Reflections of Alaska
September 2007
Weather
We awoke to rain and more high winds and only one cruise ship. Skagway will be very different today. I believe that weather affects the way you feel about a place. If the sun is shining, I love it. If it’s raining, I take a harder, usually harsher look. Overall, we were told that the Alaskan weather we experienced was much better than last summer, but not as good as summers past. It rained a lot. It was never hot and seldom even very warm. But visibility was good, it wasn’t freezing, and eventually we learned to just ignore it and do whatever it was that we’d planned.
Alaska in reflection
It is beautiful here. Even in bad weather, it’s still beautiful. I finally understand why people want to live here, especially in the summer. Many of the SE Alaskans we’ve met are just summer residents, and while some head for Arizona come fall, many just go to Anchorage. Anchorage, ALASKA? For the winter? One lady explained to me that Alaska was her home, but she didn’t feel so isolated “up north” during the winter. If the weather is bad, like it was last year, you are pretty much stuck on the islands for days…or for WEEKS!
We are often asked what our favorite place was and we have a hard time coming up with just one. The big ports offer the services you need and a chance to stretch your legs and I don’t mind them at all. Of the big three, Ketchikan, Juneau and Sitka, I guess I like Sitka the best. The rich history, the easy to see and enjoy places of interest, restaurants, Hank’s taxi, and a good market, all make it a great port of call. Even the shops seem to offer different items to take home to loved ones.
Ketchikan is also a good stop, very convenient and the people at the harbor are really great. Juneau has it all, but it feels like a city, (it is a city, the state Capitol). Auke Bay at the other end of town and Douglass across the bay from downtown Juneau are great little towns and residents can function away from the tourist corridor. I think they are all worthy of a stop and interestingly, those are the harbors that are always full, so we are not alone in our thinking. They all have good airports, and secure harbors, so they are great places for crew changes and to leave for a quick trip “home”.
The smaller towns, Petersburg, Wrangell, Craig, Haines and Hoonah, are all good stops. Petersburg is well described in the guide books and it is lovely. Wrangell is not bad, nice people, good espresso bars, okay market, and an interesting fishing harbor. Craig we only saw briefly, but met a boater who has spent over 30 summers there and loves it. A quick walk revealed a good market, convenient post office, nice bookstore and coffee shop. Lots of fish boats. Glacier Bay, the park stands alone in its grandeur, although I did not love Gustavus, but probably due to the incredibly high taxi rates - we expected more than a few roadside stores after paying $30 per person RT for a short few mile ride.
Our two favorites were Hoonah and Haines, and for different reasons. Hoonah is great because Paul the harbormaster is very friendly and always has a good story to tell. We like the variety of people who live and visit there. The market and hardware store are good. The Icy Straight Point enterprise at what our charts call Cannery Point is a nice walk and it’s enjoyable to browse thru the exhibits featuring the Alaskan fishing industry, then and now…it’s all kind of Disney World, but with a nice local flavor. We see the same people we meet at the Laundromat (in the Harbor office) working at the stores; one gal served us down at the Lodge, then again the next day at Icy Straight. We were in and out of Hoonah three times, Paul said if we came in again, we had to register to vote.
And Haines. I just loved Haines. I can’t say for sure why, but we found it just delightful, a very livable town. We stayed for a few days, and rented a car and took a good look around. It is spectacularly beautiful, surrounded by snow capped mountains, with waterfalls and peeks of glaciers. It felt whole to me. Complete. It’s a nice little harbor, bigger boats probably have to anchor out, but we were the only pleasure boat in…(and this in late July!) so they tied us up near the gas dock. We were there for great weather and lots of rain too. We were there when a cruise ship was in, and on a day when no ships were in. There are other travelers who make their way to Haines as it is connected by road to the Yukon and mainland Alaska. Maybe that is what I like; I don’t think I would get ‘Rock Fever’ like I would in Ketchikan. There is a health food store (Mountain Market) that is fantastic, and a mini brewery that makes awesome beer. It’s hard to find, and you are sure you have it wrong, but the Haines Brewing Company is just outside of the town. Buy a “growler” a big jug of beer, but be prepared to drink it in 24 hours as it does go flat. We liked the spruce tip brew and something so dark and thick it made Guinness seem like a light ale. We German/Irish like our beer. I could probably live in Haines….in the summer anyway.
And don’t miss the little ports like Elfin Cove and Pelican as they are postcard perfect. There are many good anchorages, but I guess we especially liked Boat Harbor and found Ell Cove just heavenly.
Cruise Ships and the other travelers
Every cruiser we meet has a thought about cruise ships…and they aren’t usually favorable. Here’s my take;
When we first came into Ketchikan and saw all those huge cruise ships we were less than thrilled with so many thousands of people crowding the (our) little harbor. We encountered them in all the popular ports and they do carry a lot of people. It was quite different when we took our Alaskan cruise in 1979 - we were on the very small ship the Veendam with dear friends and most often we were the only ship in port, so while we only unloaded a few hundred people, there can be 10,000 people a day now.
But, somewhere along the way, I changed my mind about them. First of all, we cruisers can choose isolated anchorages. When the ship comes in, we can be at a secure anchorage in a few hours. So I realized that we are choosing to be in port to take advantage of all those benefits that come with tourism and stopped being so possessive of this beautiful place.
And honestly, I do get caught up in the enthusiasm of the travelers. It is a big deal for most of them - the trip of a lifetime and they have great energy. They love Alaska, the shops, the activities, fishing and flight seeing. They are happy and having a great time. When I ask servers and people in “cruise ship” towns, most of them have a good attitude about it, realizing that without tourism, and specifically cruise ships, they would be without work and would not be able to live there.
Like it or not, Alaska needs tourism and we are reminded of that daily. Naturally, Alaskans, particularly Southeastern Alaskans are divided on the subject. But something had to replace logging, canneries and the like and the cruise ships have, for now, provided jobs.
The great thing about tourism is that they come and then go away. The season is relatively short, and then you get your town back. It’s like that in our small resort town, Big Bear Lake, CA. If we didn’t have tourism, we would not have the markets, restaurants - the jobs - that we have.
There are very real issues about the ships in SE Alaska, like the proliferation of cruise ship owned jewelry shops that dominate the main streets, and are owned and staffed with workers who are not from the local town, and who may even board up the shops 7 months a year, making the town look forlorn and abandoned. But more and more the locals are getting organized and proudly display the “Locally owned and operated” signs in the windows. Most travelers want mementos that were created in the places they visited, not the same stuff they can buy on board or in any other cruise ship port of call.
You can tell I was a travel agent for years can’t you? Defending their right to Be. But, now I must confess, I just hate traveling on big cruise ships, they are not my thing. I don’t think they look like boats anymore, no graceful lines, and they are just too big with too many people for me. I would only go on one again if it were a large reunion with people I want to be with and love, and that after trying to talk them into something else! Picky picky Jo.
And yes, I admit, my favorite picture of Skagway was in the evening, not one car or person on Broadway…it looked like a well kept ghost town. And of course I love best the frontier feeling small towns without ships, the ones filled real characters. But that’s what we both like about Alaska; it breeds real characters, and character in those that appear “normal”.
