The MV Columbia to Juneau

I’m composing this blog post on the MV Kennicott typing to a steady pitching and rolling as we begin our traverse of the Gulf of Alaska. I can see the bow wave splashing up foamy and white as I look out our starboard cabin window as Kennicott dives into the swells. I hoped to start writing quicker but I’ve been busy taking pictures and figuring out which ones to keep and which must go by the digital wayside. I must say the picture processing is the time consuming part for me. Now at 10:30 PM I can still see outside the window even with the overcast skies. So before I sleep I want to write about the journey so far.

Day 1 – Heading to Seattle – June 27, 2019

We started Thursday evening from Albany heading to Seattle on Southwest Airlines via Chicago Midway airport traveling 2446 air miles. We dodged a travel bullet as we almost had a significant delay getting out of Albany due to Chicago area thunderstorms. If that happened, we could have easily missed the last connection onward to Seattle that evening. I had built in some slack in the schedule but that would have been a real pain and would have caused to worry about getting to the ship. Fortunately the stars were aligned in our favor and we made it to Seattle uneventfully and quickly found ourselves at the organized chaos of the ride-share pickup area waiting for our Uber pickup. It was 12 mile ride to the Silver Cloud Hotel across the street from the Mariners baseball stadium. A major step had been accomplished on the journey to Alaska – we were settled in Washington State ready get some sleep and head north in the morning. A final note, for this trip we decided to take pictures of the various places we stayed and include them in the blog. Here is the first one although we only thought to take a picture of the lobby. You will see more of them in future posts. Some of them in remote areas are, by necessity, reserved in advance and others like this one were made as early as a few hours in advance.

Day 2 – Bellingham and Northward on MV Columbia – June 28, 2019

When putting this trip together we decided we wanted to travel by boat up the coast rather than flying directly to Anchorage. The options are the cruise ships or the Alaska Marine Highway System. The A.M.H.S. is a complicated way of saying Alaskan ferries. I looked at reviews on TripAdvisor for the Inside Passage and the A.M.H.S. and found the ones for the ferries to be quite positive. We wanted a low key, uncrowded and perhaps more authentic way to travel to Anchorage and given our experience in Labrador last year on Northern Ranger this seemed a good choice for us and would even be a step up in amenities from that journey.

The Alaskan ferries leave from Bellingham which is north of Seattle. We needed to head over the King Street Station for a noon Amtrak bus which would take us to the Fairhaven Station right across from the Bellingham Ferry Terminal. The King Street Station is an attractive brick building with a large clock tower and a beautiful marble interior. I love these ornate public buildings and it always a pleasure to have a chance to see one.

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The 87 miles bus ride was reasonably uneventful but took a bit longer than expected with the traffic on the I5 corridor. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and ate some lunch in this cute little cafe at the station. We headed across the tracks to the ferry terminal to check in for the trip and afterward had some time to hang around on the dock and enjoy the views of the harbor until we boarded. We had a nice conversation with an another couple who were interested in a future trip up the coast.

MV Columbia is an ocean rated drive-on ferry with passenger accommodations for around 400 people. It was built in 1974 to be the flagship vessel of the AMHS. It has both a snack bar and a sit down restaurant. There is also a cocktail lounge but repeated budget cuts on the system had taken its toll and it had been shut down. Fortunately, there are various places to sit outside including several places on the stern where people pitch tents or sleep in a chaise lounge in the open ended solarium.

We wanted more creature comforts than a tent or lounge chair and had booked a four berth outside cabin that was basic but comfortable enough. The upper berths are useful to spread out your clothes and other things. We would be on the ship three nights on our way to Juneau so the contents of the duffel bags exploded outward throughout the stateroom. We felt a sense relaxation and anticipation for the trip as we settled into our cabin.

When we finished organizing our room, we spent some time exploring the ship figuring out the important things like where to watch the sea and where to eat our meals.

