"He says Lituya Bay is full of ice and we won't be able to land." I sat in the copilot's seat in shock. The float plane was over Lake Crillon and we would reach Lituya Bay in minutes, expecting to land and begin a week of wilderness adventure. Seems the adventure was already in full swing. "I'm on the radio with another pilot and he says it was clear yesterday but today it is full of ice." I mumbled into the headset microphone, "He's pulling your leg Cable." Where could that much ice come from? We'd walked the faces of both [View Full Entry]

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Folks ask me all the time "When is the best month to go to Alaska... Wild flowers start to bloom in late April and never stop until the snow flies. There is not a "best month for the flowers". Each of the summer months adds something different to the mix and I would hate to try to say which is the best. We have resident whales in Alaska. The migratory whales start arriving in April and don leave again until October. There is not a "best month" for the whales. The glaciers calve (thats what its called when the front edge [View Full Entry]

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Hi, This is the first of my blogs on travel to Alaska and I thought I'd start out by explaining why I have chosen to do this. In talking with friends all over the Lower 48 I have been amazed that people who have gone to Alaska once or maybe twice consider themselves "experts" on Alaska. They'll tell you what the weather is going to be like in June and that the bugs are bad at such and such a time. The point is that having lived in Alaska for over 35 years I know that you had better not generalize [View Full Entry]

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Hey peeps hope everyone is doing well. Just some updates in the life of Fergus. So I joined the Island Princess about a months and a half ago and things having been going pretty good. I'm doing seven day cruising out of Alaska right now. What does that mean. It means a lot of work for me. We do stop in some beautiful places though. Alaska is really amazing once you get past all of the shitty tourist parts of it. Like everywhere you go on a cruise ship there is a big industry built around it. So when you get [View Full Entry]

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Many people have strong beliefs in the symbolism of numbers. For instance there were a record number of marriages in Las Vegas on 09/09/09. Since we are already married we opted to begin a cruise on that auspicious day. We hope it bodes well for a great 102 day journey. After a fine summer of being with family and friends we decided what better way to continue meeting up with the rest of my siblings that via ship. We bid farewell to Judy and left our car with her and plan to see my brother Steven in Auckland in late November [View Full Entry]

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Excursion Ridge, it looks so close. On a clear day you can see individual trees quite well from Gustavus. “Let's go there! How hard could it be?” Turns out it can be quite hard. Getting to the top of Excursion has a local history of colorful tales of slow uphill struggle and overnight bivouacs on steep wet slopes. There's no trail but there's nothing technical. It is more like bushwhacking at the edge of “Why are we doing this???” Imagine standing on a steep wet slope, reaching your arm straight out and your fingertips just touch the soil that is the [View Full Entry]

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I like statistics, so let's start with these: Number of days traveling: 28 Number of days that I had the top down on the Miata: 28 (even the three mostly-rainy days on my trip had periods when I was able to put the top down) Miles driven: 6260 (10,075 kilometers) Total trip miles including ferry travel: 6740 (10,847 kilometers) Total hours driving: about 145 (based on average speed of 45 MPH) Amount of gas used on trip: about 250 gallons (946 liters) Number of times I stopped for gas: about 45 (metric units = 45) Numbe [View Full Entry]

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Mud, and plenty of it. It is not so easy, getting to the Brady Glacier... The Taylor Bay intertidal is a place to tread lightly, very lightly. Craig and I learned this a couple years ago when we tried to paddle up the eastern tributary at low tide. Quicksand, more accurately 'quickmud' is alive and waiting for you in the low intertidal. When our kayak 'grounded' out we tested the bottom by probing with the paddle shaft. It just kept going down, slowly, into the watery mud. We managed to back up and reach shore but hiking upstream and pack-rafting across [View Full Entry]

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It’s another early morning start today when [url=http://myitchytravelfeet.com/2009/09/09/cruising-vancouver-to-singapore-regent-seven-seas-mariner/] Mariner goes exploring in Hubbard Glacier. Although Alan arrives in the Observation Lounge before 7 a.m., the prime window seats have already been saved with passengers’ cameras and coats. When I join Alan, Mariner is just entering Disenchantment Bay. On a clear autumn day, the Elias and Fairweather Mountain Ranges poke their glistening white peaks into a deep blue sky. Hubbard Glaciers jagged ice glows in the morning sun. [View Full Entry]

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Since Matt and I didnt really get a honeymoon just the two of us, we decided to take advantage of a last minute cruise deal up to Alaska. It was easy to do, since we could just drive downtown and hop on, so we decided to go for it! We had beautiful sunny weather on our departure day of Sunday August 30th. We were able to bask in the sun on the top deck and wave goodbye as we sailed under the Lions Gate Bridge and out into the open ocean. The water just sparkled and it looked so beautiful as [View Full Entry]

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