Needing to get my beloved Lady Spitfire Jeep Compass from Soldotna AK to my now year-round home in Ashland Oregon, as I was permanently leaving Alaska, I had to decided what would be the best way for me to do so, traveling solo. In moving up to Soldotna 5 years ago I drove the entire 3000 miles solo accompanied by my “a dog is a man’s (though I am not a man) best friend(s) ” Kili and SImba. This relatively unpopulated route suited me well as I had planned on camping the entire trip. But since my buddies have passed on, I did not see this drive as an appealing solution and camping alone in late September was not even a remotely plausible lodging solution.
Opting to drive to Skagway from Anchorage was feasible and I then decided to booked myself and Lady Spitfire space on the Columbia, a 50 year old passenger and car ferry that plies the Alaska Maritime Highway.
The Columbia was definitely dwarfed by the Ruby Princess as they were moored adjacent to each other in Skagway. The cruise ships follow the ferry route or is it that the ferry route follows the cruise ships. There are eight ports of call including Skagway where I embarked, Haines, Juneau, Sitka, Petersburg. Wrangell, Ketchikan and finally Bellingham. At every port there is the laborious time consuming process of off-loading and then on-loading of vehicles. When I loaded, 2nd in line as I arrived early, I drove onto an elevator and was lifted to the cabin deck and had to back trough a narrow passage way between the car elevators to my assigned spot- which I assume would facilitate the exit process. I will add right now it did NOT…I had to go back through that narrow passage and back onto the elevator. Since I was the 2nd car to be loaded in Skagway I naturally was the 2nd to last off, waiting an hour to be sprung free . I definitely had a lot of time to ponder the windshield and steering wheel in Lady Spitfire as we had to remain in our car.
My “Lady” had a “berth” on the Upper Deck as did I. However my quarters were a very spare sort of “stateroom” and hers was a tight space in vehicle stowage. I am not familiar with the terminology of decks on a ship. But the upper deck was far from the being the upper deck and actually was the lowest passenger deck. I was assigned cabin #119 which was quite close to the pursers desk, the elevator, but most importantly Lady Spitfires assigned spot. Why is this important? It may seem like I have personified this car, but actually it was quite easy to unload the luggage initially and then access the car (at appointed times or when in port) if there was something in there that I desired to move to my “stateroom.” The contents of said vehicle was a jumble of anything leftover from the move that didn’t get into the U-box, miscellaneous food items, clean and dirty clothes, maps, and a tall ladder.
At most ports there is barely adequate time to visit the town which for the most part are designed to accommodate the many cruise ships belching out their passenger, fulfilling the need to spend money on the local “artifacts” crafts, and t-shirts (which are often made in China). Every port had minimally one and usually two or three of these massively huge floating cities (and 4 in the high season). Princess and Carnival Cruisers are definitely in competition for how massive of a cruise ship they can build. The Ruby Princess showed her ponderous self when I was in Glacier Bay in August, in Skagway now and in Ketchikan at the end of it’s cruise adventure. There was rarely a center of town berthing for our diminutive ferry so we often docked in an industrial area outside of town. Thus it was usually quite a distance into town with a need of sturdy walking shoes or use of public transportation. In Skagway “Ruby” was harbored adjacent to the center of downtown. BUT in the “Ruby” vs the Columbia match-up, the Princess does not allow you to bring your animal nor your car on board so for the many folks who can’t travel without their dogs, cats, birds etc. , (or cars) it is an opportunity to tend to the food and bodily function needs of the furry friends. Some caveats however- pets are not allowed on passenger decks or cabins and must be secured in vehicles or carriers. During “pet calls” you can hear the barking and howling of some very excited or distraught animals.
The ferry cabins are quite spare having minimal amenities. A real upside of the ferry is that one need not book a room but can opt to sleep most everywhere — in the observation lounges, on deck chairs in the covered heated solarium, in a pitched tent on the solarium deck, the movie lounge (which actually has only a large screen broken television). For the “un-cabined” there are lockers and showers available to use.
The ferry population thus is comprised of many young and/or older adults, hardy backpackers, tenters, adults on the go who could not otherwise afford a cabin, lots of retired baby boomer travelers in cabins, budget conscious travelers, the well-dressed to the scruffy, or just plain folks traveling with their recreation vehicles, kayakers, four-wheelers etc. and don’t want to make the long drive down to Washington.