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When we got underway after a short delay we headed to the restaurant which overlooks the rear of the ship. It has a panoramic view from the back of the ship and was a quiet comfortable place to take in the views while sampling an Alaska brewed beer. We ate in the full service restaurant each day for breakfast and dinner. The food was pretty good and we got to eat Alaskan seafood at a reasonable price. A bonus was that there is no tipping since everyone working there is a state employee. That first evening we enjoyed some salmon as we first sailed south than swung northward as we headed out of Bellingham Bay.

After dinner we settled into a couple of chairs on the stern of the ship. Last year we were “bow riders” but on this ship there wasn’t good outside space on the bow. You could sit inside in the forward observation lounge but we wanted to be outside. The skies were darkening as we sat watching the twinkling lights on shore and glimpsed the rugged peaks of the Cascades in the failing light. It was beautiful and peaceful as we slipped through the water on the beginning of our long journey. We were excited about the adventures and new experiences awaiting us throughout the next three and half weeks.

The beginning of our trip via the Alaska ferries would take us past the city of Vancouver and northward to traverse the passage between Vancouver Island to the west and the British Columbia mainland. As we worked our way north toward Vancouver we passed Deltaport, a vast shipping complex outlined in lights that shone brightly in the failing light. We saw various ferries hurrying to ports of call among the many islands of the region.

As we sat there in the fading light we felt that four hours of jet-lag – it was early morning back in New York. Ships of the Marine Highway System run on Alaska time so immediately upon boarding our clocks were moved backward an hour. All that time change caught up with us, so off to bed.

Day 3 – Columbia and the Southern Inside Passage – June 30, 2019

We woke at about 8AM to an announcement from the captain that a pod of orca whales had been spotted on the starboard side. We looked out of our window and there they were in the morning haze – a mother and a few calves. It’s exciting to see these magnificent creatures up close but also free in their own environment where they belong.

The trip had been very smooth to this point and in the late morning we left the protection of Vancouver island and were exposed to the open sea. They announced this to the passengers and sure enough the ship took on a roll as we passed though the open seas en-route to the protection of Calvert Island.

We settled in on the stern areas chatting with other passengers, taking in the sights and the hazy sun. I didn’t expect to see buskers on the ship but a couple of guys stood nearby singing and playing. They didn’t actually have a guitar case collecting money but were part of a band “Fire Your Boss”. They entertained with us with a couple of their songs including a charming song that was a “tribute” to President Donald Trump. Later, the crew opened up the cocktail lounge for them to do an impromptu afternoon concert. We basked in its comfortable 1970’s decor and enjoyed their creative and colorful songs. It’s too bad its not kept open for drinks and to have someone to play its baby grand.

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When you hear of the “inside passage” to Alaska you might think that you would be skimming the coast of British Columbia as you head northward toward Ketchikan in archipelago that is the southern part of Alaska. I learned that you really do travel inside. What appears on casual inspection of a map to be parts of the British Columbia mainland is actually islands which allow a ship to pass through narrow passageways sheltered from the ocean. We passed steep tree covered hills and mountains as the ship threaded its way though the channels. We loved the serenity and beauty of the scenery as we slipped by on the water.

After passing Calvert Island we passed Hunter Island and turned sharply to the west before heading northward again between the increasingly smaller space between Denny Island to the east and Campbell Island to the west. In the mid-afternoon we approached the small island community of Bella Bella and across the channel passed by a lodge in Old Bella Bella where we saw our first of many totem poles and bald eagles.

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Things get even more interesting as we headed into the passage next to Princess Royal Island and later the Union Passage next to Pitt Island. They are very long and narrow with often steep sides with mountains towering an thousand feet over the ship. We spent multiple hours with their tree lined sides slipping by silently with sightings of the occasional waterfall. The words and pictures don’t really do justice to experiencing it firsthand from the deck of our ship.

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We sat in the front observation lounge in one of the passages at the end of twilight at about 9:30PM. In the far distance ahead we saw a faint glimmering of light in a narrow section. It was an approaching cruise ship. It seemed almost too narrow for Columbia to pass safely but things can be deceiving and 15 minutes later we sailed past easily in the late evening light.

