Alaska Marine Ferry

Aboard the ferry, saying farewell to Haines...and Alaska.

 But what a great day for a boat ride!

 One of many glaciers we passed...this one with a waterfall.

I enjoyed seeing the various homes along the shore...some only accessible by sea or air.

 Can you see the home in the center...this shows the setting.

 And here's the house.

 We passed lighthouses,

 Watched Dall Porpoises,

 Another lighthouse,

 perched on an island.

 This glacier is near Juneau...our first stop.

 Three whales....tails.

 Three humpbacks.

 Approaching Juneau. That's Mendenhall Glacier in the background.

 A private yacht.

In Juneau we got off the ferry and walked to this creek where salmon were spawning.

 Two adult and two juvenile bald eagles were there. (Only 1 adult in this photo.)

 The creek was full of wiggling salmon.

 A juvenile bald eagle just caught one. We watched him hop to shore on one foot while dragging the salmon in his other....funny.

 The other adult was standing watch at the top of a tall tree.

 Back aboard the ferry we watched the sunset off the stern.

 And off the bow, the moonrise.

In the morning we were supposed to be in Wrangell, but heavy fog had delayed the ferry at Petersburg.

 It was also low tide and a very narrow channel to navigate. So when we did get underway, a spotter stood on the bow.

 We looked at more houses along the coast.

 Saw a pair of Pigeon Guillemots.

 More scenery.

 We watched a lot of gulls and tried to identify them.

 I'm not sure if Birdie figured them out or not....I gave up trying.

 More houses...some small and modest,

 Some fancier,

 But all with the same gorgeous setting.

 A float plane flew over.

The Coast Guard requires the crew to do a man-overboard drill once a week. So we got to watch them lower a lifeboat to do a rescue. (Note...no live passenger was endangered in this drill.)

 Getting ready to be hoisted back aboard.

 Securing the lines.

 Lifting the lifeboat.

 And back aboard ship. Everyone survived.

 Very little time was spent in Wrangell as we were running late after the fog. 

 And it was getting dark by the time we reached Ketchikan. 

 Everyone should ride the ferry...at least once in a Blue Moon.

 Sunset on our last day in Alaska.

We arrived at Prince Rupert at 3 a.m. and successfully disembarked. We drove outside the city and stopped at a Rest Area to wait for daylight.