POSTBLOG FROM PETERSBURG ALASKA: Flight Seeing Like Site Seeing Only From a Plane

Seeing the ice fields from a few thousand feet high distracted me from worrying that the little single engine pontoon plane would crash. It was worth the extra $200 to get the aerial perspective – these glaciers are freakin’ huge.

From the air, we saw vast snow fields producing the magnificent glaciers which like frozen rivers, powerfully carve out valleys, smooth over peaks, and calf icebergs which melt in the inlets and turn the water green.  Climate change, which is real by the way, is most evident here in Southeast  Alaska  when you learn how rapidly the ice is retreating.

Just another day of thrills as we tour Southeast Alaska’s Inland Passage on the National Geographic Sea Lion.

This afternoon, we stopped in the town of Petersburg, population 3,000, for a bit of shore leave. While my sister Sue and I opted to take the flight tour over the glaciers, others leisurely explored the town and admired the fishing boats docked nearby. It’s amazing how there is no way to drive out of these little towns, including Juneau, so you have to either fly, boat, or ferry to get away. 

This might be a good time to describe the ship. It is Calypso-sized (of Jaques Cousteau fame) with outdoor decks in the front and the back. Clyde and I are in a little cabin, the size of a small dorm room with twin beds and a toilet-shower combination.

We spend a lot of our downtime hanging out in the lounge which consists of tables and chairs, a bar, and coffee and tea all day. The lounge is also where we hear lectures. Before  lunch, one of the experienced naturalists taught us all about bears (there are only three species of bear in North America: black, brown, and polar). Late in the afternoon, a local fisherwoman told us about the fishing industries including the seasonal nature of the work, and how invested these locals are in making sure the stock remains sustainable.  Much learning was had by all.

The dining room, on the same level as the lounge, is where we take our meals. And the food is wonderful. Dinner always features options of seafood, beef, or vegetarian. Tonight we ate crabs which were caught near Petersburg  just hours before. So good!

As of this writing, a general announcement has been made. There are humpback whales off the bow. Ho hum, whales again …

POSTBLOG FROM ALASKA: If You Touch Your Tongue to a Glacier, Will It Stick? And Here Whaley Whaley!

With a crack and a rumble, the gigantic curtains of ice broke suddenly from the mountain sized glacier and crashed into the water below, creating a mini-tsunami that forced the Zodiac raft to face into the waves as they spread out into the fjord.

What a spectacular day!

In the morning we hiked into the rain forest, observing a large brown bear and her three cubs ambling quickly along the shoreline.

The afternoon took us from the ship in Zodiacs to observe a huge deep blue crystal glacier up close, dodging ice burgs inhabited by seals who were just finishing their pupping season.

As we observed an incredible late sunset and prepared to make our way to our cabins, a pod of humpback whales appeared off the bow of the ship. We shivered and waited between each animal’s plume of breath, watching  the creatures’ backs and tails arch and dive amid the clicking of many cameras on deck.

Each event was accompanied by expert commentary from excellent naturalists, interpreting what we were seeing and answering our questions.

The answer is no, by the way. If you lick a glacier, your tongue will not stick. But you don’t dare get close enough to find out.

I can’t even begin to convey this extraordinary day except to say that if it ended now, we would have gotten our money’s worth.

But tomorrow, new adventures will be had as we cruise Alaska’s Inside Passage on the National Geographic Sea Lion. 

POSTBLOG FROM JUNEAU: City of Dogs

There are a lot of dogs here in Juneau. The hotel where we are staying has a limit to the number of pets you can have. Five. No more than five dogs can be in your hotel room.

Yelp reviews talked about a dog at the front desk. I pictured a big Alaskan husky or something. Turns out it's a little miniature poodle type puppy.

Everywhere you go there are dogs.

As we walked downtown we saw people with dogs.  As we walked by giant cruise ships which are not like the one we sail on tomorrow, we saw people with dogs.

As we hiked around the magnificent Mendenhall Glacier, yep, people with dogs.

I thought Boulder was dog crazy.

Juneau is very big and very small. Land area wise, it's one of the biggest in the U.S. Population wise, however, it's only 30,000 or so. I don't know how many dogs live here, but I'll bet it's a lot.

It rains a lot in Juneau, thus the many waterfalls in the surrounding mountains.

Tomorrow our cruise starts. I don't know if there will be dogs on board.