Exploring Alaska’s Coastline

Last month, we explored Alaska’s coastline while visiting on our cruise ship. In the previous fifteen years, the number one thing I have learned about Alaska’s coastline is that something is nearly always falling from the sky. This was true last year (2023) during our visit, especially in Valdez and Seward (also on Alaska’s coastline). Rain was also frequent last year while we were inland. This year (2024), like last year, we expected rain on Alaska’s coastline.

Our cruise to Alaska

We had a wonderful cruise to Alaska’s coastline, and the weather was exactly as expected. It rained every time we set foot on land. It wasn’t stormy, but it frequently rained, and at every port we visited, it rained constantly. While exploring Alaska’s coastline, we visited three of Alaska’s most important cities. We also stopped at a tiny cruise ship tourist location near a remote indigenous people’s village.

In this order, our visit included stops at Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Sitka, and Ketchikan. At the start of our cruise, after departing Seattle, we spent the first day and a half in transit to Juneau. In this article, I described how fantastic the cruise to Alaska’s coastline was. Our cruise to Alaska

The other article is about our visit to Glacier Bay. Here is a link to that article. Cruise in Glacier Bay National Park

Sitka, Ketchikan , and Juneau

Even though these cities are not in the order of our visit, this order makes sense to me. Sitka was the capital city of Alaska when the Russians claimed it. The Russians were in Alaska before the United States purchased it to trade for furs. Seal and sea otter furs were valuable. While in Sitka, the Russians frequently traded for furs. Sadly, they also spread diseases, and Alaska’s coastline lost thousands of native Alaskans in the pandemics of the early 1800s. The Russians sold Alaska to the United States as the fur trade was winding down in importance and before the discovery of gold. I cover the story in this article from last year. Russia Sold Alaska

Stika was the Russian capital of Alaska in 1867 when Russia Sold Alaska to the United States. We started visiting Sitka fourteen years ago. I recall four (maybe five) visits to Sitka during the last fourteen years. During our first visit, I was introduced to the local footwear called Sitka Sneakers, which are ankle-high rubber boots. Most locals wear Sitka Sneakers year-round and have several pairs of Sitka Sneakers. Over the last fourteen years of visits, we have had a few sunny days in Sitka, and during these sunny days, Sitka is beautiful. The mountains above the town are stunning. Most of the time (including when we visited on our cruise ship), it rains nearly daily.

Cruise ships are more common in Sitka now than when I first started coming to Sitka. The number one reason is that Sitka built a cruise ship terminal at the cargo docks a few miles to the west of town. Before this terminal was built, cruise ships had to anchor in Sitka Sound, and visitors had to ride tenders to and from town. From the cruise ship terminal, visitors board buses provided by the city to go to the downtown area by bus.

If you visit Sitka, I recommend you find your way to the Fortress of the Bear, a bear sanctuary east of town. I don’t recommend you take the cruise ship excursion to the Fortress of the Bear only because of the cost, but going to the Fortress of the Bear shouldn’t be missed. Find someone willing to show you around or take a cab. The distance is only a few miles.

Since we had already seen the Fortress of the Bear on previous visits and because it was raining, we went instead to the Totem Park, which is within walking distance of downtown. Along the way, we visited the Sitka National Historic Park.

Sitka and Ketchikan are on islands.

Sitka is on Baranof Island and Ketchikan is on Revillagigedo Island. Baranof Island is unsheltered from the open Pacific Ocean, whereas Revillagigedo Island is sheltered by Prince of Wales Island. All three islands are in the United States because Russia had trading posts on them, and ownership was transferred to the United States when Russia Sold Alaska to the United States in 1867.

Ketchikan

Ketchikan would be the first Alaska city if you were sailing north along the Canadian coastline. Prince Rupert, Canada, is the next city to the south along the coastline. Whereas Sitka was founded and associated with the trade in furs, Ketchikan was a fishing town. Following the border north of Prince Rupert, you will get to Stewart, Canada, and Hyder, Alaska. We visited both of these places while heading south in Canada. Going from Hyder to Stewart involved a border crossing and was the only place in Canada where we met a little resistance from the border guard. You can see the story in this post. Cassiar Highway is the wildest part of Canada.

Ketchikan Creek divides the city of Ketchikan, which is why it is at this location. Salmon use the creek to go upstream to spawn, and fishing for salmon near Ketchikan is famous.

Juneau is on the mainland.

There are no roads from Juneau to Canada, so we didn’t take our RV there during our 2023 visit to Canada and Alaska’s coastline. While we missed Juneau last year, we saw other cities along Alaska’s coastline.

