Review: Radiance Alaska Northbound - August 2015 plus DIY land

[EMED2010]

Friday, August 14, 2015 – Seward

After we got back, we called Jennifer and Kenny’s room to see if they were ready to go to dinner. We had decided on Chinook’s. It was a short walk. I took some pictures of the harbor.

I loved how everything was within walking distance. We put our names in and had to wait a bit. Finally we were seated and everyone ordered seafood. We had salmon, halibut and rockfish and all were delicious. This place wasn’t cheap but the food was good and the view incredible. We watched Radiance sail away taking other people on their adventures.

[EMED2010]

Truly great review and photos! We just booked a southbound cruise for next June so reading this just adds to my excitement. Thanks for taking the time to do the review.

 

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying it.

[EMED2010]

Thank you very much for posting such an interesting review of your wonderful cruise. The Ketchikan bear watching looks great. I am planning to take my family to cruise Alaska in 2016 and will seriously consider to make Island Wings tour my choice at Ketchikan. Look forward to your future updates on your land DIY trip. Many THANKS from Kang, a reader from China!

 

Thank you. If you are planning on Anan, which was my original trip, you should contact them now. They have a lottery for who gets permits as they only allow 60 per day. I do not know if they do the same for Traitors Cove which is where we ended up.

[EMED2010]

Hello my Wife and I are enjoying your review. We cant wait to go next year.

 

Thanks! I hope you have a great time!

[ansoninc]

Love your pictures. Were they taken with a zoom lens or were you that close to the glaciers? Wow!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[EMED2010]

Love your pictures. Were they taken with a zoom lens or were you that close to the glaciers? Wow!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Both. I used the zoom for real close ups so you could see the color but most of them I used my regular lens.

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

When originally planning this day, all four of us would have been going on a Kenai Fjords cruise. When I could not get halibut fishing in at Icy Straight Point, I had to move it to Seward. Halibut fishing was at the top of my DH’s list so I wanted to make sure he got to do it. However, I had been looking forward to doing the Kenai Fjords National Park cruise. I had the idea of the guys fishing and the girls doing the cruise but Jennifer loves to fish and really preferred to do that. I decided to drop out of the fishing and do the cruise on my own. As you read on, you’ll find I made a good choice.

There were two vendors to choose from: Major Marine and Kenai Fjords Tours. Both have excellent reviews on both Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. I decided on Major Marine because I did not want to stop at the island for lunch. I preferred to continue cruising. I chose the 7 ½ hour cruise so I could see as much as possible. This put all of us returning around 5:30 which worked out well for our plans.

Doug and group had to meet at the fishing charter by 6:00AM and we were also checking out of the Breeze Inn. After we all returned, we would be driving to Cooper Landing to spend two nights. So Doug had to open up the van for Jennifer and Kenny to put all their stuff and bring me back the keys. I would be the last one to pack up the van and be the keeper of the keys.

I slept in a little and got up to shower and then went in search of coffee. Coffee is extremely popular in Alaska. There are little coffee stands everywhere so I found one across the street from where my tour would leave. I didn’t have to meet my tour until 9:15AM and it was only 8:00AM so I had plenty of time. The town was crowded because they were having a Salmon Derby going on which ended the next day. After my coffee, I wandered around the gift shops which were already open and then I checked in. And remember how nice and sunny it was yesterday? Today, not so much. It was a light, steady rain.

Here is the boat I would be on for the day.

You are assigned a table number on your ticket and I was very fortunate with the three people at my table. It was a mother and father from California who were visiting their 22 year old daughter and they were all camping at the campground in Seward. They were extremely nice people and made the whole day even more enjoyable. They had coffee and tea and cinnamon apple muffins for breakfast.

We started out and saw some eagles.

Then we moved on past a rock where a bunch of steller sea lions were lounging.

Even though it was rainy, the scenery was still gorgeous.

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

We had been cruising at least an hour and had not spotted any whales. I was a little discouraged even though we had seen plenty of humpbacks on the whale watch is ISP. At the top of my animal bucket list for this trip was: brown bear (not yet), sea otters (check), humpback whales (check) and Orcas. I knew the chances of seeing Orcas was slim but when I heard the ranger announce that Orcas were spotted I raced back outside with camera in hand. Mother and baby!

