By Kathryn H. Kidd
Photography by Clark L. Kidd
People
who have cruised Alaska will tell you that there is no greater travel adventure.
Nowhere is the air clearer, the mountains bigger, or the skies
more endless. Every breath you take in Alaska will tell you that
you’re far away from the land that is usually under your feet
and the air that you usually breathe. When you turn the corner
on a trail you have the sense that you’re the only person for
thousands of miles, even if downtown is only a block or two away.
And when you look over the railing of a ship and see a hundred
dolphins swimming in the waters beneath you, you somehow have
a feeling that they came to the surface just to commune with you.
The quiet of a crisp Alaska morning is unlike anything you may
have experienced for decades. And nothing can beat the startled
look of a moose if you come across one in the road, or the sight
of a bear scampering away after you have disturbed him on his
fishing expedition.
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| A
mountain lake between Skagway and Carcross, in the Yukon,
smells as piney fresh as it looks. On this mountain road,
a photo taken in any direction is as pretty as a jigsaw
puzzle picture. |
David
A. Christensen will lead LDS singles to Alaska for an eight-day
adventure on May 29, 2005, and Church members of all ages will
have the opportunity to sail through Alaska’s Inside Passage and
even see the British city of Victoria, British Columbia, together
on a June 26 expedition.
Every
trip to Alaska offers an opportunity to learn something new.
On one trip you may concentrate on wildlife. On another trip,
you may want to explore the Tlingit culture (pronounced CLINK-it)
– or even the Russian culture, because Alaska was once owned by
Russia and you can still find remnants of its Russian ancestry
in some Alaska cities. On another trip, you may want to pan for gold.
On another trip, you can concentrate on the scenery.
But
most people only visit Alaska once in a lifetime, and it’s great to know you can
do everything at once. Your cruise ship will take you from one
exciting destination to another. All you have to do is walk off
the ship and you’ll find yourself immersed in a different culture
every morning. Of course, there is always the temptation to just
stay on the cruise ship and enjoy the fine food and the view of
the scenery from the deck of the ship. But if you venture off
the ship you’ll find a different adventure every time you set
foot on land.
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A
new stop on the Alaska routes is in Prince Rupert, British
Columbia. |
The
scenery in Alaska is spectacular. You may not go to Alaska with
the expectation of seeing giant ferns and other primeval vegetation,
but you’ll see them. You’ll also smell land that is fresher than
anything you may have ever inhaled before. On a recent shore
excursion in the Yukon, we got off the bus to inhale air that
smelled just as strong and as fresh as the “piney mountain scent”
air fresheners. Who knew air really smelled like that? Our tour
guide joked that he kept an 80-pound aerosol can of pine air freshener
strapped to the back of the bus, and released a spray of it every
time we stopped.
Depending
on where you are in Alaska, you can explore glaciers, fish for salmon, eat some
fresh-caught salmon that has been cooked over the coals, look
for bears or moose, pan for gold, shop for souvenirs, or even
just sit back and breathe that mountain air. Despite the advertisements
that show impossibly healthy and fit people frolicking on glaciers
and kayaking in the wilderness, you do not even have to be healthy
and fit to enjoy the beauties that Alaska has to offer. You can
have a great time sitting on a bench out in the open air in Juneau or Skagway and watching the world go by. Or you can
take boat trips that will allow you to sit in the comfort of your
boat and nibble on snacks while your guide takes you to see eagles
or lighthouses or whales. If you have enough energy to shop but
not to walk to the shops and then do the shopping, you can get
on trolleys in Juneau that will allow you to get on and off as
often as you like. When you’re resting between shopping excursions,
you can listen to the guide tell you little-known facts about
the city that is right outside your window.
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Downtown
Juneau celebrates its gold rush heritage as well as its
status as the state capital of Alaska. |
This
is not to say that Alaska is only for the sedate, however. You can bicycle down
mountains or hike on glaciers or kayak down rivers – just like
the beautiful people do in the television advertisements. You
can go fishing for 300-pound halibut, or try your luck against
whatever salmon are in season. There is enough to do in Alaska
to satisfy anyone, young and old alike. In fact, there’s so much
to do in Alaska that an Alaska cruise is an ideal opportunity
for your family’s reunion or for a get-together with old friends.
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This
old fishery off Prince Rupert offers spectacular water and
mountain views. |
Once
you’re in Alaska, you’ll learn things that only people who have
been to Alaska usually know. You’ll find out that you can name the
major species of Alaskan salmon by looking at your hand. Your
thumb stands for chum. Your pointy index finger stands for sockeye,
because apparently that’s what Alaskans think is about to happen
when they see that outstretched finger. Your middle finger is
the king; your ring finger stands for the silver salmon, and your
pinkie stands for pink. You’ll also learn that in the salmon
hierarchy, sockeye is the best and pinkie (at least according
to the locals) is cat food.
