The area around Kodiak Island was proving to be one of the highlights of this part of the trip. We were quite happy to stay there another day. In the evening there were whales and the next day, more bears.
Photographing whales can be a bit tricky. You see a spout, grab the camera, point it in the correct general direction and then get to photograph the splash as the whale disappears under the water. Humpbacks can be a little bit easier. They surface briefly after blowing and then flip their tails up before diving. This is just about enough time to get the camera onto the whale. This is also why most of my whale photographs are the tails of Humpbacks. Fortunately, it is often possible to identify a whale from its tail. This is what a group called HappyWhale do. They use the patterns on the fluke of a whale to identify it and then maintain a database of where and when each animal has been spotted. People can submit their photographs and then every time one of your whales gets spotted you get a notification. Meanwhile, the database is fast becoming a valuable resource for studying whale behaviour.
The next morning was spent in Geographic Harbour on the south side of Kodiak Island. The weather stayed good and the bears were numerous. We floated about in the RHIB keeping a good distance from the bears. The bears took very little notice of us and were generally very occupied with the business of catching salmon. All too soon it was time to leave. The RHIBs were stowed and we set off along the Aleutian Island chain.
The next day was entirely dedicated to watching wildlife. We were in the area around Kodiak Island some 500 km south-west of Anchorage. The weather was perfect and the wildlife was prolific. Bears everywhere.
Katmai National Park, opposite Kodiak Island, was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the Novarupta volcano. This was formed during the eruption of 1912. The biggest eruption of the 20th century it created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 100 km2 pyroclastic flow up to 200 m deep. The park hosts 18 volcanoes of which 7 have been active since 1900 including the centre-piece Katmai stratovolcano. Since the initial establishment of the park, it has become increasingly well known for its abundance of wildlife. This includes many brown bears that feed off the sockeye salmon.
Our first trip out in the morning was mostly about watching a single brown bear. This was at Kukak Bay in the Katmai National Park. He was catching salmon in one of the many small rivers emptying into the bay. Watching from the RHIBs seemed ideal. The animals took truly little notice of us so we could easily get quite close.
In the afternoon we went round to the other side of Kodiak Island. The island is big. Second largest in the United States and bigger than Cyprus. Two thirds of the island is designated as the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge – home to the Kodiak bear and all five types of Pacific Ocean Salmon. We saw more bears there. Also, a Sitka deer, enormous star fish, a fox, loads of seals and a Bald Eagle with two youngsters.
Going further north we arrived at Icy Bay. The ship nosed its way into Tsaa Fjord and they launched the RHIBs. The Amundsen cannot sensibly drop anchor here because the water is too deep. Instead, they use a clever Dynamic Positioning (DP) system. Multiple GPS receivers are used to accurately determine the position and orientation of the vessel. The DP uses the ship propellers and bow thrusters to keep it in exactly the same place. In effect, they can just park the ship anywhere. We spent the afternoon pottering around in the RHIBs. A group of canoeists went out. There were no shore landings. I don’t think that is allowed here by the park rules.
Several glacier tongues drop down into Icy Bay making for a spectacular scene of ice and cliffs. The amount of meltwater was phenomenal. I have never seen anything like it. It is normal, in the summer, for meltwater to permeate through the glaciers and run out at the bottom. In Svalbard, we explored an ice cave that was made in just this way. Here, there were thundering great torrents of water coming out from under the ice. It was impressive and noisy. Huge waterfalls were gushing out. The water was heavily sediment laden making it a dirty grey colour.
The next day we continued making our way north along the Alaskan panhandle. Wonderful little islands and small settlements. We passed many more glaciers and at one point, paused to watch a distant bear on the shore.
Wrangell (pop ~2,000) was founded by the Russians in 1834 when they built a fort. This makes it one of the oldest non-native settlements in Alaska. The British Hudson Bay Company leased the fort and eventually Wrangell became American when the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Today the main industries are fishing, logging and tourism. Wrangell is close to the River Stikine delta. The Stikine is a major river flowing from British Columbia. Historically, it has always been important for fishing, hunting and trade. Now it is also important for tourism and as a recreational area.
