Road Scholar, “Alaska Up Close”

When asked, “Did the trip meet up with my expectations”, I said…  Well, I expected lots of rain all the time, I expected clouds of mosquitoes, and I expected cold weathewr, even to the point of snow on some days. So I had to admit that the trip did NOT meet up with my expectations. Put another way, I hoped there would be at least some days when I could see the mountain tops (there were LOTS), I hoped for some days free of mosquitoes (I saw a few mosquitoes on only one day), and although the days were often cool on deack, it often gor up into the sixties. And no snow. The scenery was fantastic, the food was absolutely super, the crew was helpful and pleasant, and I loved every moment of it! So the trip did exceed my hopes and expectations. We had unusually splendid weather, super clear September days, a bit of easy rain for a couple of hours on a few days.

Floating ice from a nearby glacier

Glacier close up. Actually we were allowed to get no closer than one quarter of a mile. We watched huge hunks “calf” into the sea. We listened to the glacier groan and squeak and grunt.

Some of the wild life we saw

Another bit of wildlife we saw.  A whale breached close to our boat during the dinner hour. I was not looking in that direction, so I missed it. But we did see plenty of whales.

We cruised into the Tracy Arm, a dramatic waterway. Not too many years ago the whole place was filled with a glacier, which has since retreated into a North portion and a South portion.

Glacier terminating in the Tracy Arm, North portion.

Ice in the water prevented us from getting close to the South portion of the glacier terminating in the Tracy Arm. The glacier is barely visible in the distance.

We landed in Sitka, seen here through the airplane’s window. There are neither roads nor rail lines into Sitka. Everything comes by plane or boat.

Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Sitka. The Russians were there way before we were.

Cathedral in Sitka. Lots of icons.

We had fantastic weather. Trip was in September. They do this trip several times per year (in normal times), and our trip was the last for the season.

There we are, glacier in the background.

Road Scholar’s Inner Passage trip. Fabulous!