corralled the herring.

Whale Tails Diving

The males then get below the herring and all push air and water and herring up to the surface at one time. They then surface through the fountain of fish and water with their mouths open devouring the herring.

Feeding Humpbacks
Our Captain had an underwater microphone on board which he lowered into the water and we could listen to the whales call to each other just before they surfaced. It was an incredible sight and we got to watch them do it twice - and it didn't rain that day either!

After the 3 nights here we boarded the ferry one last time and headed north to Haines for the drive back back into the Yukon and North - to Anchorage!

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