Alaska Inner Passage Cruise, July 26 – August 2, 2023
Juneau near the dock was a bit of a shock for us. There were numerous stores owned by various cruise companies selling primarily jewelry. We had to get pretty far from the dock to begin to get a feel for Juneau.
Arriving at the dock in Juneau. Several cruise ships have already beaten us there.
A waterfall near town.
There was a gondola ride to the top of Mount Roberts overlooking Juneau. We did not partake.
Juneau from the ship. The tourguides told us repeatedly that the only way to get here is by air, or by sea, or being born here.
The dock at Juneau
William poses by the totem pole and the “welcome to Juneau” sign.
We had lunch at the Hangar on the Wharf. Note the seaplane model in the background.
Russians are still a large part of the community in Juneau.
The church was very tiny. The man to the left was building a new walkway.
When the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands during World War II, the US Government removed Aleut residents and moved them to internment camps, where 10% of them died.
Inside the church, there were no pews.
The icons had a traditional Russian look.
The walls were lavishly decorated with icons.
More icons.
We walked on to the nearby state capitol, where this bell was displayed in front.
The state capitol portico was the only ornamentation on the building, reputed to be ugliest state capitol building in the country.
William Henry Seward bought Alaska from the Russians (though he should have considered asking the original residents their opinion).
Bear sculpture (with salmon) near the state capitol. This is the only bear we photographed, though Elaine did see one later that evening from our bus. The bear was walking at the roadside.
We took a bus from Juneau that went past the Mendenhall glacier to this lovely boat in Auke Bay, where they served us dinner and took us whale watching.
Orcas were the first whales we spotted. They are unusual in this part of Alaska at this time of year. Climate change?
State law required that our boat stay 300 feet from the whales unless we were stopped and they approached us. These orcas were about 300 feet away.
Orcas can be recognized by their tall dorsal fin. Our guide thought this was a female’s fin, because it is smaller than a male’s would be.
The orcas did approach another whale-watching boat nearby.
Sea lions take it easy on a buoy.
This is a glimpse of a mother and calf humpback whales. They did breach earlier, but only a few people on our boat saw it.
We were lucky that the whales hung around for a while.
State law puts a time limit on how long boats can stop and watch the whales. As we pulled away Elaine saw the baby humpback whale’s tale come out of the water. This picture just shows the fin.
Back in Juneau at the dock.
Sunset as we pulled away from Juneau
Our favorite spot on the ship – the Crow’s Nest, where we could look out and watch for whales.
