Alaska 2013

Day 1 – Vancouver

Spend the day with my friends.

Day 2 – Cruise

Get on board the ship to a new adventure, Alaska cruise ! We left Vancouver at 15h, we visit the ship and relax on the deck to see the sunset. 

 

Day 3 – Day at sea

We spend all day at sea…water everywhere….long day !

Day 4 – Juneau

Today ice covers only 4% of Alaska, though this region has actually hosted a glacier- favouring mixture of climate and topography for the last 12 million years. Annual snowfall on Juneau Icefield exceeds 100 feet. Glacial ice appears blue because it absorbs all colors of the visible light spectrum except blue, which it transmits. The scientists estimate the icefield’s snow and ice depth to be from 800 to over 4500 feet deep.

We took an helicopter tour to see the glacier from the air, land on it…. trek and ice climbing…5h tour. It was amazing, breathtaking, something to see, wow ! After that, a simple walk to discover the small city.

 

Day 5 – Skagway

Skagway, garden city of Alaska, is located at the northern tip of Alaska’s inside passage – 90 miles northeast of Juneau and 110 miles south of Whitehorse, Yukon. Skagway got its name from the native Tlingit name « Skagua » which translated as the place where the north wind blows. The first non-Native settler was Captain William Moore in 1887, who is credited with the discovery of the White Pass route into Canada. Gold was discovered in the Klondike. Skagway is now a restored gold rush town and headquarters of the Klondike gold rush national historical park.

Our activity was cancelled, not enough people register so we took the White Pass rail up to the summit in the morning to see to view. After lunch, we took an helicopter to discover the glacier… land and walk on the glacier….again it was magnicifient. We finish our day just walking around town.

Day 6 – Glacier Bay

Compromised of 3,3 million acres of mountains, glaciers, forests ans waterways, glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is highlight of the Inside Passage and part of a 25 million acres Wold Heritage Site – one of the world’s largest protected natural areas. Just 250 years ago, Glacier Bay was all glacier and no bay. A massive river of ice, 100 miles long and thousands of feet deep occupied the entire bay. Today, that glacier is gone, having retreated north. Fewer than a dozen smaller tidewater glaciers remain.

We spend the day looking the glacier from the ship, took a lot of pictures. It’s amazing to see the glacier right there in front of us. Wow !

Day 7 – Ketchikan

Ketchikan is a town base upon tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the Salmon Capital of the world. We  walk around the city , did some shopping, relax with a drink on a terrase pub.

Day 8 –  Return to Vancouver

Spend some time again with my friend before heading back to the airport. We didn’t plan very well our time to go back to the airport. Flight at 16h10 and we arrived at 15h15… a little bit of stress but we made it, we had so excitment that’s all 🙂