Alaska in September 2025

[NE John]

From what I learned from our day in Ketchikan, find out the best time to see the salmon spawn up Creek Street. I believe it’s around late July but double-check. See those salmon would be a very Alaska sight. 

[Victoria2]

6 hours ago, NE John said:

From what I learned from our day in Ketchikan, find out the best time to see the salmon spawn up Creek Street. I believe it’s around late July but double-check. See those salmon would be a very Alaska sight. 

Spawning calendar depends to a certain extent on the species but seeing the bears catch, or try to catch salmon in the Glendale River is an amazing sight too but that was mid August.

[3rdGenCunarder]

20 hours ago, NE John said:

From what I learned from our day in Ketchikan, find out the best time to see the salmon spawn up Creek Street. I believe it’s around late July but double-check. See those salmon would be a very Alaska sight. 

 

mid/late July into September. Find one of the pools in the creek and watch the behavior. A bunch of salmon will just hang out there, swimming enough to beat the current but not move upstream. And then someone gets a little to close to someone else...and the water erupts with jumping salmon. 

 

You might see a seal come upstream to fish. 

[techteach]

@Megabear2 I’ve sailed Settle to Alaska 4 times and have never been through the inside passage. Q526 looks like it goes through on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, which is the inside passage. I’ve always wanted to do the White Pass train, but it has always sold out. We’ve booked it through Cunard for June, 2025. I’m probably paying more but I am determined to be on that train when it pulls out. (I don’t think you need a passport anymore because they stop and turn around before you cross the border). When I couldn’t get tickets last year I went onto Trip Advisor and booked a road tour that went over the border into the Yukon and did dog mushing with our 10 year old grandson. The mushing was interesting and the scenery amazing. Pack layers. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, techteach said:

@Megabear2 I’ve sailed Settle to Alaska 4 times and have never been through the inside passage. Q526 looks like it goes through on the eastern side of Vancouver Island, which is the inside passage. I’ve always wanted to do the White Pass train, but it has always sold out. We’ve booked it through Cunard for June, 2025. I’m probably paying more but I am determined to be on that train when it pulls out. (I don’t think you need a passport anymore because they stop and turn around before you cross the border). When I couldn’t get tickets last year I went onto Trip Advisor and booked a road tour that went over the border into the Yukon and did dog mushing with our 10 year old grandson. The mushing was interesting and the scenery amazing. Pack layers. 

 

Check on the passport requirement. In the year or two after covid, the train trip was up and back on the train without a border crossing. Before that, some of the excursions did cross into Canada so that they could accommodate more people by offering the train one way and a bus (with a stop to see something along the way) in the other direction. Because the exchange point was in Canada, we had to show our passports to a VERY serious-looking Mountie. The US point going back just waved the bus through.

[NE John]

An important part of an Alaskan voyage I am happily finding out is learning about the balance of nature between all the different wildlife here. Try to read up on whales, bears, sea wildlife etc beforehand. 
Pix:
Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier - shrinking!

Edited June 26 by NE John

[Victoria2]

To quote one of my favourite conservationists, John Muir who founded The Sierra Club

 

'In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks'

 

edit

Trivia

The Muir Glacier in Glacier Bay is named after him

Edited June 26 by Victoria2