We were surrounded by a big pod of them. It was amazing how much taller their dorsal fins were than the humpbacks. And then I heard the ranger yell “Breach” and I proceeded to take the best pictures of my trip.

You cannot believe how thrilled I was and after that I was so relaxed. I mean, it’s hard to top a breaching Orca in the wild. I’ve seen them jump at Sea World but this was so far beyond that.

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

We continued on and the beauty of this park just amazed me.

It was really raining out and pretty chilly by the glacier.

Sea Otters!

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

At one of the glaciers, one of the crew retrieved a piece of glacier ice. After they brought it inside, they cleaned it off and used the ice to make glacier margaritas. Of course I had to sample it.

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

At some point during the cruise, they served lunch. We had ham and cheese sandwiches with lettuce in a baggy if you wanted it, granola bar, apple, cheddar cheese, drinks. It was nicely done. For dessert were the best brownies!

Puffin!

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

Our ranger announced that we had a humpback tale slapping. I witnessed it but did not get any pictures. I did get a fluke.

Then we went to Puffin rock and there were loads of the little cuties.

After the Puffins, we started heading back to Seward. When we got closer, I had a text from Doug. Their boat had experienced an engine failure (there were two engines) and they were limping back to shore. He said they would probably not get in until 6:00 or 6:30. At some point, he saw my boat go past theirs.

I would highly recommend Major Marine. This was a good time from beginning to end despite the rain. The ship was comfortable and even with 40 people on board you never felt crowded. There were two restrooms that were fairly large for a boat and very clean. The food was decent, nothing fancy, but good.

After we docked, I retrieved the rental from the hotel parking lot and moved it to the parking lot where the charters let off. I knew the fishermen would be tired. I wandered around and took pictures. Here is their boat coming in.

[EMED2010]

Saturday, August 15, 2015 – Seward

When they got back, they told me that they had fished until noon. They were supposed to fish until 4:00 but with the engine failure, they had to stop and start the return process. The three of them all caught their limit of halibut and salmon but were unable to try for rockfish and cod. We were not offered any refund for the missed time. Had we not been in a hurry to get to Cooper Landing, I may have stopped at the office to inquire but we just let it go.

When Doug’s fish was filleted and cleaned up, it was about 25lb. We used the company that was right there J-Dock Seafood Co., to process our fish to ship home. The cost was $217 total which was for cutting into the portion size we wanted, vacuum packing, flash freezing, insurance and shipping next day. Since halibut in my store goes for $29.99/ lb., I thought it was well worth it.

STEP ONE: CATCH

 

 

 

 

STEP TWO: PROCESS

 

STEP THREE: EAT

After getting our fish taken care of, we stopped at Safeway for more supplies and then headed to Cooper Landing. We were staying two nights at The Hutch Bed & Breakfast. We arrived, checked in and went for dinner at Sackett’s Kenai Grill. They had homemade BBQ and pizza. It was fine. After that we went back and crashed. We had an early morning fishing on the Kenai River.

Edited September 2, 2015 by EMED2010

[chengkgoingalaska]

Thank you. If you are planning on Anan, which was my original trip, you should contact them now. They have a lottery for who gets permits as they only allow 60 per day. I do not know if they do the same for Traitors Cove which is where we ended up.

 

 

Thank you for your kind advice. I will start to my research right away. Enjoying your wonderful review. Your pictures are truly great!

 

 

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[EMED2010]

Thank you for your kind advice. I will start to my research right away. Enjoying your wonderful review. Your pictures are truly great!

 

 

从我的 iPad 发送，使用 Tapatalk

 

Thanks again! Good luck with your bookings.

[liptastic]

Thank you so much for this wonderful post with your cruise story and just the best pictures. We had our very first ever cruise in 2003 and it was Alaska. We revisited again in 2009, after getting th cruise bug with a few other cruise destinations in between then. We are in the midst of planning next year's cruise to Alaska, hopefully Vancouver to San Francisco.

Your posts and photos have got us signed sealed and delivered for sure.

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us all.

Regards Jean.

[EMED2010]

Thank you so much for this wonderful post with your cruise story and just the best pictures. We had our very first ever cruise in 2003 and it was Alaska. We revisited again in 2009, after getting th cruise bug with a few other cruise destinations in between then. We are in the midst of planning next year's cruise to Alaska, hopefully Vancouver to San Francisco.

