Ketchikan to Banff National Park

Hi All,
I'm still behind but trying to catch up!

My last post ended in Ketchikan. From there we had one more ferry ride which took us to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Yes, we were no longer in Alaska. If there was one disappointment about our ferry rides, it was we didn't see any marine life. While on shore I saw one seal that I was only able to make out with binoculars and heard and saw a whale blow a few times but again it was so far away I wouldn't have known it was there if not for the sound. That being said, if you have more time to explore Alaska than the standard one or two week cruise, we would highly recommend using the ferry to get to all the islands in Southeast Alaska and stay several days in each place. There are staterooms on the ferry if you have an overnight passage. It's not going to be as luxurious as a cruise but you'll be able to stay as long as you like at any stop.

A lighthouse seen from the ferry on the way to Prince Rupert

Once back in Canada I was feeling a bit down about the Alaska part of the trip being over. So we went back! From Prince Rupert we drove to Stewart, BC and then crossed back into Hyder, Alaska. Hyder is not really accessible any other way. There isn't even a US border crossing, you just drive over to Hyder with no customs or immigration stop. There is Canadian customs when you come back though. In Hyder there is a bear viewing boardwalk where bears come to feed on salmon in the stream. That was something we had to do and were rewarded with another up close look at a black bear.

Bear Glacier, on our drive from Prince Rupert to Stewart

Where the bears go to feed on salmon, you will usually also find eagles

Despite the fact there were salmon within 10 feet this one wasn't interested enough to get one

From Stewart / Hyder it took us a couple of days to drive to Canada's Jasper National Park. Besides this year being the 75th anniversary of the Alaska Highway, it is Canada's 150th birthday. To celebrate, all entry fees for the national parks in Canada are free this year. Happy Birthday, eh!

I'm starting to not feel so bad about leaving Alaska

Mountain Goats in the parking lot of a natural hot spring

Big Horn Sheep along the road in Jasper

Moose cow and calf along the the shore of Maligne Lake in Jasper

After a couple of days in Jasper we drove south to Banff National Park. We stopped at Sunwapta Falls at towards the southern end of Jasper.

The drive from the town of Jasper, in Jasper National Park to Lake Louise in Banff National Park may be one of the most beautiful drives in all of North America

Tangle Creek makes a nice waterfall on the side of the road

Wow

Should you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Banff / Lake Louise, do yourself a big favor and don't miss two places. First, visit Baker Creek Mountain Resort. If you don't stay there, at least have a meal at the Bistro. You will not be disappointed. We chose the Bistro to celebrate the true end of a chapter of our lives. We have sold Good Morning Vietnam. Within days of moving her to Deltaville, Virginia we had an offer. There have been many twists and turns but the deal is now done. It was a great experience that we would not trade for anything. But it is also a relief to have the boat finally sold.

This bear has his dinner for the evening

I'm not sure if this one is sneaking in or sneaking out

The second "must do" while in the area is to visit Morraine Lake. Having seen both, Lake Louise pales in comparison to Morraine Lake. Unbelievable.

From the rock pile at Morraine Lake

Here's our route since getting off the ferry in Prince Rupert.

The truth is, we're now back in the lower 48. But as I said, I'm behind on posting. We'll be in Yellowstone National Park the next couple of days so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again but I'll try to get caught up soon.

Take care.

Brian

Just how big is Alaska?

Alaska is bigger than Texas, California and Montana combined.

Alaska - 571,951 square miles

Texas - 261,797 square miles

California - 155,959 square miles
Montana - 145,552 square miles

Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay is mostly a gravel road, not paved. The rest of these roads are mostly paved but there are sections that are gravel.

Miles of road in three largest states

Texas – 675,580

California – 394,608

Alaska - 31,618 (approximately 4,900 paved)

Just looking at it, looks to me like there’s a part of Alaska that is bigger than Texas that doesn’t have any paved roads. Alaska, the last frontier.

Sitka to Ketchikan

Hi All,
It has been some time since I posted an update so I'm going to do it in a couple of parts so I don't overwhelm you with pictures. Last time I posted we were in Sitka, Alaska. Both Susan and I liked Sitka a lot and it may be our favorite stop so far. Here are a few more pictures from Sitka.

An island off Sitka only accessible by boat or at low tide.

Totem Pole National Park in Ketchikan

From Sitka we went to Petersburg, Alaska. The ferry left Sitka around 6:00 PM and arrived in Petersburg about 6:00 AM. We only stayed in Petersburg two days and one night. It was OK but we ranked it towards the bottom of the places we visited. The bottom of a list that consisted of all good places.

Susan and Duncan checking out some ducks.

From Petersburg we took the ferry to Wrangell. The big cruise ships don't go here so it's more of a fishing and cannery town than a tourist stop. We really liked Wrangell. We had two meals at Coastal Cold Storage, one of chowder and one of Snow Crab legs. Yum!

