Live cruise replay - Radiance to Alaska - August 19-26, 2016

[twangster]

Returning back towards the parking lot you have two trails you can follow.  The one I came up through the cemetery or the left trail that bypasses most of the cemetery.

 

 

Another train sounded it's horn so I took some video:

 

 

 

 

From here I walked back out to the main road and a bridge over the Skagway River.

 

 

 

I walked back to town along the edge of the river.

 

At least as far as I could as the river runs past the end of the runway for the airport which is fenced off.

 

 

[twangster]

Back in town I was getting hungry (and thirsty).

 

 

The Alaskan Sandwich with Alaskan Halibut.

 

 

[twangster]

There is a small museum in town.  Admission was $2.

 

 

I was welcomed in and informed I could take pictures.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bear!

 

 

 

With a map like this no wonder everyone thought gold was abundant and all you had to do was bend over and pick it.  This is what led to the Klondike gold rush of 1898.  There's gold everywhere!

 

 

The reality was a little different.

 

[twangster]

Outside they have an old locomotive on display right beside the active train tracks.

 

 

 

The museum is all on the 1st floor and not large by any stretch but it was full of history, some native, some gold rush and some war time.  It was $2 and money well spent leaving me with memories I'll bring back on my next trip to Skagway. 

Edited June 19, 2020 by twangster

[twangster]

I walked through town and shopped some local arts shops and picked up a couple of locally made coasters.  With that I started back towards the ship.  

 

I was keeping an eye out for the Dewey Lake trail system and found a sign near the train crossing not far from the ship.

 

 

 

 

View of the town, or towards the town as the trees are blocking the town itself.  You can sort of make out the train tracks directly below me.

 

 

 

Most of the gain in elevation occurs along the beginning of the trail.  I was regretting those beers at lunch.  Slow and steady. 

 

Once "up top" there wasn't as much vertical and switch backs.

 

First I came along a small reservoir.

 

 

 

I kept going and came to the lower lake.

 

 

 

Continuing around the lake...

 

 

 

The trail doesn't always allow views of the lake but when it did it looked spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Finally the end of the lake so I get to repeat the hike on the way around.

 

 

I noticed rails nearly covered in the dirt.  At one point this was an active mining area.  To think this was all done by hand up here on the top of this hill.  Incredible.

 

 

 

Time to head back to the ship.

[twangster]

Today's hike to the cemetery and around lower Dewey Lake was 13.23 miles and just over 8 hours.

 

 

Cemetery at the top.

 

Dewey lake near the bottom and the ship in the bottom left.

 

And... back in time for my 5:45pm My Time dining reservation - after a cold beer and a shower.

[twangster]

Day 4 - Evening

 

I jumped in the hot tub to soothe my aching legs after two days of a lot of walking and hiking.  After that I ventured out to the helipad to capture sail away.  Explorer was already on the move.

 

 

Soon after we began our departure.  We followed Explorer down the channel. 

 

 

It was another beautiful Alaskan evening.

 

 

[PCWalton1]

Good morning

Today we are at Icy Strait Point, aka Hoonah Alaska. We will be heading out in search of bears today

 

We will be taking a Wilderness Tour and Brown Bear Search with Hoonah Travel Adventures.

 

Chichagof Island has the highest population of bears per square mile of any place on Earth. Our guides spend a lot of time in the pure, uninhabited Alaskan terrain and know how to spot all kinds of wildlife.

While there is a high probability of seeing bears, we can’t guarantee a sighting.

 

We can guarantee a journey into wilderness and a chance to experience the sheer beauty and ruggedness of the Tongass National Forest!

 

This tour is operated in the Tongass National Forest under special use permit from the Forest Service, USDA.

 

 

[twangster]

Icy Strait Point or ISP is a favorite Alaskan port of call for me because it isn't more of the same jewelry stores and stores of souvenirs that are the same as the last port.  Run by a native Alaskan corporation they limit the numbers of ships to one at a time.

 

A foggy start to our ISP day.

 

 

They had a nice fire waiting for us.

 

 

The clouds grew thicker.  This can happen this time of year due to the 'warm' waters and cooler air temperatures.

 

My destiny awaits.  Today's excursion is the zip line.  Somewhere at the top of these cables is where we start.

 

 

 

I signed my waivers electronically on the tablets in the building and waited for our guide.  At 7:30am she led us outside to a bus that would make the 45 minute drive up the mountain.

 

Immediately after leaving the port area we saw some deer on the road.

 

 

 

Our driver wore a microphone and narrated the drive.  We stopped at several lookout spots to see we were above the clouds.

 

 

 

 

Once at the top we had to walk down a hill toward the zip line.  Our drive warned us, watch out for the bear scat. 

 

An easy walk downhill but too steep for the bus that would likely struggle to make it back up.

 

 

 

Finally we made it to the zip line station.  

Here are some pictures from my GoPro. 

 

You sit in a chair like harness and put your feet against a gate.  When it's time the gate flies open and away you go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the video:

 

 

 

I actually enjoyed flying into the clouds.  It was a very unique experience. 

 

The clouds were breaking a little, maybe.  I headed back to the ship to get my good camera.

