It was so much fun to trade the hot desert red rocks for the cool Spruces and Glaciers of Alaska for a while. We enjoyed an inside passage cruise with my brothers and sisters and I really liked being so close to the wildlife the whole time. Yep, there are lots of trees, Spruces and Hemlocks that come right down to waters edge where you can see plenty of action as the tide goes up and down. Bald eagles are everywhere and so majestic whether flying, fishing, or just regally perched atop the trees. The end of every inlet or arm was a huge glacier which contributed plenty of blue icebergs. But my main quest was to see a real live whale in its natural habitat, and I sure succeeded. We had dozens of whale sightings from the ship, but it was a special “wildlife photo safari” with Gastineau Guiding that rewarded us with our most exciting experiences. We were able to watch some whales feeding, as they circled and lunged for schools of herring. I never knew their mouths were so big. One came closer and closer to our boat as we had our engine off, until our skipper had to fire up and back off just to stay out of the way. Pretty exciting stuff if you’ve never seen those big Humpbacks up close! Here’s a few photos.
Open wide for Herring
Eagles everywhere
Floating icebergs
White Pass and Yukon Railroad
Close encounters of the whale kind
Thank you for the beautiful photos. They brought back wonderful memories of our trip there; however I noticed
my photos looked quite different than yours! Talent perhaps?? Can’t wait to see you shift gears to the cools..