Our Alaskan Gold Rush Cruise

"Welcome Ladies and Gents for your grand adventure aboard the SS Legacy!"  Our journey had begun and it appeared there would not be a dull moment onboard as the Heritage Team introduced themselves.  Their goal: to make the Alaska Gold Rush come alive for us again. My sister and I had just arrive from Seattle that morning to Juneau.  We checked in at the hotel rendezvous point and dropped off our luggage.  Then we walked outside the town and up the Mt. Roberts.  The hike up there was slippery with a muddy trail but the temperature was nice and cool to keep us going.  At the top there was a restaurant and gift shop which led to the tram entrance.  On the ride down we could view all of the harbor with the giant cruise ships.  We were so happy to not be going on one of them and be a part of the masses.  I'm not sure how much time you'd actually get viewing and experiencing Alaska.   

We made it back to the hotel just a short walk from the tram.  Juneau is a small town and didn't take long to walk from one end to the other.  We then walked down to the dock and boarded.  We met our Heritage Leader - Jason and his team of actors and historical experts.  The were always around during the cruise to bring the Gold Rush era to real life.

 

This morning on our schedule we have a visit to Skagway and Haines.  We began the morning disembarking in Skagway which was the gateway to the Gold Rish back in the 1800s.  It was a bit like stepping back in time in this quaint little town.  We were met at the docks by our drivers and guides in their supped up 1800s vans.

The tour through Skagway was quick and interesting to see Sarah Palin's original home while growing up.  Our guide had a great sense of humor about being a woman in Alaska.  She had just saved up enough to get her own fourwheeler for running into town or down to the local bar.  She joked about the dating scene in Skagway for women say, "The odds are good, but the goods are odd."  

Next we hopped into large bus and headed up the pass with another guide and driver to catch the train back down to Skagway.  You actually cross into Canada for a brief jaunt while you're at the top of the White Pass.  It's all tourists for the most part and we took a moment to dash into the only building at the station to stamp our passports.  Then we were off down the mountain on the Yukon Rail.  You can go outside if you choose to on the back of the train car.  It was freezing in the wind but a great opportunity to take some photos as we descended along the valley back to Skagway.  The way back to town we descended nearly 3000 feet down along trestles, bridges and tunnels.  They have the conductor announcing the history of the White Pass and Yukon Rail as you go down.  It was interesting but I kept being distracting by the landscape and running outside to catch another photo of the experience. 

After our Skagway experience, we climbed back on board and cruised onward to Haines.  We spent the afternoon walking around Haines and learning about the Chilkat Indians.  The common buildings in the town were beautifully decorated with native art.  The entire town was very walkable and we took moments looking at the native artwork on canoes and woodcarvings in front lawns of the homes.  Our last stop was to the Hammer Museum.  Apparently they hold the world's largest collection of hammer's.  They recently had another visit from the Smithsonian.  The expert had requested the help of the shop owner to detail the history and use of a new piece being displayed.  You could see the owner's chest puff in pride as they explained how they have helped out much larger and well-funded organizations in the past.   

Our scheduled for today was titled "Cruising for Critters" meaning we'd spend the day in passage from Glacier Bay down to Sitka and hopefully find something in between to keep us content as guests onboard.  There were several items on the schedule.  Yoga was in the morning followed by our scheduled massages.  Then a poker tournament with Captain Dano in the Pesky Barnacle Lounge.  And in the afternoon more yoga and then a few of the deckhands would teach us all how to tie the ship knots.  In the moments between we expected to stare out the window and just cruise along - a book in one hand and cappuccino in the other.

Apparently the WHALES had another plan in mind!  Our crew informed us that they hoped to see one or two but the majority had already migrated down the coast to warmer waters.  Little did they know. . . .

Our first sighting happened just before lunch and the Captain came over the loud speaker, calling us outside from the poker tournament.   We all hussled to the railings and watched in awe as far in the distance, we saw a humpback breaching the water's surface.  As we sailed slowly forward the pod emerged from the water and gave us quite a show as they fed off the shore.  I cannot describe the awe that you have at this moment watching these beautiful and elegant creatures skimming along the water.  Then out of nowhere we see them begin to bubble net feed.   They created a cyclone net of bubbles that scares the fish to the surface of the water.  Then with all the fish condensed in a group you see four, five, six giant mouths piercing the surface gobbling them up.  Each feeding is about ten minutes apart and you never know where they'll end up when they surface.  We begin to watch the birds who swarm when then see opportunity rising below.  They dive to catch fish a split second before the whales breach.