I planned on eating my dinners in the dining room. I have observed in some other restaurants and definitely the first night here that there is a proclivity to seat single individuals at less favorable tables. The first night in the dining room, the couple in front of me was taken to a window table up front. The host offered me a booth towards the back. I decline this and was then hesitantly offered a table nearer the front windows which I accepted. I then noticed that he seated the two men behind me at a window table. This definitely annoyed me but I wanted to enjoy what turned out to be a very mediocre dinner of grilled halibut, a microwaved baked potato and cauliflower that was thickly draped in some kind of spicy seasoning. So the second night when it was my turn to be seated I asked for a window table. The look on the mans face and the hemming and hawing was blatant. He took me to the front and then offered me a booth behind the tables by the window. I said I wanted one of the tables right up front. He very begrudgingly after looking all around finally gave me what I had asked for. To me it is a form of discrimination that couples or foursomes trump a single in table selection, especially here as the personnel are all state employees and no tipping is allowed. Money doesn’t talk and I would not go to the dining room again.
The ferry has both a snack bar/cafeteria and a dining room. The snack bar has the normal fare of lots of sandwiches, fried food and burgers. Having observed other people’s trays I didn’t see anything appealing and knowing from the trip to Kodiak on an Alaska Maritime Ferry there would be a microwave etc. I had brought a few food items for breakfast and lunch. I figured I would have my dinner meal in the dining room but after 2 nights I was by now pretty turned off by the dining room food and staff. I stopped in at the A&P across from the ferry dock in Ketchikan to replenish my food stores and purchase items I could heat in the micro-wave for dinners for the rest of the journey down to Bellingham.
As I have often discovered, the “textbook” descriptions of places I am visiting is quite the mismatch from what I am actually experiencing. Description of the Inside Passage include such things as thundering cataracts, silvery mists, rocky promontories, dense foliage, and “the paved highway” to adventure . The first hour of our journey took us from Skagway over to the first port of Haines. Having left Skagway around 1:30 and heading toward an ominously dark sky, I was not too hopeful of getting that picture perfect photo of the mountainous terrain and glacial valleys purportedly lining the waterway. The jagged peaks and the hanging glaciers ranging down the mountainside were mostly shrouded in fog and though there was a diaphanous quality about the panorama it was difficult to experience the grandeur so often described by the poets and naturalists.
After the time consuming process of unloading and loading the vehicles and cargo we plowed onward to Juneau with a scheduled arrival of around 9:00 pm. By now I was ready to tuck in and was delighted when I awoke the next morning to blue sky and sunshine. I had totally missed the port-of-call of Juneau and now we were only a couple hours out of Sitka. I had been obsessing about the docking and vehicle loading process as my room was right over the cargo entrance door on the main deck below and the capstans were right below my window on the starboard side of the deck. At the previous port, the deploying and securing of the mooring lines, then 2-3 hours later the process of releasing and rewinding of the massive ropes, and the clattering the vehicles rolling on the metal ramp was quite a clangorous process. I doubt it was a quiet process so I must have been dead to the world soothed by the gentle vibrations and hum of the engines.
After arising and a K- cup of coffee, I found the early morning splendor of lush foliage, serene waters, a blushing sky and veils of mist over the islands was truly mesmerizing. Though we were now south of the higher jagged peaks and most of the mountains now lacked the ragged edges and snowy crowns of their northern sisters, I found them nonetheless captivating and elegant with the softer undulating shapes, the verdancy of forest-clad mountains, the rugged coastal reaches of Tongass National Forest,
As we approached the port of Sitka, I made an executive decision to forgo a venture into town as our time in port was to be 3 hours and I definitely had my fill of the carbon copy tourist focused establishments while in Skagway. A Sitka adventure necessitated getting a public bus or taxi and ’twas not my idea of an inspiring exploration when I could sit on deck port side and drink in the beauty of Baranof Island and watch the Celebrity Eclipse glide through the channel on its way south .
