We made several stops on our way driving up to Alaska from Wisconsin (see previous posts) so had somewhat lost track of exactly how far we’d travelled. Spending 66 hours on 4 different ferries and a total of 5 full days getting from Haines, Alaska to Seattle, Washington reminded us just how far away America’s Last Frontier is from the lower 48.
That said, we had an awesome time on the ferries and saw many sights – including humpback whales, the proposed site of the infamous ‘bridge to nowhere,’ and more glaciers and fjords than you can shake a stick at (Rich loves this phrase).
Our favorite ferry was M/V Matanuska on which we spent 46 hours traveling from Juneau, AK to Prince Rupert, BC. Being hard-core (and stingy) as we are, we elected not to pay for a cabin and sleep on the top deck of the boat instead. Conditions on the upper deck have come a long way since ferry travelers from yesteryear snuggled up on the ground next to the bathrooms: we found ourselves a cozy spot on lawn chairs under the yellow glass and heat lamps of the Solarium.
The Solarium (with Carissa on her chair at the back left).
Carissa in her chair in our cozy Solarium.
From the comfort of our chairs we had a 180 degree view off the back of the boat (also used as a helicopter landing pad) at the sights going by. Normally this view was of the ocean, lighthouses, fjords, glaciers, and other natural wonders. But on one occasion was the Wrangell, AK high school girls’ volleyball team’s afternoon workout - that is, until one of the ship’s watchmen put an end to the fun after people eating in the cafeteria on the deck below complained about the thunderous pounding noises of squat-jumps. It turns out that if you live in southeast Alaska your nearest competitors may be a 1.5 day ferry ride away in cities which are often inaccessible by roads.
View from our chairs in the Solarium.
Rich at the end of the heli pad deck.
The ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy, BC was much fancier but did take us through waters where we saw a pod of humpback whales splashing about. Our final ferry from Victoria, BC to Anacortes, WA was uneventful and thus led Tommy, a 5 year old English boy sitting near us, to declare to his mom as we arrived in Washington “Mummy, I’m really sad we haven’t seen any Orcas” before he burst into tears.
Mortimer about to board the WA State Ferry "Chelan" in Victoria, BC.
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