Alaska - a trip to remember

[Richprins]

Is that the same Steller that has the sea eagle in his name?

[okie]

RP , it is spelt the same way

It is interesting to note that although , on the one hand , our trip , for us , was one big adventure , yet , to some extent , it can be broken up into smaller bits , and it is interesting how any occurrence , or action , or decision at any time , had an influence on what happened later .
For instance , the flat tyre caused us to decide against going to Eagle , and as such we went straight on to Tok .
At Tok , we could not find a replacement tyre , and then decided to go on to Anchorage instead of Fairbanks . But something else also very much influenced our decision making and that occurred when we visited the Alaska Public Lands Information Centre where we were told that we could make reservations for ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway ( Inside Passage ).
This ferry service is run by the Alaska Department of Transportation , and not to be confused with the luxury inside passage cruises offered by Princess Lines , etc .
These ferries are smaller , more compact , and is basically a transportation service between the various main towns/villages of Skagway , Haines , Sitka , Ketchikan , Juneau ( the State Capital ) , Wrangell , Petersburg , down to Bellingham and even Seattle . One can for instance even travel from one place to another as a walk-on passenger , or of course with a vehicle – motorcar , truck , trailer etc .

It is much much cheaper than the lux cruises , and go to places where those cruises cannot venture .

Now , if you ever visit Alaska , and you are allowed to do only one thing , then I would suggest you take that ferry cruise through the inside passage . You will never ever forget it !

We were actually quite lucky in being able to get a reservation , starting about ten days hence , from Skagway , right through to Prince Rupert , British Columbia .
More about that later .

But , just think , if we had not had a flat tyre , we would probably have been too late to still get that reservation on the ferry

[Richprins]

I like this "Hippie" approach to traveling! Did it with mates in Zim/Moz...worked out brilliantly but very fortunately!

[okie]

RP , yeahh , flexibility makes travelling so much more enjoyable

[Dewi]

Is that the same Steller that has the sea eagle in his name?

That's the one RPThe Gumboot Chiton Cryptochiton stelleri and Hoary Mugwort Artemisia stelleriana are also named after him. (Honest they are )

Think I need to go back there to see some of these places Okie. The Inside Passage sounds exciting.

[okie]

Dewi , its absolutely worthwhile SO and I have also been talking for a long time now to go back again
BTW , reservations for high-season on the ferry for the inside-passage should normally be done by end-February , so usually need good planning ahead , unless you travel pot-luck like we did

[okie]

We left Tok still without a sparewheel and headed for Anchorage 328 miles away , hoping and praying that we would not get another flat . As can be seen in the following pic , the weather was quite overcast , with outside temps quite cold ( for us ) , sometimes down to 29 degrees Fahrenheit , but scenery was still superb .




This is the Matanuska river





After getting a replacement sparewheel at the car-rental agency in Anchorage , we continued south along the Turnaround Arm – a huge bay , and along to Homer . Some more scenes .







While we were taking a “ breather “ , this guy stopped there , and started blasting away at the scenery with a pistol , and the gunshots kept on echoing down the valley . Really awesome . The echo’s


And then , Homer .




Homer is basically the end of the road , and lies at the head of Katchemac bay , and there is a narrow land-spit , jutting almost 5 miles into the sea , forming a natural breakwater . This spit is quite narrow , at some places no more than 50 meters wide , but have large number of little lodges , a few motels , people camp on the beach just about anywhere , with a marina/port situated right at the end . Quite a fascinating piece of real estate .

[Duke]

Nice landscapes okie, keep it coming

[Lisbeth]

A pity that the weather wasn't better, with such a lovely scenery

[nan]

seems to be so cold ... brrrr