Alaska Cruise - Ketchikan, Victoria, BC, Seattle to Montrose, 6/14 thru 6/17/2019

Arriving in Ketchikan, I was surprised to see a beautiful sunny morning.  This town has rain, on average, 230 days each year...a total of more than 150 inches of rain, but only about 40 inches of snow.  It seemed good to have one of the non-rainy days for our visit.  Unfortunately, I was feeling below par with an apparent sinus infection.  No doubt walking in the rain, riding the whale watch boat and standing on the open deck in Glacier Bay contributed to my condition.  I felt so bad, in fact, when my family took a hike on one of the nearby mountains, I declined the opportunity.  Instead, I took a walk around town and returned quickly to the comfort of the ship and my pre-paid beverage deal.  Before leaving the ship, I took a few photos from one of the upper decks.

With a population less than 15,000, Ketchikan is still Alaska's fifth largest city.  Being the southernmost city in Alaska explains its relatively moderate climate.  Its record high temp is 89F, while its record low is -1F.  Interestingly, Tallahassee, FL has a record low of -2F, but obviously is warmer on average than Ketchikan.  There are no roads in or out of town, just the few short roads within the city.  The town is known for its totem poles, found in four different sites.  I did not see any this visit, although I did visit a totem village in 1989.

Leaving Ketchikan, we passed a few islands that showed evidence of small communities and such operations as sawmills.

By the time we got to Victoria, I was feeling even worse, so stayed on board while my family went ashore.  I wanted to get night shots of some of their historical buildings, but that will have to wait for another time.

My flights from Seattle to Montrose suffered numerous delays and missed connections, requiring a total of 36 hours in airports and planes.  Without having a window seat, I was lucky to get a few photos of interesting clouds and the San Juan mountains.

Despite the problems I had near the end of the trip, it was great being with my family and re-visiting the "panhandle" of Alaska after a thirty year absence.  It's a cruise that everyone should take.

Alaska Cruise - Glacier Bay, 6/13/2019

Glacier Bay was the highlight of the cruise for me, partly because my 1989 cruise did not go there, and partly because the overcast skies cleared not long after we entered the bay.  The magnificent scenery was enhanced by blue skies, bright sun and puffy white clouds.

Glacier Bay is a national park, the 46th that I have visited, and we were joined by two national park rangers and a naturalist who explained and described the effects of glaciers, how they are formed and how they recede.  I'm sure everyone appreciated these lectures as we cruised the bay.  Here are just a few of the many photos I took.  Honestly, I don't remember the names of the various glaciers, but that doesn't seem very important.

  

 

 

 

As glaciers move toward the ocean, the edges break off and fall into the sea as icebergs, a process known as calving.  Although we heard and saw many such events, getting a photo was very difficult.  One particularly large one lasted long enough for me to get a shot of the last remains of ice falling.

There were quite a few waterfalls created by melting ice in the hanging glaciers.

We saw lots of icebergs, as well as wildlife, some of it riding the icebergs.  While I was pleased  to see puffins, I did not have my longer lens on deck to get good close-ups of them.

Finally, as we were leaving Glacier Bay, a park service boat rafted up with the Bliss and the rangers and naturalist transferred to the smaller vessel to be taken ashore to await tomorrow's cruise ship lecture.