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Alaska: Juneau and Seward

August 26, 2014 John Laninga Leave a comment

We managed to get a few miles walking in during our northbound visit to Juneau. But the southbound trip, as well as the transfer in Seward, was so rainy we didn’t even get off the ship.

We really wanted to find some eagles in Juneau, and took a trip via local bus and walking to the Salmon Hatchery. We were told that the presence of much dying fish attracts eagles. But when we got there there was a sea lion hunting in the sound, so no salmon, and no eagles. Except one juvenile. Until we got back on board, and there, on the shore, one was watching us….

We did have an interesting experience. This area has a lot of Russian influence, and we had a very good lunch at a Russian restaurant. Wish we could remember the name of what we had….

The trip to Juneau has some spectacular scenery

Early morning arrival at Juneau

There, on a shed roof, a juvenile eagle….

A hunting sea lion, searching for prey

Lots of dead fish being collected for disposal

And here are live ones in the pens, trying to get out

Along the docks

Local art work

There, next to the ship, an eagle!

Categories: Scenery Tags: eagle, Juneau, salmon, sea lion, Seward

Alaska: Ketchikan

August 22, 2014 John Laninga Leave a comment

Ketchikan bills itself as “the Salmon Capital of the World”. And indeed we enjoyed salmon fish and chips, as well as sending some salmon home. It is also known as one of the wettest cities in the USA (rainfall in excess of 18 feet in one year). True to its reputation, it rained on our way up but we were treated to a exceptional sunny day on the way back.

The population of Ketchikan is around 8,000. The day we were there there were 4 cruise ships, so we had around 10,000 tourists in town. Talk about crowds…. But we all got a chance to see the salmon going upstream to spawn, look at the largest totem park in Alaska, and visit historical Creek Street, which catered to lonely lumbermen and miners in the 1890’s.