We joined a group in a jet boat to explore part of the river. The boat was very fast and also very noisy. Talking was near enough impossible. So, the day was made up of short, relatively peaceful intervals in between high-speed dashes along the river. We travelled through the delta and then a short way up the main river. A left turn took us onto Shakes Slough, a tributary. We followed this all the way up to a Shakes Lake which ended at a glacier.
There was some wildlife on the route. Mostly birds. We got quite close to a pair of Bald Eagles. One was guarding a nest while the other was eating by the river. We also came across a government boat measuring fish. Fishing is tightly controlled after several incidents of overfishing nearly wiped out the salmon completely.
Not a jet boatFish measuring
In the lower reaches of the river, we came across several houses that were floating. Not house boats but normal looking wooden houses built on floating pontoons. For some reason, the river and the surrounding land are managed by different authorities. Locals are not allowed to build weekend accommodation on land but they can have a semi-permanent structure if it is floating.
Arriving at the lake, we drifted right up close the glacier and enjoyed some wine and snacks. A cool breeze coming off the ice made it at least ten degrees colder than back down at the delta. Twenty minutes later we began the trip back down. This seemed faster than ever. This time we were not stopping for sightseeing. My ears were ringing by the time we got back to the dock.
Big, bustling, busy, modern, shiny. In many ways Vancouver is everything that the rest of Canada, at least the part that we saw, is not. The taxi dropped us off at the towering tribute to glass that was our hotel. All very contemporary, efficient and soulless. Our room was on the 26th floor. Nowhere near the top of the hotel but plenty high enough for a good view and to make stepping onto the balcony slightly unnerving. We had a couple of nights here while we waited for the Hurtigruten vessel, the MS Roald Amundsen to arrive. On this ship we plan to literally sail from one end of the planet to the other. Our route initially goes north up the coast of Alaska and then east through the Northwest Passage that we did part of last year. Greenland then south along the eastern seaboard of the USA. Mexico, the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and then south again past Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Finally, south through Drake’s Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. Long trip. Over ninety days on board. We are looking forward to it immensely.
We had a couple of days to kill in Vancouver. I wasn’t feeling too great so mostly we just lazed around a bit. The Hurtigruten people arrived and after an early breakfast they took us on a coach tour of the city. This confirmed, to me anyhow, that we were not missing very much. The tour ended at the pier where we needed to go through security and passport control before joining the ship. We went through two sets of controls. One to do with leaving Canada and joining the ship, the other to do with entering Alaska -where we would be by the next time we got off the ship. Took a while but we made it. Nothing got confiscated, our documents were in order. I felt quite pleased. Mid-afternoon we arrived at our cabin.
There was a seagull sat on the balcony railing giving me the eye. I took my camera out and opened the door. It still did not move. I photographed it. A couple of times. The bird stretched its neck a bit and then did an enormous dump on the wooden rail before taking off and banking down, out of view. I was left with a nice, close-up photograph and a big bird shit.
The cabin is great. Small but well thought out. The bathroom, in particular, is very well designed. And we have a little balcony. When I chose the cabin, I deliberately went for one on the starboard side. Most of this trip we will be heading south. Diane and I are not morning people, so we don’t care about the sunrise to port. The starboard side sunset however might, on occasion, be worth sitting outside for. There may even be the odd sundowner cocktail. We are here for 94 days. Plenty of time for pictures of the cabin later.
Late afternoon we sailed. Setting off on a voyage is something I always find exciting. This one especially so. Vancouver is a working port as well as a tourist destination. As we moved out, we could see the arrays of cranes for cargo handling, bulk loaders and the other machinery of a modern dock. There was an immense pile of sulphur. This intrigued me. Surely it is an immense fire risk. In my youthful experimentation to try and create gunpowder, I managed to burn quite a lot of sulphur. It gives off some seriously nasty fumes. Definitely not the sort of thing you should do in your bedroom. I also wondered about what would happen when the rain came.
