Major Alaskan Adventures
Phew! I have landed back at home from our amazing Alaskan adventures and have had to jump right back in with the kids, all the laundry and everything else that comes with NOT being on vacation. (Sniff, sniff. . .no more nighttime mint on my pillow.) It took me a few days to sort through the 300+ pictures so I could give you a small snapshot of things we did and experienced.
We took a round trip cruise out of Seattle on a Royal Caribbean ship. When we returned we spent a day and a half in Seattle before coming home (more on that adventure in my next post).
While the weather was not very sunny (seriously people, what's with those of you who pack a bikini and expect a tan when going to Alaska??), it was never out and out awful and it didn't stop us from any of our planned activities.
Our first stop was in Juneau where we lived our dream of flying in a helicopter over the glaciers in the Juneau icefield. We flew with Temsco Air and had an extraordinary pilot named Chip who was able to really educate us about glaciers. He landed us twice on two different glaciers and let us hike around. You can't imagine the size and depth of the glaciers until you are actually on one. I drank some glacier water and Jeff and I joked that perhaps that is all I have needed to cure all that ails me. I bet I am the only one who can say that a Trek Travel jacket has now visited a glacier. . .
Later in the day we went ziplining with Alaska Canopy Adventures. We got suited up in safety harnesses and headed up the trail for our "training." Half and hour later we were experiencing 10 different zip lines covering over a mile about 135 ft above the Alaskan rainforest. The longest and fastest got us up to 35 miles per hour. What a rush!
The next day we were on to Skagway where we took in some morning kayaking in nearby Haines Lake. The lake is glacier fed so it is a greenish gray color from glacier silt. At the outset the guides told us to be sure and keep one of them between us and the shoreline at all times. We soon found out why - we rounded a corner of the lake and Jeff spotted a grizzly bear drinking at the shoreline. It then saw us and charged out into the water. Check out the fairly decent picture Jeff got (as we were paddling away, of course). We also saw tons of bald eagles. In the afternoon we did a fabulous bike trip with Sockeye Cycle. It was a summit to sea trip that started at the top of White Pass and came down to the sea (about 15 miles). Trouble was we couldn't start quite at the top because the clouds were so low that visibility was almost zero. As they unloaded the bikes I was psyched to see that they we
re all Treks! We donned rain gear, on top of our many layers and then snapped a few pictures (Check out me looking like a yellow Michelin Man). It was a fabulous ride down and nice to feel even a chilly rainy wind blowing by. We had to make a pit stop though at the Alaskan/Canadian border patrol before we could pedal on our way. And many thanks to our guide Drew who took us on an off road detour to the Gold Rush graveyard to see an amazing waterfall.
Our last port stop was Prince Rupert, British Columbia where we spent the day fishing for halibut. I am pleased to say that after a slow start and a few fish lost, our boat ended up catching 6 halibut. They are being processed, frozen and shipped to us as we speak.
We had a few days at sea during all of this and spent some nice downtime relaxing, eating (hey its a cruise ship!) and napping. One day we spent about 3 hours watching tons of whales. I even got to see one jump out of the water.
The whole thing was an amazing experience. We learned so much, tried new things, met new friends and came home recharged and refreshed. Hope you enjoy the pictures - let me know if you are interested in more!
-Jen
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