Hours passed and we weren't even aware.  We watched them feed along the inlet and you could hear the soft puff of air as they exhaled reaching the waters surface and spouting mist into the air.  We hear shouts from the aft of the ship as another humpback was spotted coming into the cove.  He was on a mission for food and we could not get in his way!  We speculated the reason for his coming to be the call of one humpback in the feeding group.  He seems to be sending out the message of abundant food in this little cove - Dinner, get it while it’s hot!

Cocktail hour rolled around and we took a short break to refresh ourselves in the lounge.  The whales humored us by waiting another ten minutes before surfacing.  By that time we had grabbed a couple drinks and piled a plate with crab legs, fresh baked bread & artichoke dip and scurried back up to the top deck below the captain looking out from the bridge.   Cheers to you Whales, you magnificent beasts!  All in all not a bad day.  Certainly not the uneventful cruising day we had originally expected.

 

Cruising down the Canadian Coast - August 30
This morning we heard first mate Katie’s voice over the loudspeaker. “Well folks, if you’re not looking out your window or on deck. . . you should be!  This boat is blessed with some amazing wildlife karma.”  We pulled on coats and shoes to race out our cabin door onto the deck and discover humpback whales cruising along the coastline beside us.  We continue to watch from a safe distance until the whale's curiosity grew and they swam in tandem over to the SS Legacy.  

This was one of the most awe-inspiring moments of my life was watching the whales as they examined our ship.  The entire crew came on deck, including the cook and housekeeping staff that we had not seen yet.  So we knew this was something special.  The giant beautiful beasts glided and swam alongside us, turning their eyes up to the surface to examine the strange creatures looking down on them.  We were close enough to see every barnacle and line on their bodies.  It brought tears to my eyes when one surfaced, tipped to her side, and stared directly at me on the deck.  What magnificent creatures!  They spent about five minutes diving under and around our ship as we raced from side to side, trying to capture that elusive photo of the moment that cannot be put into words.
Then the pair dove under the ship and swam away to the shores beside us.  In the distance, we heard a great slap! on the water.  We turned to discover another humpback who was breaching the water in great grandeur.  Our naturalist explained that this behavior is as of yet unexplained completely by scientists.  Some think that it is for fun, some say it is to clean barnacles from the whale's sides, others say it is to send signals up and down the coast from group to group.  We simply enjoyed the spectacle from nature and applauded her beauty.  

In the wee dark hours of the morning we picked up Ranger Brad from the entrance of Glacier Bay National Park.  Every vessel that comes into the park must have a ranger onboard.  We lucked out with Ranger Brad who is a wealth of knowledge on the glaciology and wildlife biology of the region.  It is astounding that just 250 year ago Glacier Bay was all glacier and no bay.  The water we cruise along was solid ice with not much life in sight. 

We begin in the park by heading down the bay to Johns Hopkins Glacier. One thing we notice first off is the drop in temperature.  As we approach, we see one of the giant cruise ships at the base of the glacier.  They motor into the bay, turn a 180 for everyone to take a quick snapshot from their window and head back out of the park.  We thank our lucky stars that we're not on that floating city.  The peacefulness that sets in after the ship has left is wonderful.  The tiny black dots in the distance begin to materialize as harbor seals.  They lounge on their icebergs and occasionally slide off into the water and reappear with a curious look on their faces.

We get within a half mile of the glacier - the distance that is allowed unless you want to capsize in wave made from the glacier calving.  The crackle and pop reminds you how active it is as it turns and churns internally.  Ranger Brad describes it as dough being kneaded.  The glacier doesn't just flow down the mountain into the water, it swirls and mixes the sediments making beautiful designs in the mountain cliffs on either side.  The question and hope on everyone's minds is that we'll see it calving.  Yes!  The glacier does not disappoint its spectators!

We watched as the tidal wave streamed out over the water and finally hits the SS Legacy rocking us back and forth.  You feel very small in the world next to a glacier and it put things in perspective.  We replay these images in our minds and on our cameras as we continued back down Glacier Bay. 

 

Day two of our cruise it becomes apparent that we'll need to take up some sort of activity to avoid gaining ten pounds in the next week.  Eating five times a days will have that effect on a person.  Luckily for us they offer a morning and afternoon yoga class on the covered upper deck.  Breathing deeply and looking out over the water makes you feel lighter.  There's even some comic relief as you watch the instructor fall over as you all hold tree pose. I cheated and held the pole for balance as the boat rocked back and forth.  When we're finished with the practice we head down the the lounge for a latte and some pastries, the omlet and pancakes from this mornings breakfast have worn off with our strenuous activity.

