For a number of years, it has been my desire to do an Alaska cruise/rail trip. However, once I discovered that the only remotely affordable cruise tours were on gigantic floating cities, and that cruises on smaller ships were pretty much an order of magnitude more expensive, I gave up on that concept.
Then, on my California Zephyr trip, I stumbled across Amtrak's connection with the Alaska Marine Highway System. Immediately, I fell in love with the idea. The AMHS maintains a system of ferries that travel along the coastline from Bellingham, WA, all the way out to the Aleutians. One of the principal ferries [MV Kennicott] features an affordable range of accommodations: from a full cabin, to an unfurnished roomette (which I chose), to a solarium under which you can pitch a tent free-of-charge.
My desire for an (off-season) April trip ran into some obstacles, but I was doggedly determined to make it happen, and after some research and juggling, I worked out an optimal itinerary at a minimal cost. The airfare and lodging rates turned out great, and I booked two nights each in Juneau, Anchorage, and Fairbanks, giving me time to wander around.
However, I had to make some trade-offs. Most notably, the Alaska Railroad does not operate daily during the Winter season, and does not stop at Denali National Park, which in turn does not operate its bus tour until May. Therefore, staying a couple of nights at Denali is not an option.
Then I go wandering down to the waterfront. Part of the waterfront is closed due to road construction, but the main section is open. Here is the Seattle Aquarium:
And here is the Seattle Great Wheel:
I continue north to Olympic Sculpture Park:
Then I turn inland to the Space Needle:
Although I have time to visit the Pacific Science Center and Museum of Pop Culture, I decide that I don't want to spend the extra money. Nonetheless, it would have been nice to see the (unfortunately very expensive) exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors. As it is, I spend too much money going up the Space Needle:
At the top, I buy an overpriced beer (my official title for this picture is "The Best View in Seattle"):
Finally, I take the Monorail as far as it will go (about halfway back):
Then I walk the rest of the way to the station again. Here is the waiting room:
Due to a mudslide, the first part of the train trip -- from Seattle to Everett -- takes place on the bus. The train itself gets a late start, but fortunately, by the time I arrive at Bellingham, I still have plenty of time to check in at the ferry terminal and board the MV Kennicott:
Already, at the crack of dawn, the scenery begins:
It's cold and very windy on deck, however, so I don't imagine I'll be spending a whole lot of time outside. Nonetheless, I do take more shots outdoors than indoors. Here's a rule of thumb: indoor shots generally show an entire railing to the deck, while outdoor shots have no railing or just a portion, depending on the angle. On shots from my cabin, you can see the edge of the porthole.
The ferry has a decent cafeteria, several indoor observation lounges, a movie room, and a pair of enclosed solarium spaces (which are much smaller than I'd expected -- not much room for tents, but the few people who did camp there simply laid out sleeping bags on deck chairs).
There's no Internet access, though, so I can't check email or read the daily comics. There is also supposedly a cocktail bar, but it's not serving this trip (I don't know if that's a seasonal thing). Fortunately, I have brought along my own liquid supplies.
The route is never out of sight of land, and the ride itself is so smooth that oftentimes I can hardly tell that I'm even moving. Also, even though the car bay looks full, there seems to be hardly anyone on board, even at mealtimes. Maybe, like on the "Rossiya", they're pretty much sticking to their cabins.
So far I haven't seen much in the way of wildlife, but I do manage to spot one whale before arriving at Ketchikan:
While stopped at Ketchikan, despite a long layover, I don't feel any great desire to disembark.
It's cold again and even windier this morning, but I spend a fair amount of time on deck anyway, watching the approach to Juneau. At the same time there's a special showing of a travel documentary on Alaska (the filmmakers are on board), but I don't bother attending: why watch a movie when the real thing is just outside?
Overall, the ferry trip was outstanding, and I find myself wishing I could just continue on all the way to Kodiak. Maybe someday I'll fly there and take the Kennicott back to Bellingham.
The hotel shuttle brings me into town, but the room isn't ready yet, so I take a taxi out to the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center (closed until May) and hike the Nugget Falls trail. Here, the weather is sunny and mild with only a slight breeze.
After lunch, I check in, check my email, and get ready to do laundry. The Best Western in Juneau is actually two locations: I'm staying at the Grandma's Feather Bed location, which is in a delightful rebuilt Victorian house with a restaurant. The other location has the laundry facilities, but although I can take the shuttle there, I decide instead to walk to a laundromat nearby.
First, I walk by the Juneau-Douglas City Museum:
Here is a view from a nearby overlook. The Alaska State Museum is visible at the center of the picture:
I walk down through the historic downtown district, then up the hill again. Here is the historic St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, which was not actually founded by Russians, but by natives:
First actual stop is at the City Museum, which is small, but has decent, informative exhibits and a video on the history of the area.
Next up is the Alaska State Museum. This is a brand new facility (the gift shop isn't even ready yet), and has many large, spectacular historical and cultural exhibits. Very impressive.
Now I'm back down at the waterfront:
I do some more wandering around downtown, and buy a couple of souvenirs for my parents. Juneau has a pretty small downtown area, not much larger or more hilly than Flagstaff's. I've walked up-and-down-and-all-around several times, and don't feel as if I've gone more than a couple of miles.
