Cernek.org Blog

On the evening of Monday, August 22, we board the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry for our ride back to the Lower 48. We will be on the ferry until Friday morning when we dock at 8:00 a.m. in Bellingham, Washington. This cabin will be home for the next five nights.

We have bunk beds. It seems to make the most sense for me to be up top. The window is a nice size for watching the passing scenery instead of a small porthole.

It’s small, but it’s cozy!

We found out that ice was available for purchase on the ferry. Since we have to have our propane turned off in the motorhome, that means we have no refrigerator while we are on the ferry. We managed to plan ahead and eat everything out of the freezer and refrigerator except the condiments. We put those in the cooler along with some lunch fixings. The two-cup coffee maker came up from the motor home; so add some fresh fruit to the coffee and call it breakfast. The cafeteria on board is serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner; however it is charging “Alaska” prices. It gets expensive fast. Eating breakfast and lunch in the cabin makes a huge difference.

We are treating ourselves our first night out to a dinner in the main dining room that overlooks the fantail. The first ones into the dining room, we are given the prime seat for a view. The food is not exceptional, but enjoyable. The ambiance is excellent.

The weather for the past two weeks has been mostly overcast and light rain. I am beginning to think that the sun is a myth. We are seeing the same weather pattern in the Inland Passage.

The clouds are laying low over the hills. The route is taking us close enough to land for most of the time to be able to see the shoreline clearly. It is the same beautiful scenery we have been enjoying in the rest of Alaska.

This is very relaxing. To kick back and just let life be is special.

This area is in the aft part of the ferry by the fantail. We made our reservation for the ferry at the end of May. We got the last two-berth cabin available for the month of August. There frequently is space on a ferry at the last minute for vehicles and people but no cabins available. This area is one of the spaces where people camp out for the night who do not have a cabin.

There are several young people in this population who probably never intended to spend the money on a cabin. It is outside, but there are heaters overhead on the ceiling. With the flat lounge chairs, this is a popular place once the ferry starts filling up. On the deck above this one, there are no overhead heaters, but tents are allowed. A dozen or so tents quickly claim those spaces.

The ferry has a movie lounge with recliner chairs. We have found that to be a very popular place for the campers when the movies are not being shown. They do not want to move their luggage away from their space when the movie is being shown, but the ferry crew are pretty adamant about allowing space for the movie watchers. Were I they, I would not want to give up my good space either.

We are starting to see more sunshine. We have been passing through areas of blue sky, but the rain is always visible in the distance in one direction or another.

We are going to be in Sitka for three hours. This is apparently where the ferry waits for the tides to be what they need to be as we continue on. We will have approximately two hours to explore the town. The shuttle bus is waiting for us at the end of the gangway to drive us the seven or so miles into the town.

Sitka has a very diverse history. The Russian influence is very strong here as is the Tlingit history. I wish we had more time. There is way more to see than two hours will allow.

We are walking over to the totem poles of Sitka. Along the way we pass this very quaint lighthouse.

The houses we walk by are attractive and well maintained.

Apparently these folks are frustrated farmers. They have their very own cow cutout in the yard.

The Sitka National Historical Park has collected totem poles from all over Alaska and Canada. The park is attempting to preserve this amazing art form that otherwise would be lost to time.

The next sequence of pictures shows the detail of the totem pole above section by section. The carving skills of the Tlingit artisan are fascinating to study.

The Tlingit people refer to these poles as “story” poles. Each one carries a message; albeit there are different types of story poles.

The Tlingit people and the Russians were at odds because of the fur trade. To read more about the conflict that did so much to shape the history of this part of Alaska, click on the link below.

1804 Battle of Sitka

A trail in the park leads us down to the river where the salmon are running. This is our first opportunity to really see the salmon in the water. The bridge spans the small river and gives us a bird’s-eye view of the hundreds of fish swimming up stream. Look closely and you will see the shapes of fish in the water.

There is a carver who restores poles as well as makes new poles at the park. The colors on this new pole are certainly brighter and more varied than on poles we have seen from the past.

We are on the way back to the ferry. We have run out of time to tour the Bishop’s House. I guess that means we have to come back someday.

Back on board and moving southward we are still experiencing low clouds and rain.

Sometimes however the clouds are more dramatic.

We are traveling on the M/V Columbia out of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Petersburg, Alaska, is our next stop on the route. All the stops from here on are just long enough to get the folks off who have arrived at their destination and to get the folks on who want to go south. We will not have time to go ashore and explore. Our cabin however is on the correct side of the ship to get a good view of the town of Petersburg.

The ferry is getting farther south and out of the weather system we have been under for so many days. It feels so good to be in sunshine. The colors are brighter, the air is fresher, the day is more glorious.

We have been cooling our heals here on the fantail. What a great way to watch the world pass behind us. It is just a great day to be alive!

Another glacier passes by. We have seen so many of these this summer, but they never get tiresome.

We are starting to see BC Ferries. There is a huge ferry system operating out of the Vancouver area and all along the Canadian coastline.

We have been watching this fog bank as we get closer to it.

We are now in the thick of it. The deck is above the fog, but it is pretty soupy down on the water. The captain has called for eyes on the bow to watch for any hazards.

We are now moving past the Canadian shoreline. This lighthouse is a working navigation aid along this portion of the passage. It makes for a very picturesque setting.

The Columbia does not stop at any Canadian towns along our route. We are making the 37-hour run from Katchikan, Alaska, straight down to Bellingham, Washington. There are Alaska Marine Highway ferries that make the Canadian ports, but this one is a more direct route.

We are getting back to areas of more population. The towns are small along the shoreline, but they are appearing more frequently.

Our ferry adventure is nearing an end. Tonight we will have the buffet dinner in the main dining room. It sounds pretty yummy. We get in line a bit early so that we are seated in one of the prime locations for a great view off the fantail. This is the way to cap off a beautiful time onboard. The views are stunning as we dine on a variety of tasty dishes.

The plan is to take our cooler and anything else we won’t be needing in the morning to the RV when they open the car deck tonight at 8:00. Last night the purser made the announcement on our cabin speaker that the car deck was open for a brief period. Tonight the announcement was not made, and we have missed our window of opportunity. We will now have to wait until midnight, our last chance to get this stuff down before morning.

We will not have enough time to make two trips in the morning; so we need to get it done tonight. We were the first on in Skagway, and we have figured out that Ed in the RV will be the first off the ferry in Bellingham. At midnight we are at the purser’s station so as not to miss this last chance. Ed is strong enough to get the cooler by himself, I have the rest of the stuff in tow. Back in our little cabin it will be a short night.

Up at 5:30 we are showered, have had our apple, orange, and coffee and are ready to head for the car at 7:00. From the time they open the car deck until Ed starts moving in the RV — he is the first one down the ramp — is less than 10 minutes. The crew on the ferry wastes no time in getting people off.

Once we are on solid ground, Tiffany, the Jeep’s GPS, manages to get her satellites sorted out just in time to guide us to I-5 where we head north to Ferndale to our RV park. This has been a fantastic summer. Alaska is a spectacular wonderland of wilderness beauty. The ferry was the perfect way to conclude a very special adventure. Life is very good.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 10th, 2011 at 14:32 and is filed under North by Northwest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.