Ketchikan is our next stop. We learn of a popular local joke, a visitor to Ketchikan, speaking to a child. Visitor: “how long has it been raining?” Child: “I don’t know, I’m only 5.”

So, we did a “turnaround” day in Vancouver yesterday (well over 80 degrees F!). We are essentially combining back-to-back cruises, first from Juneau to Vancouver, and then a round trip out of Vancouver, per consecutive pix below. Some port duplications, but since all our shore excursions are wildlife searches or just scenery appreciation, the duplications don’t matter much.

Lunch. mmmmmmmm.

We participated in a wine tasting event….no extra charge for the show (humpback whale in the Princess Royal channel)

 

We’ve seen many American Bald Eagles (obvs our national bird), but this one was much closer and agreed to pose with our ship in the background

 

Love the jet-boats!

 

Took a tour into the wilds of BC today, with our stop in Prince Rupert. Wonderful old-growth forests with 600-year-old trees. Moss, ferns, lichens abound. Including a hemlock and cedar tree that formed a mixed marriage about a hundred years ago .

Our zodiac guide gave us the thumbs-up to taste the kelp growing on the rocks. Umm. Pretty much tasteless. Maybe sautéed with a little butter & garlic?

Yes, that tiny white speck in the tree, too far away for a proper photo (hi, Rob) is an American Bald Eagle, obvs our national bird. Seeing lots of them so far.

Not a bad view from our breakfast table this morning.

Icebergs, waterfalls…..all gorgeous.

In Wrangell today. We took a jet-boat to the LeConte glacier.

Nothing like a little 15,000-year-old glacier ice to make Happy Hour even a little happier.

“Fifty Shades of Grey”

Right off the bat, we’re on approach to our first glacier. We’ll be out on the zodiacs later today, woohoo! And maybe pick up some small iceberg pieces that float everywhere, to put in drinks.

Onboard, after an exceedingly frustrating day yesterday. The Juneau airport is about 10 minutes away from the cruise ship terminal, but it took us over 4 hours to board, mostly due to the 2-3 hour wait with the 10-minute Covid test. Fortunately everyone’s negative, and we had a grand dinner last night, so we’re off and running.

We just got off the flight from Anchorage to Juneau, now awaiting our transfer to the ship. Juneau is the state capital, and the only capital city which is not accessible by car, only air or sea. The locals are fond of saying they planned it that way, to keep the politicians isolated.

Our house-sitter Ralph reports that Sundance and little brother Butch don’t seem to be overly traumatized by our absence. The evidence appears to confirm that. 😍🐶😺

So, we have said goodbye to Denali national Park, and have returned to Anchorage. We were supposed to have taken a “flightseeing“ adventure today getting to Anchorage - a small plane that would’ve flown over glaciers and mountains, but the weather was bad enough that they had to cancel. Got really lucky with the day we saw Denali peaks, a little less lucky today. Denali is spectacular and we had a grand time, right down to the whimsical towels the hotel staff leaves in your room.

We’ll say goodbye to Denali tomorrow, but will remember the vistas for a long time.

Also an Alaskan ptarmigan. I’m not much for birds, so…..this is an Alaskan ptarmigan.

(this is what Dall sheep look like, if you can get close enough)

We also saw a grizzly bear, and several Dall sheep rams, although they were not cooperative enough to come close enough for decent photos. 😎

The bear was just wandering and foraging, and yes, those white specks at the summit are Dall sheep.

 

First sighting was the closest - a female moose right by the side the road.

So, the whole day was spent today exploring the interior of Denali National park.

We saw our share of wildlife, even though a few sightings were quite a distance away.  We’re told that viewing the actual peaks of The Denali mountain itself (previously known as Mt McKinley, highest mountain in North America), is less than 25% of the time, due to cloud cover.  Our previous two days have been rainy and gray and overcast, but we got lucky today, when it counted - the actual peaks showed themselves handsomely.  The mountains in these photos are over 45 miles away - and the distance between the north peak and the south peak is over two miles, just to fully understand the enormity. Photos below, in increasing zoom.

When I was in theater management, I wish we could have posted a sign like this:

aka “rode hard and put away wet”

There has been lots of rain lately.

So we raced around, slipping & sliding, barreling through 14-inch deep puddles, mud flying everywhere. It was glorious.

Dry Creek, the largest glacial moraine in North America

Mom is munching greens, you can see her calf to the right, disappeared moments later

 

Moose!

Next adventure today - we go off 4-wheeling into the gorgeous Denali wilderness. Here I am, dressed in layers & quilted jacket, astride my trusty steed.

Yep.