So, I went to SE Alaska for two weeks and it was amazing! Took the Alaska Marine Highway up to Ketchikan and saw gorgeous scenic beauty with multiple sightings of whales–or at least their spouts and a bit of sun glinting off their backs. Camping on the deck worked reasonably well for the first night but then the continuous dampness and wind loosened the duct tape a bit too much and nearly everyone moved inside the solariums. Saved us from hearing the ship's fog horn early in the mornings too.
Ketchikan lived up to its reputation of the First City [that cruise lines stop at] and being one of the rainiest cities in America. Did all the general touristy things from visiting the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center to watching the salmon spawn up near Creek Street to seeing Totem Bite State Park. Went for a VERY wet hike up Deer Mountain and visited its wondrously well-maintained shelter where I spent a solid 15 minutes simply wringing out my clothes.
Discovered that Wrangell is one of the least talked about gems of the Inside Passage. Extremely few tourists but my visit there contained my two favorite excursions, the Anan Bear Observatory and LeConte Glacier. Both were run by Alaska Waters, which I cannot recommend highly enough for their friendliness and good humor in accommodating a traveler who showed up with no plans, only hopes. And, let's not forget my little hike up to the top of Mt. Dewey, where John Muir had his infamous fire that frightened both the natives and townsfolk of Wrangell back in 1869. It was his book after all that led me to take this SE Alaska sojourn in the first place.
The weather report indicated that in two days a lengthy bit of rainy weather was scheduled to hit SE Alaska, so instead of waiting a day for the ferry and then spending a day on it getting to Juneau, I took a flight from Wrangell to Juneau and skipped the entire boat trip. The flight stopped in Petersburg, which was only about 12 minutes away by plane. A quick up and then immediately back down. Another 35 minutes in the air and then I was in Juneau.
On the flight to Juneau, the right side of the plane had a jaw dropping view of the Juneau Icefield. Thanks to a conversation on the plane, I shared a cab into downtown with a pilot for one of the cruise lines. Since the hostel did not open its doors until 5pm, I walked over took the Mount Roberts Tramway 1,800 feet up to the Mountain House and did a quick 45 minute hike up for a scenic view of Juneau and the all-too-rare sunny afternoon.
The Juneau Hostel is a bit of a wonder. Only $12 a night + one chore. There is a five night limit though, otherwise it would likely be overloaded by people staying the entire season for such a cheap rate.
My next stop in Juneau was a trip to Mendenhall Glacier the next morning. I foolishly grabbed one of the tourist buses there for $10 as I did not realize it only went to the Visitor Center and the Mendenhall Lake Campground was on the other side of the lake, over an hour's walk away. While walking down the road a cab came near and I hailed it down. For $12, I skipped a 90 minute walk and was dropped off right at the West Glacier Trail trailhead. The hike up was relatively easy and at 3.4 miles a quick scramble brought you to a nice overlook where I got a few beautiful panoramas. Hiking back down, I took an unmaintained, mildly rugged offshoot trail and headed down to the foot of the glacier to view the moraine and peek into a few ice caves. The day was warm and the there was a decent amount of water flowing from the caves, so I decided to play it safe and not go further in. The weather and glacier were superb and I felt incredibly lucky to have an entire day of clear weather to explore it.
That evening one of the hostel guests showed me photos from her whale watching tour that day. A group of humpbacks had been bubble net feeding in the area for days and it was truly a sight to behold. Unfortunately, the next morning I discovered the whale tour I had wanted to get on had been canceled because of cruise ships leaving early and changing their tour schedules. Since backpackers are a very very small minority of the visitors in SE Alaska, the cruise ships and their schedules really do run the show. With no other plans, I consulted my handy Lonely Planet guide and discovered the Taku Glacier and Taku Lodge seaplane tour. Within an hour I was in the copilots seat on a plane and flying towards Taku Glacier for a scenic tour of the nearby icefield and a king salmon dinner at the lodge. It just so happened that a black bear showed up to clear the drippings off of the grill while we ate. While the tour was definitely a bit pricey, I have never had such amazing views of a glacier from the air and the meal was exceptionally delicious.