Finally I take the city bus, so that I can stop at the Alaskan Brewing Company's tasting room on the way back to the hotel:
[*a) It never occurs to me to take a picture out of a plane window, and b) I hate phones anyway, and tend to stash them in my luggage when I travel]
My room in Anchorage is dark, dark, dark, and the lamps are dim, dim, dim. For the first time ever in a hotel room, I believe, I have turned on every single available light bulb. In any case, the weather is gorgeous, and the forecast remains so throughout my stay in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
In terms of bang for the buck, it's somewhat disappointing. To be fair, several sections are still being worked on for the upcoming Summer season, and an expansion is under construction. Nonetheless, I am not nearly as impressed as I was with the State Museum in Juneau.
Next, I visit the historic Oscar Anderson House (closed for the season) near the waterfront.
After lunch, I wander past the Alaska Statehood monument and over to the Alaska Railroad depot.
I'll be departing from here in the morning tomorrow.
Walking back to the hotel, I go through part of the Chester Creek Sports Complex and Greenbelt.
On the other hand, you couldn't ask for better weather for the trip: sunny and mild and clear as a bell. Wearing my wool sweater, I don't even need a jacket to stand outside on the train. There are two coach cars today, one about half full and the other mostly empty. Although there's assigned seating, there are enough empty seats for us to sit pretty much anywhere we please.
Each coach car has an open vestibule, for boarding and disembarking, that doubles as a small outdoor observation platform. Even inside the view is great: the windows are very large, and mostly reasonably clean. Nonetheless, I end up taking most of my pictures outside, unless I'm in the dining car, or taking a rest break in my seat to warm up for the next stint outside.
The three peaks from left to right: Foraker, Hunter, Denali. It turns out that this is a highly unusual day for viewing Mt. Denali: no clouds or mist on the mountain whatsoever.
There's a diner car with a snack bar and three full-menu scheduled meals. Attendance at meals is so light that there's no need even to share tables.
At Talkeetna, nearly half the passengers leave, and only about two dozen remain.
Here's a large beaver lodge, with a pair of trumpeter swans nearby:
The final community before Fairbanks is Nenana. Here is the historic depot building:
"Nenana Ice Classic" Tripod:
All-in-all, April is definitely a dead-on-target month for riding this train. Were I to ride this route again, however, I'd be inclined to travel in September for the Autumn colors. On the other hand, it's more likely that next I'd travel the Glacier Discovery route, between Anchorage and Grandview, which supposedly has the most spectacular views of mountains and glaciers. That's really what appeals to me the most.
While I'm doing a final, small load of laundry for this trip, I realize that I can't take the bus anywhere today, because it doesn't run on Sunday. Also, while on the train yesterday, I learned that tonight was forecast to be particularly active for Northern Lights. I never really took this into consideration when planning my trip, because it's quite late in the season.
April really seems to be the "tweener" month in Fairbanks. After March, the Winter activities, such as the Ice Art competition, sink back into the bogs, while in May, like Venus Flytraps stretching and yawning, the Summer attractions start opening up.
I take a taxi downtown to the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center. Unlike many places around here, it's open 7 days a week year round. In addition to being a visitor center, it has a modest museum section with nicely done exhibits.
The Center, and indeed most of downtown Fairbanks, is pretty deserted this morning. I continue wandering along the Chena River and downtown Fairbanks:
Walking back to the hotel, I wander through Pioneer Park, which has several museums and a number of historic buildings converted into shops. Everything is closed for the season, however.
For tonight, I manage to book an aurora viewing trip with Alaska Aurora Adventures, which has a heated viewing lodge out in the country, well away from the lights of the city.
Nonetheless, around 1 AM, I see a series of actively dancing bands, which immediately justify the expense. Later, around 2 AM, a wider, more leisurely band of light appears, streaked with dark ribbons, and then fades away again. After 3 AM, I give up for the night, and study my eyelids until sunrise. [No pictures, however -- even in night mode, my phone can't pick up anything.]
On the way back to the hotel this morning, the shuttle stops briefly so that I can take pictures of trumpeter swans in a field nearby.
Back at the hotel, I shower, change clothes, pack my luggage, and check out of my room. The hotel stores my luggage while I take the bus out to the UA Museum of the North. This museum is very well done, with the lower level devoted to historic, cultural, biological, and paleontological exhibits, and the upper level devoted to native, historic, and modern arts and crafts.
Fairbanks has the best priced bus system on the trip: $1.50 for a single trip, $3 for an unlimited day pass, and if you're 60+ you can ride absolutely free.
After lunch, I take the shuttle out to the airport, only to discover that my flight to Seattle is delayed over an hour. However, as a compensation, the beer I order on the plane is free. Also, there are lots of empty seats, and I have the whole row to myself.
Unfortunately, the mountain and glacier shots I'd hoped to take on the way back don't happen: the cloud cover is too dense, and we don't seem to be flying over the same area anyway. So much for Alaska. I'm spending tonight in Seattle again, and tomorrow I'll return to Flagstaff.