Upon motoring out of Sitka around one pm, the waters remain tranquil for the rest of the day and the seaside views were an ongoing visual treat of a rolling landscape adorned with conifer forest , and clouds casting their mirrors image on the water. Towards days end while sitting at my window table in the restaurant, the sky became a pallet of orange and gold though it felt a bit ominous that the dense dark cloud banks did not take on any of the hues of the setting sun. I rested well having had a joyous day filled with eye candy.
I sleeping soundly and never awakened to the rumbling sounds of the activity at the two nighttime ports-of-call : Petersburg and Wrangell. We were enveloped in a dense fog and I guess it had been too much to hope for to have more than 0ne sunny day. This was the only port, Ketchikan, that I was opting to visit other than Skagway where I boarded. I was enthused as I had visited this town about fifteen tears ago and found it charming. I hopped on a city bus to get downtown as it was about 3 miles from the ferry dock. I was glad for the circuitous route of the bus as it travelled through many part of the town.
It didn’t take long once downtown before the jostling masses, thus needing to weave my way through the sheer numbers of shoppers, got the best of me and after taking a couple of photos of sights I remembered, the Gilmore Hotel which I stayed in 2007 and Eagle Park (not much had changed in 16 years), I was ready to skip town.
I had decided a nice brisk walk back to the ferry was in order. The boardwalk meandered past many tourist shops, boutiques, and eating establishments initially and eventually turned broken sidewalk and passed local business and the boat harbors and dockyards. There was a certain charm to the city with so many of it dwelling perched high on the rock coast but I was saddened by the huge similarity between all of the centers of these port cities with the plethora of jewelry store, souvenir shops, and eateries.
The “best” part of the walk was laboriously trudging many flights of stairs to Water Street for an elevated perspective of the harbor area. It was not the expansive view I was hoping for but nonetheless it was the best quad workout I have had in a while.
During the meander back to the Columbia, I wanted to experience the heartbeat of the other industries in addition to tourism frenzy contributing to the economy of Ketchikan as I viewed docked along the harbor colorful fishing boats, cruise ships, yachts, ship yards , cargo container storage lots, and local businesses.
Departing Ketchikan around 5:00 pm, we would be “at sea” for the next 40hours as there were no additional docking until the final destination of Bellingham Washington. The scene out of Ketchikan was similar to the entry with the coastline shrouded in clouds and fog.
With fewer distractions, the following day was time to catch up on some reading and writing. Since there was no wi-fi available on the Alaska Maritime Ferries and very few spots with cell phone reception, it was a time for reflection, relaxing on deck as the day eventually turned out beautiful blue skies and scenery of forested islands and undulating mountain with rounded contours, an occasional jagged peak punched in between and shimmering ripples on the water. Overall the day’s journey was one of serene beauty and had calming hypnotic effect.
The tranquility of the evening was enhanced by a sky artistically painted with hues of tangerine, gold and orange, the moon’s reflection on the water , and the lights of the cities dancing along the shore. But it was time to get down to the business of preparing for the off-loading the following morning. The evening car deck call was an opportunity to start transferring all of the not essential items that had mysteriously accumulated in the cabin, so as to facilitate the exit of the myriad of motorized vehicles the following morning. Being quite near Miss Priss’ maritime domicile was a huge advantage as lines of people were traipsing down the stairs or waiting for the elevator with there massive suitcases, coolers, backpacks, and made in China treasures from the ports …
The very loud speaker broadcasting through the ship greeted us around 5:30 am and forceful banging on the door to hopefully awaken any stragglers who might be malingering and not ready to hop into their vehicles and tear out of the belly of the ferry upon docking, assured me that I would shortly arrive in Bellingham. Heeding the first summons to get ready, I was able to buy a cup of coffee and experience the a golden sunrise as we approached the Bellingham-Fairhaven Harbor.
I would soon be on the road to Salem Oregon to spend the week-end with my daughter and grandchildren, but savored the final moments of this nautical adventure. There was no Ruby Princess in Bellingham nor would I have traded my adventure on the Alaska maritime ferry Columbia for a berth on the Ruby Princess. Despite all the amenities a large cruise ship could provided, the fewer distractions of a simpler vessel like the ferries was a fitting way to end my journey of living in “The Last Frontier”, so named because of its remoteness from the “lower 48″states, as well as its rough environment and climate,
Uniquely Theo 