By the fourth day of our cruise we have given over to luxury.  It was too hard to resist so we relaxed instead! 

We spend cocktail hour on the deck basking in the glorious sunshine.  Surprisingly, I hadn't noticed this was our first day of sunshine since we'd arrived in Alaska.  "Cloud failure" the locals called it.  Sunshine or clouds, Alaska had impressed us so much in the past few days its hard to believe there's more to come. 

We asked to have our dinner on the deck and the servers obliged us.  As we took off from the port in Wrangell, the sunset in the background and the mountains greeted us as we slipped away from civilization again.

 

About halfway through our cruise we made it to Sitka, Alaska.  I had been looking forward to this day because of the sea kayaking excursion my sister and I opted to do.  Some of the guests on board chose to continue on into the town and a group of us were shuttled down to the pier.  We had a brief safety demonstration and rundown from our guides before hopping into the double sea kayaks and paddling out in the sound.  We headed out to a group of tiny islands about 15-20 minutes paddling distance from the dock.

The views back towards the mountains were spectacular when we turned around.  We navigated our way through the tiny islands our guide pointed out the marine life below.  He pulled out a starfish for us to see.

On the kayak back to the dock I fought off some seasickness.  I tend to get sick with any movement so I was surprised the rest of the trip had not brought on the sickness.  We spotted a male seal on the shore and they distracted my mind to focus on something else.  Our guide asked us to steer clear of the seal.  They could be aggressive - especially when a meal was involved.  It was interesting watching the male bellow and flip the fish from side to side in the air.  He was literally playing with his food :)
 

Alaska is not only a wildlife-rich destination.  It is a culturally-rich destination as well.  I hadn't consider this as much as I should have before I booked my cruise.  However, I was very grateful in the end for the knowledge and experiences of the native Tlingit tribes we were able to see on our trip.  The word Tlingit is pronounced "clink kit" (or something to that effect) in English.  In Sitka, we viewed a wonderful performance from the Klingit dancers.  They showed us a series of dances that includes different drums and movements.  In the center of the hall there was a area for burning fires and the performers invited us to join them in a dance around it. Afterwards, we spent some time outside the hall taking photos and chatting with the families.  

The following day we arrived in Petersburg and were greeted by the Sons of Norway community.  The invited us in to their hall and performed a few traditional Norwegian dances by the youngsters of the group.  They continue to pass down the art of these dances from generation to generation.  The majority of the families in Petersburg sustain themselves by working in the fishing industry.  They provide a large quantity of salmon to the rest of the world.  The children who performed also baked several different cookies and treats for us to purchase.  The donations went to further the work of the Norwegian community group in sustaining the traditions for the next generation. 

We visited the local museum in Wrangell the following day. They took us out to Petroglyph Beach which is a State Historical Park in Alaska.  It was a twenty minute walk from the main town and when we arrived, the sun shone down on the beach with such clarity.  

Our guide walked us down the beach and pointed out the petroglyphs along the way. She poured water over them and suddenly stood out against the rocks. They do not know exactly what motivated the artists to create these rock carvings.  Some think that they were created to commemorate different events in the history of past tribes.  Other archeologists believe they were used to communicate between peoples who moved over these lands in the past.  On one part of the park there is a stand where you can read through the history of the park and create your own petroglyph drawing to take home.

 Later on in cruise, we stopped by Ketchikan, Alaska and took a walk around the town.  When we pulled in to the harbor there were a few other ships docked but we were the smallest by far.  We were parked at the end of the pier and quickly filed off onto the waterfront.  The other passengers boarding their floating cities sat in long lines that wrapped down the pier and into town.  We were so thankful for our ship and the personal service we received!

 

Looking back on our cruise aboard the SS Legacy, we had so many unexpected and amazing memories.  We truly felt blessed beyond expectations with the number of whales, orca, and other animals we encountered along the route.  I had expected to feel like we were one of many cruise ships touring around Alaska but for most of our trip, we felt completely alone on the serene waters. We also felt pampered beyond our expectations.  There was always a drink or snack available if we wanted it.  We each received a complimentary massage during the cruise.  We spent a few nights playing poker with other guests in the Pesky Barnacle Bar, located on the back end of ship.  It was complete with a poker table, chest of Gold Rush costumes, and a serve-yourself whisky bar.   What more could you ask for?

The last evening before we disembarked in Seattle, we sat in the dining hall listening to Captain Dano's final speech goodbye.  He is actually an award-winning story teller and had graced us with a story or two along the cruise.  The mountains and sea around us must have known this was a the end of our cruise and came out in full glory with this sunset farewell.