Alaska End to End Ketchikan to Nome

Arrive in Ketchikan and view the priceless collection of 19th-century Tlingit totem poles at the Totem Heritage Center. Embark National Geographic Orion

Wake up this morning to catch the sunrise over the stunning cliffs of Misty Fiords National Monument, rising more than 2,000 feet above the deep blue waters of the fjord. Watch wisps of cloud drift down the winding waterway and drape over green peaks as you cruise through the mists that give this extraordinary landscape its name. Set out by Zodiac and kayak to get close to the forested banks and the many dramatic waterfalls cascading down the cliffs. Continue up the Behm Canal, which separates Revillagegido Island from the Alaskan mainland, and cruise through the Behm Narrows en route to the town of Wrangell.

Visit the remote town of Wrangell, situated on the northern tip of Wrangell Island. The indigenous Tlingit people have made their home on this island for thousands of years. Spend the morning exploring the town, including a visit to a tribal house and a beach famous for native petroglyphs, or set out on an optional jet boat excursion up the Stikine River.
 
Set sail on the Sumner Strait, keeping watch for humpback whales and pods of killer whales gliding through the clear water around the ship. Fix your binoculars on the banks of Kuiu Island to spot Sitka black-tailed deer and moose, as well as black bears, wolves, and bald eagles that frequent the shoreline in search of plentiful salmon.

Today you will explore the fantastically sculpted, remote outer coast of Baranof Island, the smallest island of Alaska’s ABC Islands (along with Admiralty and Chichagof). It was named in 1805 by a captain of the Imperial Russian Navy to honor Alexander Andreyevich Baranov, senior manager of the Russian-America Company that controlled the region's fur trade.

This morning step ashore in Sitka, Southeast Alaska’s only oceanfront town. Visit the Raptor Rehabilitation Center and stroll the forested trails of the Sitka National Historical Park. The 113-acre park is rich in history and features roughly 20 majestic Haida and Tlingit totems scattered along the scenic coastal trail. This afternoon,  the Zodiacs to tour the shoreline of 65-acre St. Lazaria Island where more than 500,000 seabirds nest. You will be searching for albatross, shearwaters, burrow-nesting storm petrels, rhinoceros auklets and ancient murrelets, pelagic cormorants, and common and thick-billed murres.

Spend the morning in the Gulf of Alaska, transiting up the coast to Yakutat Bay. The scenery is rugged and beautiful, and we’ll be on the lookout for a glimpse of Mt. Fairweather (over 15,000 ft.). Late this afternoon, we’ll enter the Bay and head toward the face of Hubbard Glacier. This mammoth sheet of ice is more than six miles wide at its face and is contained within the boundaries of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Depending on ice and conditions, you may deploy the Zodiacs to explore.

Uninhabited Kayak Island is best known as the location where Bering’s Great Northern Expedition of 1741 set foot in Alaska. Here, naturalist Georg Steller found a jay now named for him and recorded over 150 plants new to science. Conditions permitting, explore this small, jagged island and to cruise by Zodiac near Cape St. Elias and its lighthouse. 

We will spend the next two days exploring majestic Prince William Sound. We’ll arrange the experiences to take advantage of the best conditions and opportunities that arise each day. Perhaps we’ll visit a small community or deploy the kayaks, and we’ll take every opportunity to explore the incredible beauty of the Sound, filled with glaciers and ringed by the Chugach Mountains.

On the second day in Prince William Sound you wake up in College Fjord, one of the most iconic locations in the region. Drop the Zodiacs and cruise around the ice generated by no less than five tidewater glaciers. The afternoon will be spent exploring by ship and Zodiac. Throughout the day, we’ll be on the lookout for Steller sea lions, harbor seals, and the humpback and killer whales who make their summer home in the Sound.

Enter Resurrection Bay on the southern coast of Kenai Peninsula. At the terminus of the fjord and at the base of Mt. Marathon sits charming Seward. Begun as a fur-trading port, Seward was also strategically important during WWII. Visit the Alaska Sealife Center, an important research and rehabilitation facility for marine mammals and seabirds. Hike to the base of Exit Glacier, an arm of the Harding Ice Field.

Nearly 40 glaciers flow out of the Kenai's Harding Icefield, so the opportunities for exploration abound. Cruise one of the ice-scoured fjords to the face of a tidewater glacier, while searching for mountain goats and other wildlife along the way. 

The second largest island in the U.S., Kodiak is best known for its brown bears and its fishing industry. Less well known is its unique mix of Native Alutiiq and Russian-American history. Join your Undersea Specialist for a “dock walk” among the commercial fishing boats in Kodiak’s inner harbor. Photograph the beautiful Holy Resurrection Church on a photo walk or peruse native art and artifacts at the Alutiiq Museum. 

Spend today exploring the shorelines and waters of coastal Katmai National Park & Preserve. Known for its abundant brown bear population, this area provides countless opportunities to watch and photograph bears digging for clams at low tide, or fishing for salmon in the creeks. 

Explore along the eastern shore of the Alaska Peninsula, with time for exploration and wildlife watching. Go ashore on Unga Island to explore incredible tundra and scattered remnants of a unique petrified forest of sequoia trees that were buried in a volcanic mudslide nearly 25 million years ago. 

The next morning, arrive to the Baby Islands just east of Unalaska, where dynamic tides offer exciting potential to spot whales and bald eagles, as well as rare seabirds, both from the ship’s deck and from Zodiacs. Arrive at Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, site of a fierce WWII battle and now one of the world’s most important fishing ports.

A naturalist’s paradise, the Pribilof Islands welcome three million seabirds and a million marine mammals each summer as they arrive to breed. At St. George, go by Zodiac to view puffins, kittiwakes and red-faced cormorants, as well as a northern fur seal rookery. Go ashore at St. Paul to explore on land. Zodiac cruise or land at uninhabited St. Matthew and Hall Islands, places of incredible bird habitat.

At the western limit of the rich transboundary area known as Beringia, Provideniya is often called “The Gateway to the Arctic”. It’s also the administrative center where you will conduct the clearance into and out of Russia. Visit the excellent museum and witness a traditional Yupik dance performance.

Spend the last day at sea, crossing one of the most iconic bodies of water on the planet.

Arrive in Nome, Alaska and disembark after breakfast.