Week 502 – Vancouver and Alaska

We had this trip planned and paid for before I knew about the move to Australia — so we came back to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. Our first cruise — we selected Holland America as reviews indicated it focused on an older crowd (no kids), did a one-way from Vancouver, and went to Glacier Bay. We didn't truly understand the definition of "older" — we may have been the youngest on the cruise.

First Cruise — Honest Assessment

Great:

After initial boarding — transitions to the "next thing" very easy. Wake up and you are there.
Could not have seen many of the sites without a cruise in the inside passage.
Food — better than expected for the standard package; upgraded meals excellent for a reasonable premium.
Entertainment — good for us with a couple of good bands, wine tasting, and an art auction (we didn't spend $180,000 on an original work).

Frustrating:

Communication on initial boarding and disembarkation — too much wasted effort and standing in lines.
A lot of pre-planning required. More than I usually do when I book everything myself.
Cost — All-in about 30% higher per day than our last couple of trips (excluding airfare). But food was better than we would have eaten on our own.

Vancouver

We had about 2 days in Vancouver — always great to go there and do the Stanley Park bike loop.

Coal Harbor on our bike ride — Vancouver

Granville Island · Coal Harbor bike ride · Beaches in Canada! · Sunset in Vancouver

Inside Passage — Ketchikan, Juneau & Skagway

Itinerary: Vancouver → Ketchikan → Juneau → Skagway → Glacier Bay → College Fjord → Whittier. We took the last cruise of the season and 8 of the 11 days had rain or heavy overcast — but the 3 days of sun were glorious. In Ketchikan our primary excursion was a seaplane tour — cancelled due to low clouds. We ended up booking a train ride in Skagway and did low-key stuff in Ketchikan and Juneau. All three stops: heavy rain and cloudy. Amazing how many diamond stores are in these towns — that many people are buying jewellery on vacation?

Squeezing under the bridge leaving Vancouver

Sound up towards Whistler leaving Vancouver

Squeezing under the bridge · Sound towards Whistler · First morning in the Inside Passage · Fish ladder in Ketchikan — note the salmon jumping

Ketchikan Husband Alley — the buildings had other uses during the gold rush

Sunset on the ship — whale sighting right before this but too far away

Ketchikan "Husband Alley" — other uses during the gold rush · Hawk coming in hot · Sunset on the ship · Glacier Gardens in Juneau — upside down tree

Waterfall near Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau

Red Door saloon — old guy singing was pretty good. Would be cancelled in the lower 48.

In Skagway — you can take a bus up and a train ride back

Train ride back to Skagway — not terrible in the rain

Mendenhall Glacier · Red Door Saloon — would be cancelled in the lower 48 · Skagway train ride back · Our ship in Skagway

Glacier Bay

Background — Glacier Bay National Park

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve covers 13,287 square miles in southeast Alaska and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just 250 years ago the bay was entirely covered by a massive glacier. Since the Little Ice Age ended around 1750, the glaciers have retreated over 65 miles — one of the fastest glacial retreats ever recorded, and now one of the most studied examples of glacial rebound and ecological succession on Earth. Johns Hopkins Glacier — the most dramatic glacier in the park — is one of the few in Alaska that is actually advancing rather than retreating. The park sees around 600,000 visitors per year, almost all by cruise ship, as road access does not exist.

Cloudy the day of our trip into Glacier Bay

Arrival at Glacier Bay — blue skies arrived

Johns Hopkins Glacier with Mt. Orville in the background — first time this crew had seen the mountain all year

Blue skies arrived at Glacier Bay · Johns Hopkins Glacier — first time this crew had seen the mountain all year

Denali — Off the Beaten Path

Most people continued on to Denali by train or bus. We rented a car and drove ourselves — maybe the best decision we made. With the weather, having flexibility to "chase the sun" worked to our advantage (and it was about 75% cheaper). Since it was the last week of the season, many places were closed or closing. The national park had stopped bus tours — except for cruise guests — but you could drive your car into areas not normally open. We caught the peak of red fireweed which covers the meadows and yellow aspens at lower elevations on a final glorious blue-sky day when everyone else had left.

Glorious blue sky — view from Crow's Nest log cabins with yellow aspens and red fireweed

Denali at 20,000 feet is in the clouds — from 60 miles away

Good moose sighting — drove through the park on a rainy/snowy day

Fireweed covering the mountain with Denali in the background

Sled dog in training — Denali National Park

View over railway bridge — lower elevations had the yellow aspens

Glorious blue sky — yellow aspens and red fireweed · Denali in the clouds at 60 miles · Moose sighting · Red fireweed · Savage River · Sled dog in training · Railway bridge with aspens

"Renting a car instead of the tour bus — maybe the best decision that we made. Flexibility to chase the sun worked to our advantage."

VancouverAlaskaGlacier BayDenaliInside Passage

Week 502 · September 23, 2023

Vancouver &Alaska

Vancouver &
Alaska