lifestyle

The last frontier

What a fantastic trip! Forget those huge cruise ships that hold thousands of people, Uncruise is the way to go. Our little ship had a total of 64 passengers. We were able to go places the big ships could never dream of going. It’s all inclusive, so you don’t feel like you’re getting nickel-and-dimed to death. Every day you pick a morning and afternoon activity. The choices were kayaking, bushwhacking/hiking, skiff ride, meandering along the shoreline, and one day they even had a snorkeling option. Depending on the activity it could be anywhere from one to three hours long. The food was excellent and the drinks always flowing at the bar. Yes it’s more expensive, but well worth it, and this is coming from a guy who’s frugal.

We saw so much wildlife, but my iPhone couldn’t capture them like the professional cameras on board.

Humpback whales
Dall’s porpoise
Sea lions
Harbor seals
Sea otters
Coastal brown bears, which are quite a bit bigger than the black bears we’ve seen in Mammoth and Tahoe.
Moose
Mountain goats
Marmot
One of the craziest things was two Sitka black-tailed deer swimming a long ways from one island to another. That was something none of us had ever seen, even our guide.
Bald eagles
Ravens
We also got four new birds: Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Black Oystercatcher, and the super cool looking Tufted Puffin.

In the most enduring and loving way we were referring to the crew as a group of misfits. They were awesome! Every single one of them. It speaks volumes about the culture of Uncruise that all the employees were able to be themselves. Straight, gay, transgender, crazy hair color, piercings, whatever! Everyone was accepted and quite excellent at their jobs.

I knew it was going to be a special trip when on the first morning, while sipping coffee in our cabin, and looking out the open window I saw a whale spout, then watched it breach. I saw the fluke! Amazing!

A super geeked up Dianni and Tony.

Our first morning we took the skiff to Dawes Glacier. Wow! We saw multiple calving events. The sight of huge chunks of glacier falling was incredible and the sound was loud and distinct. The experience was something we will never forget.

Heading towards Dawes Glacier

Closer

As close as we could get and still be safe. The face of the glacier is 600 feet high and half mile wide.

A video of the waves after a calving.

Three very happy people

We lucked out big time on the weather. Days two and three were perfect.

The dinners were the fancy small portion style with a waiter. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style.

9pm and the sun was still setting!

Banana slug

Our first bushwhack was in an area that had been clear cut 40 years ago. It was a tough introduction to bushwhacking…

…but we made the most of it and the whole group laughed as we struggled up and down terrain that sunk and broke easily.

We came in early on an unguided kayak day and Amelia for the first time ever got on a stand up paddle board. The picture shows the fantail of the boat with rollers where the kayaks easily launch and dock.

Doug, the guy in charge of all the guides, paddled around the boat with Amelia.

The Widerness Discoverer and my wife

After dinner on day three they had a special secret treat for us. We went through that gap…

…into the Red Bluff Bay of Baranof Island…

… where the water was beautiful and calm.

Eventually we came upon a 700 foot waterfall. It was the first time all season that they were able to do it, prior to this the sea was too rough. We really lucked out with the weather.

Video!

It was amazing how close the captain got to the falls.

The sun was setting after 10pm and rising around 3:45am. So between dusk and dawn there was only about three hours of darkness.

One afternoon we opted for meandering the shoreline. It was quite enjoyable going slow and really looking at everything. It’s also one of Amelia’s favorite things to do.

We saw a huge pile of bear scat that our guide determined to be a couple hours old.

Chocolate Lillies

Alaskan Violet

Lapland Rosebay

Skunk Cabbage. Bears actually don’t hibernate like other mammals. They go into a state called torpor. They can wake up if they need to, but rarely do. While in torpor they develop a fecal plug, composed of feces, dead intestinal cells, hair, and bedding material, that acts as a natural plug to keep the den clean. When Spring comes and they start moving around they will eat the skunk cabbage. It works as a laxative so it blows out the fecal plug.

Lush temperate rain forest vegetation

Moss laden tree

Another day on the water

Reflections are so cool.

I kept hearing the first bushwhack was a dud compared to the other ones, so I tried it again with Tony. It was much more enjoyable. The girls had some time away from us and did a bushwhack lite.