Juneau is one of only two state capitals where you cannot drive your car from one capital to another. The other one is in Hawaii. There are four ways to get to Juneau, but I will only tell you three ways. You can travel to Juneau by boat, airplane, or foot. Walking from the nearest road in Canada would be very difficult, so that doesn’t count. So, I mentioned four ways. Other than boat, airplane, or foot, what is the other way you can get to Juneau?

Museums in Juneau

There are multiple museums in Juneau. We had our pick; we picked our visit to the Sealaska Heritage Institute primarily due to distance. We had already been wet to the bone on the prior day’s visit to Sitka and didn’t want to repeat that wet adventure, so we went to the Juneau museum closest to the cruise ship dock. This museum was right across the street from the Sealaska building, the statute in the top photo, and the three-sided totem pole (later in the article) were at the Sealaska building.

There are several other museums besides the Sealaska Heritage, and we had our pick. All were within walking distance of the cruise ship dock. Another thing we could have done is follow a path that would have led us to multiple totem poles. We probably would have done this on a nice sunny day, but I felt this would have been a repeat of our prior day’s adventure in Sitka. Have I mentioned that it is wet along Alaska’s coastline? I was trying to stay dry.

Last year, we visited some of the other more remote Alaskan cities connected to Canada, including Skagway, Haines, and the tiny town of Hyder. To get to each of these cities, we crossed on roads into Alaska (or departed from Alaska). Between Haines and Skagway, we even took the Alaska Marine “Highway” to get there. Here is a link to our Alaska adventures from 2023. Playlist FoxRVTravel Alaska.

Perhaps you would rather see the highlights instead of visiting the entire playlist of our Alaska adventures. Here is a link just for you. Our 2023 epic travel adventure

Visit the Mendenhall Glacier while in Juneau.

Another thing we could have done in Juneau was visit and walk on Mendenhall Glacier. We had already walked on glaciers in 2023 without doing it in a rainstorm, so it didn’t seem appropriate during our visit to Juneau. Ice is slick enough without a coating of rainwater. Besides, the next day, we were scheduled to be in Glacier Bay National Park, where we expected to see plenty of glaciers.

There are many other villages in Alaska that are not connected to the road system but rather to the Alaska Marine Highway, which I mentioned in my last post about our cruise to Alaska’s coastline.

Icy Strait Point

Icy Strait Point is on Chichagof Island. Unlike the previous cities (towns), It was built as an entertainment stop for cruise ships. It is next to the Tinglet village of Hoonah, Alaska. The Alaskan Native Huna Totem Corporation privately owns the location, and its entire purpose is to entertain cruise ship passengers. It is the only privately owned cruise destination in Alaska.

We didn’t participate in any of the adventures due to the cost and the rain. Riding in a gondola through a cloud isn’t on my list of fun things to do. However, the gondola ride to the top of the mountain probably has some fantastic views when it isn’t raining.

Totem Poles

The one thing that I can say about totem poles is that they are all monuments. That one thing is agreed upon. What the monument represents is often left to the imagination or interpretation. Sometimes, the totem is a monument to a notable person or event. Sometimes, it was carved as a memorial to someone who recently died. Other times, it might be a monument dedicated to victory. A totem might even ridicule a person or event.

Interesting facts about totems

Totems carved within the last two hundred years are much bigger than totems carved before the Russians arrived in the villages along Alaska’s coastline. The reason is that it takes a lot of effort to make a huge totem pole. It also really helps to have steel tools for the carvings. Getting a huge tree trunk to carve a colossal totem pole requires lots of effort. Two hundred years ago, totems were probably just as likely to be part of a building as free-standing.

Not every section of a totem pole is required to be significant to the overall theme. Sometimes, an item is merely to fill a space. In totem images, birds with straight bills are understood to be ravens, and eagles with curved bills are understood to be eagles. Sometimes, these images are mixed; sometimes, they are both eagles or ravens.

Another misunderstood part of a totem pole is that the most important image is not always at the top of the totem pole. Sometimes, the bottom figure is the most important. I have heard about (me) being at the bottom of the totem pole and thus insignificant. This interpretation of totem poles is not universally true. Sometimes, the bottom character is the most important character on the totem pole.

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As you know, our blog income is zero, which allows us to be independent and tell the truth. We do not get income or commissions. No, we don’t make paid endorsements. We don’t make recommendations; instead, we will tell you what we like (or dislike). The links are only provided as a quick reference to help our readers.

Links

Fortress of the Bear

Sealaska Heritage Institute

Sitka National Historical Park

Alaskan Native Huna Totem Corporation

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