Hi Part One

Never took a cruise to Alaska, so can’t give any advice about which one(s) are best. We think a cruise to Alaska (like most cruises) gives people a chance to sample an area and make plans to visit specific places at a more leisurely pace. Going to Alaska on the Alaska Marine Highway (the ferries, especially the ones on the Inside Passage) is on our bucket list. The last really big trip to Alaska covered an entire summer, using a 4WD vehicle and a pop-up camper trailer to get there on the ALCan highway. We did get a partial sample of the Alaska Panhandle in the Alaska Marine Highway from Haines, via Sitka, but only went as far as Petersburg (on Minkof Island) before going back to Skagway. If we do this, we’ll be able to go to Ketchikan. More recently, while going to my wife’s professional meeting in Anchorage (in April!), we got a chance to go back to Portage Glacier and to Whittier, and do a fly-by around Mt. McKinley from Talkeetna on one of the most beautiful flying days of the year.

As to things to do, we have lots of suggestions. Of course, some of these you might see on a cruise. Try to spend a few days in Vancouver and maybe take the ferry to Vancouver Island and spend a little time in Victoria (beautiful town). You will certainly see Kechikan, Juneau and Skagway, and maybe visit Glacier Bay and/or Hubbard Glacier (the biggest tidewater glacier on the continent) near Yakutat. Great views of Mount Walsh and the Kluane Range. When you’re in Juneau, find some way to get to Mendenhall Glacier, only 12 miles from downtown Juneau. The visitor’s center is great and there are beautiful rain forest trails from there (e.g. to Nugget Falls). You can get a helicopter trip and land on the glacier as well. We camped at the Forest Service campground at the lake in a site that faced the glacier. Go now before it melts away.

Skagway has an historic district of about a hundred buildings from the gold rush days - visit Soapy Smith’s saloon. A couple of choices - the White Pass and Yukon Route (a narrow gauge) goes over the pass into the Yukon (as far as Whitehorse) but you probably wouldn’t want to go any farther than Carcross - and the Yukon Alaska Tourist Tours that also goes over the pass to Whitehorse. Beautiful mountain scenery!

It’s possible to get to Tracy’s Arm and Sawyer Glacier by boat from Juneau or fly there (easiest from Haines), but some cruise ships visit the area as well. Likewise, some cruise ships stop at Glacier Bay, another great experience, especially if one of the glaciers is calving, pods of orcas are in the area and the seals are sunning on the ice pack. Not to mention the bears and the mountain goats.

Peace
Dugg & Chris
Our VI pics are at http://picasaweb.google.com/papadugg/ and the 2014 pics are finally done