Your posts and photos have got us signed sealed and delivered for sure.

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us all.

Regards Jean.

 

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. I hope you have a great time on your cruise. Vancouver to San Francisco sounds great. I want to explore more of the Pacific Northwest. It's so beautiful!

[goodycruising]

Your pictures of the wildlife, as well as all your others, have been great. It is hard to get the timing right with animals and your orca pictures are very special. Thanks again. I enjoy when I see you have some new posts up ☺

 

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

[EMED2010]

Your pictures of the wildlife, as well as all your others, have been great. It is hard to get the timing right with animals and your orca pictures are very special. Thanks again. I enjoy when I see you have some new posts up ☺

 

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm so thrilled with the Orca pictures. I just couldn't believe I got them.

[EMED2010]

Sunday, August 16, 2015 – Cooper Landing

We woke up early this morning because we had a full day of fishing on the Kenai River with Kenai Float ‘n Fish. I chose them due to one of my favorite reviews here on CC by WalleyeLJ. If you haven’t read his two Alaska reviews you are missing something special. His pictures are awesome. Anyway, the young couple that provide the fishing trips are John and Heather and they are the nicest couple. Heather does all the paperwork and picks us and the boat up at the end since we “float” downriver. When I spoke with Heather and booked, I asked if she recommended any places to stay and she mentioned The Hutch which was right next store. I looked it up on Trip Advisor and it looked good so we booked it. If was very convenient to just walk next door.

The Hutch has a continental breakfast set up in their office so Doug ran down and got some breakfast. I ate a granola bar and while I was dressing, Jennifer came with the bad news that Kenny would not be joining us. He had been sick all night. We believe he may have had some food poisoning from the sandwich he had eaten on the fishing trip the prior day. She got him some medicine and the three of us walked over to get our boat. And of course, it was RAINING! All pictures on this excursion were taken with the Nikon Tough which I again thanking myself for buying before this trip. It really came in handy in all the wet weather. I wasn’t worried about getting too wet today since John was providing waders. He also gave us extra raingear to wear over our own if we wanted. I took him up on that too. Between the overalls, the extra rain jacket and the float vest, I felt like a toddler must feel when the parent puts them in a bulky snow suit.

So a little bit about this trip for those that might not know what it is. We use a motorless boat that John rows. We put the boat in at the mouth of Kenai Lake which is where the salmon are heading. There is a decent current where the lake flows into the river. We would put our poles in and drift a bit down the river. Then John would row us back up to the lake and we would do it all over again. He does this all day long, every day during summer. I don’t know how his arms don’t just fall off. Anyway, you fish like this for a while and then we would head to a different spot downstream and do it all over again. All the salmon we caught are catch and release only. We could have kept the trout but we chose not to since we had plenty from yesterday’s trip and we can fish trout at home. Even though the salmon we caught looked nice, they would not be as good to eat. We no sooner put our poles in the water when Jennifer got this!

I caught a small trout.

Then Doug and I caught a trout at the same time. Mine was huge but when they were putting his in the net with mine, they both got out so no picture. Yeah I know; the one that got away!

We went through an area with small rapids which was fun. There were a few of these areas along the way.

And in case inquiring minds need to know where the restroom facilities are, this is it.

[EMED2010]

Sunday, August 16, 2015 – Cooper Landing

My view on the way back from the “facilities”. The color of this river is just incredible.

Jennifer caught a Dolly Varden.

We all caught different size trout and Dolly Vardens while in the boat. John started showing us how to fly fish since none of us had ever did that. It was a lot of fun! Doug and Jennifer picked up on it right away. I struggled. Finally John said he would show me the way little kids do it. He told me to pretend I was a Jedi and swing the pole like a light saber. And guess what? It worked!

Then Doug caught one.

John is a blast. He has a great sense of humor and gets so excited when anyone catches a fish. He is very encouraging and would be great for any group. He is very gentle with the fish and makes sure they get back into the water safely.

[EMED2010]

Sunday, August 16, 2015 – Cooper Landing

Jennifer is the queen! She caught two of these right in a row (plus the one in the beginning).

