Well, I got caught off guard, right enough. Ruby Princess did not sail north through the Inside Passage. The ship exited from Puget Sound through the Juan de Fuca Strait between Canada and the U.S.A. and headed north in the open ocean. I think it's likely because it's a long haul all the way up to Juneau and we only have 40 hours or so to get there. The Inside Passage is apt to be slower because the channels an become both narrow and twisty.
We docked at 1100 in Juneau, the capital city of Alaska. It's a unique place in several ways. Although it's a small city by population (38,000), squeezed up against some steep mountains rising from the ocean, Juneau actually has a bigger land area within its official borders than any other city in the United States -- except for nearby Sitka, which has an even larger area for its even smaller population of some 8,000 people. That land area includes the huge Juneau Icefield which blocks any access to the city from the east, and feeds all the glaciers we saw today.
Juneau is the only American capital city to share a city boundary with Canada. Although it's on the continental mainland, it might just as well be on an island as there are no links to the continental highway and rail networks and so Juneau can only be reached by sea or by air.
Or, as our tour guide said, "There are only three ways to get to Juneau: by water, by air, or by birth canal."
We docked at 1100 in Juneau, the capital city of Alaska. It's a unique place in several ways. Although it's a small city by population (38,000), squeezed up against some steep mountains rising from the ocean, Juneau actually has a bigger land area within its official borders than any other city in the United States -- except for nearby Sitka, which has an even larger area for its even smaller population of some 8,000 people. That land area includes the huge Juneau Icefield which blocks any access to the city from the east, and feeds all the glaciers we saw today.
Juneau is the only American capital city to share a city boundary with Canada. Although it's on the continental mainland, it might just as well be on an island as there are no links to the continental highway and rail networks and so Juneau can only be reached by sea or by air.
Or, as our tour guide said, "There are only three ways to get to Juneau: by water, by air, or by birth canal."
When I came here in 1995, I took a standard bus tour of the city which included a visit to the nearby Mendenhall Glacier. This time out, I opted for a whale watching cruise, something I have only ever done once before (in Forillon National Park on Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula). The operators of this cruise guaranteed a whale sighting, which is a pretty brave thing to do, especially at a late point in the season when so many of the humpbacks have already departed on their long migration to the waters off the coast of Maui.
In a three hour boat ride, we did see two. Each time we saw one, I was busy plying the video camera with what looked like mixed results. No spectacular leaps out of the water, though -- these whales were too intent on the business of feeding up for the winter trip. Apparently they fast during the migration and winter stay down south and feed 24/7 up here in the summer.
What was spectacular as both sight and sound was a colony of Stellar's Sea Lions on a small island. These critters were an amusing sight as they crawled all over each other on the beach.
After we came back ashore, we drove to the Mendenhall Glacier. Although it was raining by this time (a common condition in Juneau) I was able to get a few pictures of the spectacle.
So, here is the photo tour. First, some early morning photos of the approach through the channels of the Inside Passage, including a spectacular hanging glacier.
These icebergs, a mile or more away, had drifted down the serpentine Tracy Arm fjord some 26 miles from the glacier which calved them.
Some more scenic views from the whale cruise north of town, including another spectacular glacier.
The seal colony. Our naturalist said that their characteristic vocal sound is like coughing right when you belch. Good description.
Back on land, the view of Nugget Falls beside Mendenhall Glacier.
An iceberg floating in the lake at the face of the glacier.
And finally, the Mendenhall Glacier itself. The rocky point on the right side of the ice face was largely under the glacier when I last came here 22 years ago.
In a three hour boat ride, we did see two. Each time we saw one, I was busy plying the video camera with what looked like mixed results. No spectacular leaps out of the water, though -- these whales were too intent on the business of feeding up for the winter trip. Apparently they fast during the migration and winter stay down south and feed 24/7 up here in the summer.
What was spectacular as both sight and sound was a colony of Stellar's Sea Lions on a small island. These critters were an amusing sight as they crawled all over each other on the beach.
After we came back ashore, we drove to the Mendenhall Glacier. Although it was raining by this time (a common condition in Juneau) I was able to get a few pictures of the spectacle.
So, here is the photo tour. First, some early morning photos of the approach through the channels of the Inside Passage, including a spectacular hanging glacier.
These icebergs, a mile or more away, had drifted down the serpentine Tracy Arm fjord some 26 miles from the glacier which calved them.
Some more scenic views from the whale cruise north of town, including another spectacular glacier.
The seal colony. Our naturalist said that their characteristic vocal sound is like coughing right when you belch. Good description.
Back on land, the view of Nugget Falls beside Mendenhall Glacier.
An iceberg floating in the lake at the face of the glacier.
And finally, the Mendenhall Glacier itself. The rocky point on the right side of the ice face was largely under the glacier when I last came here 22 years ago.
The touring in Alaska begins with a port call in Juneau. I spent the day on a whale-watching cruise, and ended up with a visit to the Mendenhall Glacier just north of the city.
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