Amazing Alaska

Aboard the Celebrity Millennium at last and our first stop was Ketchikan, a town reminiscent of a Hollywood movie set with its quaint colourful buildings. We took the Downtown Walking Tour through the commercial area, out along the creek and finally through residential areas. Some of the highlights were:

 

·          Fish Ladder, where salmon struggle back to their native stream bed, fighting lower falls and then using a concrete fish ladder to avoid the roughest white water;

·          Tongass Historical Museum, containing artefacts, texts and photos from the history of this salmon-canning capital and timber town. Much of what we saw reminded us of the south-west of Tasmania;

·          Creek Street, a former red-light district from 1902 with working girls and dance halls, now filled with trendy art and craft shops.

 

 

No, Jim hasn't changed...

 

 

 

Tall Tales Taxidermy shop: the taxidermist shop owner

has been in the business for 53 years

 



 

Fish Ladder

 



 

Historic Creek Street

 

 

 

Tongass Historical Museum

Next stop was the small town of Sitka where, on Castle Hill, the Russians erected Baranof’s Castle in 1837. Then on 18 October 1867 it was the site of the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States. Keeping the Russian theme throughout the town is the wooden Saint Michaels’ Cathedral, a relatively small building that holds an important collection of Russian Orthodox art and treasures. Built in 1844-48 it is still in use today. 

In Sitka we took a shore excursion firstly to the National Historical Totem Park which preserves and interprets the site of a Tlingit Indian Fort and their battle with the Russians in 1804. There we took a fabulous walk along the river through the greenest temperate rainforest. From there we drove to the Alaska Raptor Center, whose goal is to release all rehabilitated birds into the wild. We saw several Bald Eagles, falcons, ravens and owls, up close, and were advised not to wander too far for fear of bears…

 

And bears we saw, but not in the wild. These bears, both black and brown, are residents of Fortress of the Bear, a safe haven for orphaned bear cubs who are brought back to full health and provided with a long life in a safe enclosure that was once a pulp mill.

 

 

 

St Michael's Cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

National Historical Totem Park

 

 

 

Alaska Raptor Centre

 

 

 

Bald Eagles waiting for the feeding of the bears

 

 

 

 

Fortress of the Bears

 

Then it was on to Icy Strait Point, near the small town of Hoonah. The history of the region goes back to the mid-1700s when the Tlingit people settled in the vicinity. In 1912 the Hoonah Packing Company built a salmon cannery at what is now Icy Strait Point. Today it is a museum that tells the fascinating story of salmon canning through the ages. Whilst here we saw a pod of humpback whales frolicking in the sea and learned about Skunk Cabbage, a yellow flowering plant, whose leaves give off a ‘skunky’ smell when crushed. However, it is a staple food for the local bears who eat it to aid their digestion.

The Cannery Museum

 

 

Hoonah

From small to large, Alaska’s capital Juneau has a population of 32,000. It is most famous for the Mendenhall Glacier. We took a shuttle out from the city and saw our very first glacier – a truly inspiring sight. It once covered the entire valley but has receded a great deal during the past decades and small icebergs dot the adjacent lake. The interesting visitors’ centre explains how glaciers form and recede and displays a lot of information about local wildlife. We also saw our first porcupine in the wild – perched high in a tree and watched nesting Arctic Terns diving for food. 

Back in Juneau we had excellent coffee at the well-known Heritage Coffee House and wandered the historic streets filled with pubs, galleries and souvenir and jewellery stores. Interestingly, Juneau like a couple of other Alaskan cities, is only accessible by air and sea. The main highway actually stops at a sign saying 'The End'!

The magnificent Mendenhall Glacier

 

 

Porcupine

Time for coffee at Heritage Coffee Shop

Juneau Main Street

 

Then its onwards and upwards to Skagway and the magnificent Hubbard Glacier!