Alaska Marine Highway

The Inside Passage of Alaska is a waterway through a series of islands and the southern mainland of Alaska. This part of Alaska has few roads, for example, there are no roads to Juneau. Alaska has setup a ferry system to connect the cities in this area. Riding on the Alaska Ferry System was a treat. The ferry system was efficient from beginning to end. Check-in was easy. The car was marked as going the full distance of the ferry. When we were loaded on the boat it was by our departure location; the first ones on were the last off. We were traveling the full route from Skagway to Prince Rupert, B.C. (The map only shows the route until Ketchikan, Prince Rupert is south of Ketchikan.) That meant the ferry was our home for 40 hours. We loaded at 11:45 am Alaska time, an hour later than Pacific Daylight time. Sandy and I had a berth on the ferry, it was a comfortable room with a window. Bill stayed on the upper deck under a sun shade as shown in the picture. Heat lamps helped keep the upper deck folks warm during the night. All the personnel on the boat were friendly and helpful.

Bill and Sandy shown here were on the ferry deck with a cruise ship harbored in Skagway behind them. The contrast between the ferry and cruise ships were distinctive. Ferry food was from a cafeteria. Our stops were only for the length of time it would take to load the next group of cars and passengers. Any visits off the ferry at a port were spontaneous decisions. The ferry docks were not close to the main part of town for most of the stops. A visit to the center of town involved a walk or taxi ride. Port visits did not have any offerings of side excursions. There was no alcohol allowed on the ship decks. The ferry supplied entertainment was a park ranger informing us about the local sites and/or geology of the current area and DVD movie videos. These differences could be considered drawbacks toward taking the ferry. None of us would have traded our ferry ride for the cruise experience. This was a trip highlight.




There was nothing skimpy about the views from the ferry; they were spectacular. On the first day we were surrounded by majestic glaciers in the mountains. (The ferry ride did not travel to Glacier Bay. That was a drawback of the ferry experience.) The waterfalls cascading down the nearby mountain slopes were awesome. I wanted to catch images from every side of the boat at all times. It was overwhelming partaking of this splendor.

The Tongass Rain Forest Park system, the national park that encompasses the Inland Passage from Skagway to Ketchikan, sent a ranger along to inform ferry riders about the park, animals and towns along the route. The talks were very informative.

Juneau was the first port where we had a several hour layover. Sandy and I shared a taxi with a Swiss couple to get to the downtown section of Juneau. Our cab driver informed us that there are 40 miles of roads around Juneau. The road through the town only extended 40 miles. All the port towns offered the same type of jewelry shops and other Alaskan tourist shops. Every northern town has been adorned with flowers; guess when the winters are long any break from snow needs to be celebrated and adorned. Juneau was no exception; hanging flower baskets were everywhere. We looked around Juneau for the capitol building. We finally found it and were disappointed that it had no dome. I expected Alaska to have a golden dome on their capitol. Juneau had a small downtown section. We easily walked around it. Most stores closed after the departure of the cruise ships; the sidewalks were empty. One of the reasons we wanted to tour Juneau was to check our email. The library internet connection was so slow that checking email there was impossible. The local Subway offered fast wifi services and luckily that place stayed open after the tour boats departed. Saloons were also still open. The Red Dog Saloon, our taxi rendezvous spot, was well lit and welcoming at night. It was also an interesting joint.

The next morning our ferry went through a narrow channel, from Peterburg to Wrangell. Cruise ships cannot pass through this area as it is too narrow and shallow. The ferry only cleared the bottom by 2 feet during part of the passage. The times that the ferry travels through this channel were at high tide. There were a series of red and green bouys marking the route. The ranger told us that during times when high tide is at night it looks like Christmas time traveling through the Wrangell narrows.

Wrangell has a garnet mine outside the town. This mine was left to the children of Wrangell. The children sell garnet chunks to ferry passengers. After hearing the tale about the garnets, Sandy and I were anxious to get ashore and make a purchase. The rainy day discouraged most of the children; there was only one girl selling garnets. She made our day. The garnets come out of the ground shaped like they have been roughly cut and lightly polished. The seller of our garnets used her garnet sales money to purchase school clothes.

After the narrows passage and garnet sellers, the day should have been anti-climatic. We had lost all the mountain glaciers. The remainder of the voyage was through large water bays. This portion of the voyage was not as startling as the previous, nonetheless it was a wonderful time. We saw some porpoise movement; they were splashing along the surface of the water. Some crazy silver fish were jumping up in the air. The mountains and trees continued to stay with us. By now there was a friendly companionship amongst the passengers. We met a woman from Tasmania who would be traveling for a year; Alaska was her first stop. She was a surfer and had found a place to surf in Alaska. The Swiss couple had started their travels at the end of May. They began their travels in New Brunswick and had to be back to Switzerland by November. They were now planning the rest of their travels. Parents from Wyoming were traveling around the world with their two young sons. A local Alaska customs agent was the most informative passenger, knowledgeable about all the local sea life. It was interesting visiting with our fellow passengers. The weather permitted us to sit on deck and bask in the warm sun.

The final stop in Alaska was Ketchikan. This is the city known for its totem poles, salmon canneries and the proposed million dollar bridge to nowhere. The airport is on an island across a narrow channel from the town. Folks use a water taxi to get between the town and airport. At one time Sarah Palin proposed putting a bridge across this channel. That bridge was its current claim to fame. We again took a taxi to the downtown section. It was an interesting town filled with jewelry stores (nicer ones than Skagway) and other shops. One shop we visited was a canned salmon store. The salmon samples were delicious. We walked around the town and took some pictures before it was too dark. It was a quaint, picturesque town.


The next morning was an early morning departure to our destination, Prince Rupert, B.C.