A river where we could see salmon but couldn't catch them. But we saw Bald Eagles catch some so it was one of our favorite places.

No salmon but we weren't completely shut out

We stayed at a municipal campground in Wrangell. Our first night there a guy from the city stopped  to invite us to a potluck they hold every Friday at a US Forest Service campground. We went and met several interesting people, many associated with the Cape Decisions Lighthouse Society who were leaving the next morning to spend a week working at the lighthouse. It sounded like something that would be interesting to do for a week some summer.  https://www.capedecisionlight.org/
We also learned of a lake where we could fish. There is a john boat at the lake for anyone to use. So we did.

Are you catching the trend in our fishing success?

One of many porcupines we saw

The LeConte Glacier

A salmon ladder along side the creek

One of two eagles hanging around the ferry dock to wish us bon voyage.

The other eagle there to send us off

Goodbye Wrangell

From Wrangell it was on to Ketchikan- a very touristy stop, but it was not hard to get away from the tourist areas and well worth the trip. Here we hiked around Lunch Creek Falls and went to Herring Point where the locals go to see black bears feeding on salmon each evening. We also met a couple, Michael and Lois, who invited us to go out fishing with them on a boat they rented for the day.

One of the Black Bears we watched at Herring Point

Michael and Lois, ready to go fishing

Finally! And it sure tasted good too.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more!

Brian

Whitehorse to Sitka

Hi All,
On Sunday, July 9, we drove from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory back across the border to Skagway, Alaska. I only wish the weather had cooperated. It rained the entire way and at our highest point we were driving in the clouds. What scenery we could see was very interesting but we really didn't get to see much.

We were in Skagway for a couple of days before boarding the ferry for the first part of our trip on the Alaska Marine Highway System. Other than walk around downtown Skagway we didn't do much there. At this point we were getting pretty tired of the rain.

Tuesday afternoon we drove the truck and trailer onto the ferry for the six and a half hour ride (with a quick stop in Haines) to Juneau.

Our ferry ride took us by a lighthouse on the way to Juneau

Juneau is the only US state capital that is not accessible by road. The only way to get there is by air or water. We stayed at a US Forest Service campground on Mendenhall Lake.

Looking into the woods from our campsite

At the other end of Mendenhall Lake is the Mendenhall Glacier

While there we visited the Mendenhall Glacier, taking a hike to Nugget Falls to get closer to the glacier.

Our last day in Juneau we went into town and made a visit to the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. The salmon are starting to show up as they've made their way back from the Pacific Ocean where they've been for the last two to five years, depending on the species. In a few more weeks they'll harvest the eggs and sperm from the returning fish. At last count they only had 47,000 fish so they need to wait a bit for more to arrive.

A window into the fish ladder

And they're not all here yet

Friday we were back on the ferry for a five hour ride to Sitka, which is where we are now. Our first day we were blessed with some sun and warm weather. It was over 60! We took advantage of the nice weather and took a hike in the morning and did a little fishing in the afternoon.

The view from our campsite in Sitka

I'm not sure the pictures do it justice but it was very much Jurassic Park like

Duncan kept running ahead and then looking back at us "Are you coming or not?"

Between us we caught several logs and the bottom

Today, Sunday, there has been a light rain most of the day, but undeterred we visited the Alaska Raptor Center and Fortress of the Bear, not to mention the Bayview Pub for a great burger.

Meet Kylie, a 22 year old Harlan's Red-Tail Hawk. His handler, whom we met in the parking lot as we were walking in, is from Tyler Texas

The Alaska  Raptor Center takes in wounded raptors, rehabilitates them and releases them back into the wild when possible.

Kylie was taken from his nest for a "pet" and after two unsuccessful attempts to return him to the wild, he is now a permanent resident

 Watch the video and you might be able to hear Kylie's wing as it touches Susan's phone.

A juvenile bald eagle. They are full size at 4 months but don't have the white "bald" head until they are five years old

In Alaska it is illegal to return a captured bear to the wild. Bad news part II, when a mother bear is killed for whatever reason, the cubs are killed as well as they will not be able to take care of themselves and they can't be taken in and then released. Fortress of the Bear takes in orphaned bears and keeps them. They currently have five brown bears and three black bears.

These guys are not quite three years old and weigh between 300 and 350 pounds

Here's 1,000 lbs of brown bear

Eagles hang around because the bear handlers occasionally throw some fish up for them to eat 

And here is the route this post covers. mostly by ferry.

We'll be in Sitka for a couple more days before taking the ferry to Petersburg. This will be our longest segment, taking just under 12 hours, from 6 PM to 6 AM. We're far enough south now that we're getting a whopping seven hours between sunset and sunrise. We might even be able to sleep some!

Take care.