Alaska Marine Highway System

Juneau is the only capital in the US that you can reach only via plane or boat. So in 1963 voters approved the Alaska Marine Highway System, ferries connecting many of the islands of Alaska from Unalaska in the Aleutians to Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchican to name a few. Our ferry is the Columbia and it takes us from Sitka to Bellingham, WA with stops in Petersburg, Wrangel and Ketchican. Our accommodations aboard are on the upper deck, the Solarium, which is open in the front with heat lamps and deck chairs on which you put your sleeping pad and bag. It is warm and comfortable and the company is good.

The scenery is typically Alaska spectacular and the sunset showed off pale pinks. We explore the various decks, check out the movie theater, but mostly find ourselves in either the front viewing area or on the solarium just sitting and watching the day go slowly by

There was a four-hour stop in Ketchican, a town built on the side of steep hills, and we debarked and “did” town: the museum library, a nice Forest Service cultural center, and a candy shop for licorice and chocolate. Most the shops are closed as the cruise ships are done running for the season.

The grand finale to the ferry ride was the sunrise entering Bellingham. This was definitely a fun way to end a most memorable summer.

Sitka

Sunday morning, September 25, and the Alaska summer is coming to an end. The volunteer portion is over, but the adventure will continue for a few more days with a flight from Anchorage to Sitka and then the ferry to Bellingham. The flight provided blue skies, glaciers, snowcapped mountains, and wilderness as far as the eye can see. Tree covered islands and turquoise water preceded the landing in Juneau, then it was a 20-minute hop to touchdown in Sitka which someone described as similar to landing on an aircraft carrier.

Enjoying the sun and warm weather, we strolled the harbor much of the afternoon talking to several fishermen. There are commercial vessels as well as a variety of personal craft that range from fixer-uppers on up.

Castle Hill marks the spot where the Russians handed over Alaska to the US in 1867. [mini history lesson: The Russians took this land from the Tlinkgt two centuries ago and called it New Archangel. The Tlinkgt destroyed the Russian settlement in 1801, but three years later Russians returned to reclaim the land.]

Monday morning we walked out to Sitka National Historic Park, also called Totem Park. Totem Trail goes by a dozen or more poles many of which are either restored or replicas made by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

Back downtown we visited the Russian Bishop’s House which was a combination of house for the Bishop, church and school. It was built in 1843 and restored by the National Park Service in 1972. Bishop Innocent had an interest in the Native cultures and managed to do his religious teachings without destroying the Tlingit and Haida cultures. Many of the original artifacts are preserved here.

The Russian Orthodox church in the circle downtown was unfortunately closed giving us a 100% failure rate to see any of the ornate interiors of these relics in Alaska!

I had called Flagstaff friends Brian and Lois Chambers who spend the summer here and Lois picked us up at our hotel in the afternoon and drove us 7 miles out to the south end of Baranoff Island, then back to their house for a fantastic dinner of Sockeye. They are perched on a near vertical hill atop 12,000 tons of rock which provide the base for the foundation. They must have the most stunning views in town, including the sunset this night.

Tuesday morning we went back downtown and found an old Russian/Tlingit cemetery in a most unusual setting. The graves are scattered amongst trees and thick vegetation on rolling ground with no apparent system as we are used to. While there are current headstones, most are quite old. The oldest age was, ironically, for a
“Mrs. Jackson,” no first name, and she died in October of 1927. The earliest birth found was 1821, headstone seen here. Many children, including this drowned 15-year old with one of the only markers that included any such personal information.

The Chambers then kindly fed us lunch and drove us to the other end of the island to meet the ferry. We have travelled all 14 miles of highway from end to end of the island. I’m sure that the good weather played a part in making Sitka a memorable part of the summer and a place I would like to return for a few more days.

termination dust

When snow comes to the mountains that won't be melting until spring, it's called termination dust, the official end of the summer. There is no true official day but all agree that it has happened by now. The snow gets lower on the mountain every day it seems and soon it will be on the ground at the Nature Center. This is Polar Bear Mt. but the polar bear shape is no long visible. Only a few more days for us here, so I put on my raincoat and headed four miles down the trail to the Perch.

First sighting was this lovely bunch of bear scat fill of bright red cranberries. Yes, I carry bear spray. No, I never had a close up encounter!

There are lots of grouse on the trail and it's especially fun to see the males with their tails fanned strutting their stuff.

The fall colors are great, but the grey skies don't show the termination dust effect very well in photos. Nice walk; good scenery; time to move south!

Kenai Peninsula

The day after Labor Day rental car prices go down drastically so we grabbed the opportunity and headed down to the Kenai for several days. Keeping in tune with weather typical for this summer we set out in a pouring rain with gusty winds. First stop, Seward. The ranger at the Kenai Fjords National Park office in town told us that if we wanted to see Exit Glacier we should go that afternoon as they might close the road due to flooding the next day. (that didn't happen) There is a short 1-mile walk to a wall of blue ice at the edge of the glacier. Exit glacier today is 2 miles in length, but signs for several miles along the highway going into the trailhead show where the glacier used to be since the mid-1800s. My guess is that if you want to see Exit, get here soon!

The colors of the glacier actually show up better on a cloudy day.

After walking around town a bit we headed to shelter from the continuing rain - Snow River Hostel.

The community kitchen was full of antiques including this 8 burner wood stove.

Back to Seward the next day for the perfect rainy day activity, a visit to the Alaska Sea Life Center. The aquariums here are wonderful. It was especially fun watching the sea lions and harbor seals.

tufted puffins

an impressive octopus

Still raining, we headed toward Homer via a short stop at the village of Kenai to see a Russian Orthodox church that also served as the first school on the peninsula and has been continually used for 150 years. The inside is gorgeous according to pictures, but it was locked up tight today.

Camped out in Ninilchik at a nice campground that had a covered pavilion where we pitched the tent and had a dry night. Then on to Homer. Here's proof that even bad weather provides some awesome settings.

After a stop at the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center and a short walk on the Beluga Trail, we drove out on the spit. Halibut fishing is huge here and these kids were thrilled with their 15 pound catch, a little under average weight. The current record weight is 459 pounds!

Homer harbor

Everyone stops at the Salty Dog; the inside is wall to wall full of dollar bills.

It's fall and it's chilly, but some flowers are still hanging on.

The sun finally came out and we found the Seaside Hostel with camping on a beautiful grassy meadow with views out to Kachemak Bay and a glacier.

This was another place full of character. There was a house that was the hostel (not as enticing to stay in as the first) and the meadow for tents. Campers had use of a shelter with a small stove and sink, an assortment of couches, and these antiques.

Facilities were decorative

and the view, which included sandhill cranes, got better...

and better...

and better.

The next morning we went back up the Seward Highway to Bertha Creek Campground via a stop at Hope and Resurrection Creek. This is gold country and we took our pans and a borrowed sluice box to Bertha Creek. Our find was 4 flecks of gold, 1 of silver and a fun day outside without rain.

In a light morning rain, we headed back up Turnagain Arm and the Nature Center to dry out.

It was a beautiful sunny day there and the late afternoon saw us out on the viewing deck looking at brown bear fish in the distance, too distant for pictures, and one last salmon in the stream.