This was such a fun day. I would definitely do this all over again. It was fun, the scenery was beautiful and you got quite a bit of a workout. I was beat when we got back. Heather picked us up at the end and they hooked up the boat and we drove back to their building. We walked back to The Hutch. It was time for a nice hot shower. Then we were really hungry because we only snacked on the boat. Kenny was feeling better by this time so we all went to dinner at Gwin’s Lodge. It was a rustic place with good food. When we got back it was still early. We decided to watch a movie and play cards.

The majority of The Hutch is a three story log cabin. There are rooms on every floor. They also have some other buildings but since we got there late the one night and fished all day and the rain, we didn’t really explore much. We were on the third floor and Jennifer and Kenny were on the second, right underneath us. All floors had a shared common area with a refrigerator and TV. You could borrow DVD’s and VHS from the main office because the TV’s (there are none in your room) did not appear to have cable. We had a nice evening playing cards, drinking wine and watching the movie. Tomorrow we would be driving up the Turnagain Arm and heading for Palmer where we would spend the night.

[EMED2010]

Monday, August 17, 2015 – Turnagain Arm / Palmer

Today I a bit melancholy because it was my oldest son’s 25th birthday and I was not there. Believe me, I was WAY more upset than he was! When we were at dinner at Gwin’s the night before, we saw that they served breakfast. The other three are big breakfast eaters so the continental breakfast at The Hutch did not cut it for them. They planned on going back to Gwin’s. I just didn’t want that much food so I told them to go without me. I ran downstairs and got a coffee, half a muffin and some applesauce and I was good. Then I downloaded some pictures, showered and packed up. By that time the others were back and we checked out and were on our way.

I had really been looking forward to driving up the Turnagain Arm because I had seen a lot of pictures and read reviews where everyone said how beautiful it was. In fact, it is supposed to be one of the most scenic roads in Alaska. Well, it was RAINING again and a bit foggy so visibility was poor. We did not have the views I was hoping for.

I had thought about stopping along the way at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Since we couldn’t see much of the scenery, this seemed like a good idea and everyone wanted to do it. We figured we could at least see a grizzly bear in case we didn’t see any in Denali. You could walk around the center or drive your car from spot to spot and either roll the window down or get out. We chose to drive around since it was raining. We would get out at each area to take photos.

[EMED2010]

Monday, August 17, 2015 – Turnagain Arm / Palmer

I don’t know if they only had one bear but that’s all we saw and he was in a pond of all places chewing on a bone. Doug said he was probably eating the last tourist who climbed the fence.

Then we went to look at the Wood Bison or what we call Buffalo. Apparently the Wood Bison in Alaska are bigger than the Plains Bison found in the lower 48. They may be meaner too judging from our experience. We saw three babies and we wanted to get their pictures. Jennifer and I got out of the car but the boys stayed in. There was a little grassy incline and a small flat area next to the fence. The babies were just passing by and I was lining up my camera so I could shoot between the wire squares of the fence and not get a line when I heard Jennifer scream. I glanced up and a bull was charging the fence straight at us. I scrambled backwards and feet got no traction on the wet grass. I fell on my butt into a mud puddle luckily still holding tight to my good camera. The bull tapped the fence and ran off. Jennifer snapped the most amazing picture on her iPhone.

Boy, were we scared. There were other people standing to the left of where this happened and they couldn’t believe it. We did nothing to antagonize the animal so it was really shocking. I am always one that shakes their head in amazement when you see the stupid people getting out of their cars in Yellowstone. I think he was trying to scare us because he thought we were too close to the babies. It made for an unforgettable experience. Here is a picture I took after the fact of the cranky bull. Sorry it’s blurry but my hands were still shaking. I personally think the fence is a little flimsy for something with that power.

After that excitement, we continued onto the other animals. This is a really nice place, especially if you have kids. We continued on down the Turnagain Arm and everyone was getting hungry. We were trying to plan it to eat lunch in Anchorage.

[EMED2010]

Monday, August 17, 2015 – Turnagain Arm / Palmer

I had picked the Moose’s Tooth for our lunch stop. It had good reviews and all the choices of wood fired pizzas sounded good. It was crowded even though it was around 3:30 and we had to wait. I took the opportunity to go outside and call my son to wish him happy birthday. I promised to bake a homemade cake as soon as I was back.

It was really good pizza. Everyone got something different. It was also a brew pub so they had many beers to choose from.