We slipped north past Vancouver Island through Queen Charlotte Sound and then into the Canadian Inside Passage where whales were spotted. I managed to catch one jumping out of the water. It is not a very good photograph but as an omen, in just the first couple of hours of our voyage, it was wonderfully auspicious.
Next day we arrived at Misty Fjords National Monument. This is a protected wilderness area famous for steep cliffs, deep fjords, coastal rainforest, glacier-carved valleys, and unique geological features like old lava flows and mineral springs. There are two common activities that guests on the Amundsen are invited to partake in: shore landings and boat cruising. Both involve the small fleet of RHIBs that the ship carries. Each is piloted by an experienced and qualified boatman. They are deployed by davit from large side door in the hull. Passengers are assigned to groups and invited, one group at a time, to the rather gloriously titled Expedition Lauch room. Here we get to board a RHIB through another side door and a docking platform. Typically, there are ten passengers to a RHIB. In the small boat we get to potter round the area for an hour or more. This is a great way to see some places, take a few photographs and generally get to experience an area.
The river ferry at Dawson City operates 24 hours a day. In the winter, the river freezes and traffic drives on the ice. The ferry is paid for by the government. There is no booking, no reservations. You just turn up and wait until you can get on. It takes less than ten minutes to cross the river and this brings you to the start of the Top of the World Highway. This is mostly a dirt track and gains its name from the way the road links the top of several hills such that for most of the route you are looking down into valleys. It is 127 km long and only open in the summer.
At about the highest point of the road, 100 km in, you arrive at the USA border. Previously, we had both applied for ETAC (Electronic Travel something or other) but we still needed to be finger printed and photographed before we could be allowed in. In my experience, border guards do not have a sense of humour. Never. Not even a hint. Surgically removed or something. Trying to joke with a border guard is like trying to play tennis with a jelly fish. It just won’t work. This time however, I was standing in front of the camera with my best serious but clearly innocent face when the guard told me I could smile. I was taken aback. Passport photographs are strictly no-smile zones. But, as the guard went on to explain, this was America, land of the free, where you can do anything. He then told us that Independence Day (July 4th) was the one day of the year that English were not allowed into USA. He then went on to regale us with stories of bear hunting, the bear steak he’d had for breakfast and what to do if a bear came in the door. I suggested running away but no, he was clear that he would stare it down. I pointed out that my apparent lack of bravery was because he was carrying an exceptionally large revolver whereas I was armed with only a smile. Never saw the final ID photograph but I suspect I mostly looked puzzled.
Top of the WorldAlaska
Just round the corner from the border post is an immense “Welcome to Alska” sign and our first view across the Alaskan scenery. A few miles further on the road descends through a valley system and comes out at the gloriously named town of Chicken. They appear enormously proud of the name and just about every signpost has a chicken theme. We also saw a moose. It stepped into the woods and disappeared long before I could get my camera out. They do that. Very frustrating animals to try and photograph. Remarkable how, despite their size, they seem able to completely vanish in just a few steps.
The weather was consistently terrible. Rain and thick grey clouds and fog, several types of mist and more rain. We seemed to spend quite a lot of time driving without seeing very much. Arriving at Fairbanks, we turned south towards Anchorage. I would have liked to go north here, to Prudoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean, but the hire company had put the Dalton Highway out of bounds. Instead, we went through the Denali National Park where we drove past the highest mountain in North America without seeing even a hint of it. At Wasilla, we began heading east back towards Canada and at last the clouds lifted a little so we could see the mountains and glaciers of Chugach National Park.
We completed our soggy circuit of Alaska at Tok quite a few days earlier than planned. We might have taken a leisurely drive back to Vancouver but instead decided to try another route to the Arctic Ocean along the Dempster Highway in Yukon. By late afternoon we were back on the Top of the World Highway and the road to Dawson City.