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The
hand in a Skagway window shows how to name the five species
of Alaska salmon by counting them off on your fingers. |
Looking
up in the trees, you’ll see white golf balls if your eyesight
is good enough. That’s how you find mature bald eagles. You’ll
see a lot of those golf balls in Alaska. In fact, a pair of binoculars
should be on your packing list and the packing list of your travel
companions. If you’re going to look for the wildlife, you’ll
want to see it to its best advantage.
You
don’t even have to get off the ship to see the Alaskan wildlife.
It’s not unusual to see schools of dolphins that number a hundred
or more, right off the side of the ship. You can see humpback
whales or even orcas, sometimes with their calves in tow, following
you as you eat breakfast on an upper deck. The Alaska itineraries
that go to Glacier Bay offer an amazing opportunity for the ship
to get up close to the glaciers as they “calve,” dropping icebergs
off into the bay. You’ll never forget the gunshot sound of the
glaciers calving, or the sight of sea lions and otters lazing
around on the ice floes in the cold water of the bay.
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A
view off the top deck of the Norwegian Spirit shows some
of the glaciers visible in Tracy Arm. |
Another
thing you’ll never forget is the blue of glacier ice, or the green
of glacier water. Seeing the color in glaciers and glacier water
is somewhat like seeing the waters of the Caribbean, in that if
you see pictures without seeing them live and in person, you naturally
assume that the color in the photographs can’t possibly be accurate.
A few years ago, the big Alaska souvenir in Alaska was “glacier
ice,” which was topaz that had been heat-treated until the color
was impossibly blue. That’s the color of a glacier, as you’ll
learn for yourself on an Alaska cruise.
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The
water of Tracy Arm reflects the green of melted glaciers. |
There
are only two requirements for enjoying a trip in Alaska. For
one thing, you have to be willing to take a little chilly air.
When you’re cruising past a glacier, with all that wind blowing
off the ice and onto the deck of your ship, you’re going to get
cold. We always take our heaviest coats to Alaska, with ear bands
and gloves to wear when we’re cruising Glacier Bay. Although
it seems silly to be packing heavy coats in August, once we’re
on the cruise people will invariably come up to us and envy our
winter gear. But that’s only when we sail past the glaciers.
The rest of the time, the weather is no more bracing than on a
crisp autumn day. A flannel shirt is usually all the protection
you’ll need from the legendary Alaska chill. And if you want
to avoid that glacier ice, all you have to do is watch the glaciers
from inside the ship. That’s what those terrific picture windows
are for.
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Juneau
gondolas offer a terrific view of the harbor, when it isn't
obscured by low-hanging clouds. |
The
other requirement for enjoying Alaska is a tolerance for – or
even a love for – rain. People who haven’t done their research
are surprised to learn that Alaska is part of a rainforest. The
rain is what makes that Alaska air so clean and the scenery so
lush. One city that is featured on every Alaska cruise, Ketchikan,
has as many as 300 rain days per year, and accumulates as much
as 18 feet of rain yearly. Some days the rain consists of a brief
shower or two. Other days you’re not going to have a glimpse
of sun. Although many people visit Alaska without ever seeing
a drop of rain, the chance that you’re going to be caught in a
rainstorm in Alaska is better than good. In fact, rain is part
of the adventure. If the thought of rain puts a crimp in your
day, go to the sunny Caribbean (but not during the rainy season).
No Bad Time to Visit
There
is no bad time during the cruising season to take an Alaska cruise.
Some people say that there are mosquitoes in June, or that there’s
too much infernal sun in July, or that the salmon stink in August,
or that it’s just too cold in May and September. We’ve been to
Alaska all those months and have never experienced anything but
happy times. We’ve never been bitten by a mosquito in Alaska.
That infernal July sun grows pansies that are six inches across.
(The record for a dahlia in Skagway was 22 inches across, which
must have been something to see.) Some of the most beautiful
flowers in the world are in Anchorage in July, even though Fourth
of July fireworks are worthless in the land of the Midnight Sun.
We’ve never smelled stinky salmon in August, and the two warmest
times we’ve ever been to Alaska were in September. In fact, we
prefer September because that’s the end of the cruising season
and souvenirs are up to 80 percent off the peak-season prices
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The
gondola in Juneau goes from the pier through the mist, ending
at a museum that teaches tourists about the Tlingit culture. |
One
time of year that would be great for an Alaska cruise would be
around August 12, when the Perseid meteor shower illuminates the
night sky. If your ship were closer to Vancouver than up north
at that time, and if you could find a place on the ship that was
not illuminated by shipboard lights, and if the weather cooperated
with you, you could see up to 50 meteors per hour. But truth
be told, there’s not a time during the cruising season when you
wouldn’t have the time of your life on an Alaska cruise. Whether you’re studying the totem poles in Ketchikan or learning the sad tale of Dead Horse Gulch in Skagway, your Alaska cruise will be the vacation of a lifetime
for you and the people you love.
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The
Norwegian Sky docked in Haines, Alaska, with lights beckoning
its passengers to come aboard. |
