2012
Arriving from Seattle, we flew into Sitka, Alaska in mid-August, about midpoint up the Alexander Archipelago that separates the mainland from the Pacific Ocean. Southeast Alaska’s 1,000 forested islands, 10,000 miles of shoreline, and 50+ major glaciers, have changed little in the past 1,000 years, except for the addition of slightly more than 70,000 residents. A temperate, hospitable land, the rain forest provides a cool environment most of the year. Transportation among the islands is still by water, though access to Alaska’s capitol in Juneau is essentially only by air.
Two days later we embarked on an 8-day cruise through the northern Inner Passage, aboard a 150′ vessel with 50 passengers plus crew. Exiting past the beautiful Mt. Edgecomb volcanic island, we rounded the northern end of Baranoff Island, then headed southeast out Peril Strait where we turned northeast up Chatham Strait.
It was so exciting to finally be cruising Alaska’s storied Inside Passage up to Glacier Bay!