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Day 4 – Ketchikan to Juneau – June 30, 2019

We safely cleared the Union Passage early in the night and headed past Port Rupert BC while we slept and eventually into the Alaskan archipelago which is all part of the Tongass National Forest. We arrived into Ketchikan at an early 7AM having traveled 667 miles over the last 36 1/2 hours. The state ferries dock a few miles north of Ketchikan so we needed to grab a taxi to get into town. At the recommendation of our taxi driver we headed to the Pioneer Cafe. We had a good breakfast in a friendly and casual setting – I was so comfortable I dumped coffee on myself! We got there just at the right time and were seated upon arrival but within a couple of minutes the arriving cruise ship passengers turned it into a 45 minute wait.

Ketchikan has a colorful history from the many kinds of people who came to the area for the fish, lumber, minerals, and gold. After breakfast we started our sightseeing in nearby Whale Park with its totem poles and whale themed benches.

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Continuing onward we came to Creek Street which is actually an elevated walkway on pilings along a rushing waterway that hugs the lush green side of a hill. The greenery comes from the 200 inches of annual rainfall that allow moss and other vegetation to grow abundantly. Creek Street was a “red-light” district lined with brothels during the earlier wild period of its history. Now it is a few houses and various shops catering to the thousands of tourists spilling off the multiple cruise ships arriving daily.

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Ketchikan is not a big place and it’s not easy to hide how all of those cruise passengers fill the town especially near the cruise docks. Tourism in the huge volume experienced by a town like this has its impact and warps it into something else. I wonder if we are killing these places with our desire to see them? I looked on Wikipedia and found that in 2018 this town of 8000 people was visited by 50 different cruise ships making over 500 visits and bringing over 1,073,000 people to town. That’s a stunning amount of visitors to a small town and we could see lots of them walking around near the ships. I can’t say I really liked the crush of people in those quantities.

Exploring the area adjacent to the docks we found the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center where learned about the Tongass National Forest and people who have lived in this area. We then hopped a bus and headed back to the ferry terminal for an 11:30 departure.

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We spent the afternoon winding our way north though through the channels toward Wrangell Island and the town of the same name. To this point the terrain looked somewhat familiar to us. Many portions of the Inside Passage look like something we might see closer to home if boating on Lake George or Long Lake in New York’s Adirondack mountains. Both places get a lot of rain so have lush green forests right down to the water but here it was on a larger scale. Heading north we started to see the naked snow capped mountains that we had not seen before. It was sunny but a little hazy and we later learned this was from the wildfires in the area of Anchorage or perhaps in the British Columbia interior. This haze would also be in the Juneau area.

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We arrived in early evening into Wrangell. There was an extended period of maneuvering to get us into the dock. It seemed like they had someone piloting who was learning the process.

While watching the docking operations of Columbia we saw two majestic bald eagles perched on top of a crane keeping an eye on things. Eventually one flew and was beautiful to watch as it maneuvered around.

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We continued onward to Petersburg, our final stop of the evening. Our ship traveled a narrow channel between Kupreanof Island and Mitkof Island going places that couldn’t be traversed in a larger cruise ship. Those names must surely reflect the Russian history of Alaska. Going through a particularly shallow and narrow section we saw the wreckage of some boats that befell an unlucky end. We passed a battered channel marker perched on rocks and it was so close to the ship and the water so shallow that our wake turned into a wave that splashed upon it.

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Winding our way through we saw isolated lodges, multiple bald eagles, and finally a spectacular sunset over the mountains. The orange sun peering through the pine trees created a beautiful scene as it slowly slid out of view.

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At dusk we made what was essentially a whistle stop in Petersburg before continuing overnight to Juneau. We traveled another 338 miles between Ketchikan and Juneau making our travel totals at 1014 miles by sea, 2444 by air, and only 116 by ground. That last number is going to increase by a lot later in the trip!