Edited June 20, 2020 by twangster

[twangster]

The restaurant and bar didn't serve until 10am but they were open for us to walk into.

 

 

The fog continued to lift.

 

 

ISP was a cannery back in the day before cruising was a thing.  Here they processed fish and canned it.  They have some of the old buildings set up as a museum with old packing equipment on display.  Part of the building contains different local artists and stores.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Not a bad place to eat lunch.

 

 

Inside I ordered a Halibut Sandwich and a red ale.  They handed me an electronic tracker that i placed on the black mat on the table.  With this they were able to find me. 

 

 

It was very good and the beer tasted great while looking out at the water and blue sky.

 

After launch I went for a stroll.

 

 

 

 

 

What a difference on a clear sunny day makes.

 

[twangster]

There is a short nature walk that starts near the Adventure Center and runs through the woods then along the water in front of the ship.  It's well packed and accessible.  I did see a guided tour was available that I presume uses the golf cart type shuttles that are used on the pier.  That path is very wide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the main building you first enter is a small store.  

 

 

It's quite nice inside and also serves as the excursion meeting point for some of the excursions.  

 

[twangster]

The blue sky was too much for me and I had to ask.  How much for a do-over on the zip line?  

 

The girl gave me a break on the price and my 1pm zip line time was set.  She warned me it was the last zip of the day and they need a few more guests to operate it.  They guaranteed my return to the ship well before the 2:30pm all aboard.

1pm arrived at the waiting area in the building and I counted more than six.  Houston, we have lift off.

 

The bus drive this time yielded much better views, both near the port and in the mountains.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video, of course:

 

 

 

What a ride!  What a view!

[twangster]

With 35 minutes left there was time to enjoy the outdoor patio at the restaurant.  I mean the ship is right there...

 

 

 

 

It's that time... for a beer.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The girl gave me a break on the price and my 1pm zip line time was set.

 

What a huge difference in views!!! Next time, go straight for the 1pm 😁😁

[dani negreanu]

Since we started in Vancouver, ISP was the 1st time we "touched down" in Alaska.

 

Upon recommendation from other roll callers and together with them, we booked a bear watching tour with Misty Bay Lodge.

 

I can't fault MBL for the very hot day, and the fact that the bears preferred the "air-con" of wherever they spend their days to come and meet us, but we finished a 7-8 hours tour with a back ache from the very bad roads, and not even a tail of bear in sight. The drivers tried very hard, but I can "relate" to bears who don't want to wander around with such a thick coat in 86F....

 

[PCWalton1]

16 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

What a huge difference in views!!! Next time, go straight for the 1pm 😁😁

I don't know, I thought sliding into the clouds was pretty cool 👍😁

[PCWalton1]

What has been a continuing theme we started the day grey then enjoyed blue skies as the day continued on. I am definitely enjoying that combination as I have read the horror stories of rain every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First we had to drive through town

 

 

 

 

[PCWalton1]

Once we drove up into the hills we staked out a bridge and began our wait for bears. 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprisingly it was not long before we had our first sighting

 

 

Marie with our driver and protector Mike.

 

This was a good spot to wait as there was plenty of salmon in the stream to entice the bears

 

 

 

We even had a mink sighting.

[PCWalton1]

 

We had four sightings though several may have been repeats. This one was by far the largest

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is one we had seen earlier but made for a nice scenic shot

[PCWalton1]

 

After our tour we headed back through town but made a stop to see some young eagles in their nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait is that twangster I see sailing down the mountain? 😂

 

 

 

 

 

All in all another great day in Alaska. We saw bears (check the box) and even eagles. What a great time. 

 

[twangster]

ISP is located in a prime whale watching area which means our sail away could yield some whale sightings.  Time for the helipad.  

 

 

 

 

Many Alaska communities are landlocked - no roads in or out.  Alaska boasts the "Maritime Highway".  A number of car/passenger ferries that have scheduled service between communities so you can "drive" the Maritime Highway.  Here is one of them in the distance.  

 

 

[twangster]

Several whales were spotted in the distance but too far away to get a decent photo, that is until this one popped up just off the helipad port side, about 30 yards out.

 

 

 

 

In the distance we could see several water spouts.  A sizable pod was swimming a mile or so away.  There must have been eight or more taking turns spraying water into the air.

 

If you are going to whale watch on the sail away from ISP you might want gloves and a hat.  With a slight wind it was a little chilly.

 

Since I had Voom I looked at a map and sure enough Juneau was straight ahead on the other side of Admiralty Island that sat between us.  As suspected that is Mendenhall Glacier in the distance. 

 

[twangster]

After dinner my new friends from deck 13 had heard a rumor that the Northern Lights might be active tonight.  

 

While they did not appear, there was amazing star gazing from the helipad.

 

Can you find the Big Dipper?  It's on the Alaska state flag so appropriate tonight.

[PCWalton1]

59 minutes ago, twangster said:

After dinner my new friends from deck 13 had heard a rumor that the Northern Lights might be active tonight.  

 

While they did not appear, there was amazing star gazing from the helipad.

 

Can you find the Big Dipper?  It's on the Alaska state flag so appropriate tonight.

What an amazing shot.