The next day I finally got on the humpback tour but had two hours until it started. Naturally, I went for a hike. Went back up the Mount Roberts Tramway and hiked at full speed towards Mount Roberts. After an hour, I had made it up to a point where the trail was mostly slick rock interspersed with slippery mud and the wind/rain was blowing at me in a positively abusive manner. Even with full rain gear all zipped up, the water found its way inside along my face and neckline. Turned around and showed up for the whale tour looking a bit damp. The whale tour was another trip where it magically exceeded expectations. Over an hour of humpback whales bubble feeding, diving with flukes in the air, and even one whale breaching. There are videos on my Flickr page but they really do not do the experience justice.
Thanks to a ferry breaking down, another ferry not running because of severe weather, and an overcrowded hostel I bailed on Juneau a day early and took a flight to Sitka the next morning. Numerous people had expounded upon the beauty of Sitka and I felt it was worth a visit. A raging storm had hit Sitka that morning and dumped 2.5 inches of rain in six hours, triggering numerous landslides including one that took out a new house with three people inside. When I arrived it was thankfully just a drizzle so I walked the mile into down and had a late breakfast at the Larkspur Cafe. A very Portland vibe hit me there with its hippy atmosphere; the effect made even more powerful by the "Free" box on the porch containing a VHS set of the first five original Star Trek movies. On the way to the hostel I passed a community library built to resemble a TARDIS too.
The hostel did not open until 6pm, so I walked over to the Alaska Raptor Center, which provides medical treatment to injured birds and teaches the public about Alaska's raptor population. Another one of those gems of Alaska that is relatively cheap and well worth a visit. The entrance had two owls greeting visitors and then you tour through both indoor and outdoor enclosures full of bald eagles and other birds, like a Great Horned Owl. All the birds have names and classrooms around the world can "adopt" a bird and receive materials and lessons to learn more about raptors and conservation. I wandered around for an hour absorbing and admiring it all.
The next day I had planned on going for a hike up behind Sitka to the summit of Gavan Hill. However, when I reached the trailhead (after going out of my way to fetch a bit of bear spray since I was hiking solo), I discovered the Sitka Fire Department had closed it because of landslide danger. Phooey! Considering how much damage I had seen already on the new and well maintained Cross Trail, it was not too surprisingly that the higher, steeper slopes were dangerous with all the recent rain. Meeting another hosteler, I instead headed up the Indian River trail with him. The trail was in reasonably good condition, if you did not mind dead salmon being littered about. Seems the rains had so swollen the river that the salmon had been able to swim up onto the trail itself and even into the forest. When the water receded, they then became trapped and died. And thanks to the ichthyoid corpses, the forest was gorgeous and full of life. The smell of a healthy, thriving forest is not to be beat. And even miles up the trail, we saw salmon in the river still heading up to spawn. Pretty darn incredible.
By the end of that hike though, I definitely needed to do a bit of laundry and I finally decided that my current shoes had to go. They had been well used for trail running before the trip and the combination of rain, mud, salt water, and dead salmon had made them so unpleasantly ripe that even I was finding them too much. An outfitter in town serendipitously had a nice pair of Brooks in my size for 40% off too. Travel magic, for the win.
The next day Sitka decided to bring out the pretty. There was a bit of rain in the morning but then sunny the rest of the day. I grabbed my book and made the most of the day by simply lounging around town. My tendency to go full bore meant I had not taken a single day off for the entire trip just to relax and enjoy the scenery. Remedied that. Saw quite a bit of wildlife too, including two sea lions having dinner in the marina.
That night I reviewed my credit card balance and decided that after an intense two week whirlwind through SE Alaska that it was time to head back south and start thinking about finding employment once more. A truly amazing trip, highly recommended.