it was a pretty remarkable summer up here in southeast alaska.
to begin, i have to start all the way back at san diego, when we boarded the ngsb, on our way north.
it was a rocky trip up the coast, one in which we rocked, and rolled, and then rocked some more. we pitched, we took the waves, letting one roll up our bow and crash against the side of the ship. no guests ever see this side of travel. we cruised into seattle on a warm, sunny evening and headed out to enjoy some land time.
my days in seattle were filled with getting my bar in order — putting wine glasses up, reshelving my liquor, accounting for the wine order that came in, among many other more mundane tasks. am and i inventoried the new global market stuff – the new fleeces, the new backpacks… at sorts of exciting things.
at long last (or, not really, since i think we all relished our time on land, with a normal 8-5 schedule), it was time to pick up our guests. we were shipshape, as they say, and we made our way out of ballard lochs to pier 69 in downtown seattle. we had just a short time in which to run into the market and pick up coffee, clothes, whatever we wanted. i went in with s and a, two friends, and searched in vain for a black skirt with pockets — you would not BELIEVE how hard they are to find!!
guests embarked around 5pm, and after the obligatory abandon ship drill, we cruised north out of seattle’s harbour for the northbound trip. at long last, we were headed back to alaska.
day one found us at nanaimo, canada, where all we did was do through canadian customs. day two, we were at alert bay, a tiny town on an island north of vancouver. in alert bay, our guests can partake in a big house dance, where the natives teach us about their culture and ceremony. it’s really interesting to watch, but this year, i took to the woods, choosing instead to take a long run through the forested park, up and down muddy trails, up and over large tree roots, and down a trail that wended past the cliffs above, dislodging sandstone as i went, to the rocky shores on the other side of the island.
after that, i walked through town, stopping to take my yearly pictures of the double decker buses and the london cabs that grace the streets, down to the beach looking for sea glass and trade beads. under the piers, seeing if there were any sea stars as the tide went out. listening to the rockweed that crunched under my feet.
the highlight of the northbound trip, the reason that we were all so excited, was haida gwaii. in english, they’re the queen charlotte islands, a cluster of islands west of the mainland, across a wide channel. and they’re home of the haida people, one of the first nations natives. we were lucky enough to tour their ancestral homeland, one small group at a time. i joined a group of photographers, including wade davis, as we hiked through the mossy undergrowth of the temperate rainforest, among the fallen totems, and through the fault to the caves.
after three days among the haida people, from young men that live on the island in the summer and in vancouver in the winter, to old man that grew up and still live in the small town of queen charlotte, we moved on. we crossed into american waters south of ketchikan and headed into misty fjord national monument. cliffs towered over us and the bright green sitka spruce glinted in the sun.
from misty fjords, which weren’t very misty, to glacier bay national park, where the sunshine sparkled off the turquoise waters and illuminated the ice. to petersburg, where each week brought new challenges and different weather. between sitka and juneau, where we hide out in a coffee shop to salvage a few hours of “normal” time. among the tiny islands known as the inians, where we found japanese buoys from the tsunami, now covered in gooseneck barnacles. through the blueberry infested muskegs at fox creek, and along the bear trails at pavlof harbour. into a grotto only accessible at the high tides brought on by the super moon. through ford’s terror wilderness area, in endicott arm, south of juneau. and through the most amazing forest i’ve ever seen to the largest trees i’ve ever seen, at lake eva (where i also witnessed the lowest tide ever, thanks to the super moon).
i saw the northern lights, almost every other week in the late summer. they danced; they shot through the sky, greener than the grass and brighter than i’ve ever seen. i saw humpback whales bubblenet feed just meters from the ship. i saw a humpback whale breach a hundred feet away, while we were in a zodiac. and i did it all in the company of the coolest people i know. we spent two months, and then two more months, living in a tiny cabin on a small ship, but we get to go out every day and spend time in one of the most wild, most remote, states in the country. we see bears, humpback whales, killer whales, otters, banana slugs, sea lions and bald eagles every single week. and every single time, i grab my camera. because you never know what you’re gonna get.
enjoy the pictures.