2012 July 6-20 Alaska Land and Cruise Adventure Review with LOTS of photos!

[WalleyeLJ]

Absolutely!!! Like magic, we went from zero to one salmon on after another seemingly as fast as we could catch them. Alaska regulations allowed one fish rod per person, and at different points, all three fired and caught fish. Here are a couple of shots of Dad & Bev working for their catch...

 

 

 

One fish...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two fish...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three fish...

 

 

 

 

 

 

and...

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

...FOUR Fish!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pink salmon are both the smallest and the most common of the salmon species found in Alaska, and are the salmon you'll get if you buy a can in a grocery store in the Lower 48. They run on average between 3-6 pounds, but they are spunky little fighters and a lot of fun to catch. The action was pretty fast and furious, with several doubles and even one triple, where we all tried our best to keep our fish out of each other's way - but sometimes it's just hard to do! Capt Jim explained that the Pink salmon (also known as Humpies for the big shoulders /spinal hump males develop during their spawning runs) got their name not as much from their pink colored flesh, but how easily and profusely they bleed - as you'll see in the photos. I don't know if it's true or not, but makes for a good story! In any case, back to the fish!!!

 

 

 

Dad's first Pink!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first Pink!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the midst of all the action, I caught another one of the little fish that started the catching frenzy. For folks into fishing, you can see the flasher/attractor that runs 18"-24" in front of the little rubber squid-like hoochie rig...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the salmon being reeled in, the little fish got lost on the floor of the boat for a couple of minutes, so when we got it back into the water, he didn't immediately dive for the bottom like the feisty salmon did...

 

 

...but he should have....

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Are you ready for some irony? Michelle gave us such a fantastic trip to the fjords in 2009, I booked her for the Anan Creek excursion in July 2011. It was more than I could have dreamed of! Bears galore! Of course, the gorgeous warm weather with picture perfect blue skies only made it better. :)

 

I posted a picture I took there way back at the beginning of your thread....it had a black bear eating a salmon (watched him catch it!) with an eagle near by. I highly recommend this excusion....one I'll never forget.

 

All the more reason to set that trip up next time:D - thanks Di!

L.J.

[sue402001]

My hubby & sister are hoping to do the same salmon fishing that you did in Skagway LJ, there just waiting to hear back from Fat Salmon Charters to hear if they have availability for the day we're their.

 

Looks like all of you are great fisher people. Now, do you fish a lot at home or only on vacation? :p

[WalleyeLJ]

My hubby & sister are hoping to do the same salmon fishing that you did in Skagway LJ, there just waiting to hear back from Fat Salmon Charters to hear if they have availability for the day we're their.

 

Looks like all of you are great fisher people. Now, do you fish a lot at home or only on vacation? :p

 

LOL, I love to go fishing, but the truth is I really only fish on vacation now - either when visiting my Dad or when we're in Alaska:D! While the captains put us on the fish in AK, at least we don't lose alot of them!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

So, a few posts ago I posted a few shots of one of the eagles from shore that came in for their own shot at fishing. That time I wasn't ready for the eagle and the speed of it's attack run.

 

But this time, however, being so close to shore, with several eagles in the trees, I knew the little fish floundering on the nearly flat water was going to be an easy target. So while everyone else focused on the salmon - catching them, netting them, talking friendly smack about who was going to catch the most, I popped back inside the cabin and grabbed my camera, adjusted my settings...and waited to see which eagle made the first move...

 

Two of them broke from different trees a couple hundred feet apart on the shoreline. They interestingly enough took mirrored looping attack runs, with the bird on right sweeping down to the left, with the bird on the left dropping down to the right. I guess they took those paths so they didn't fly too close to our boat. In any case, the eagle from the left got the better take off and attack angle, shooting past the boat and the fish from left to right, then cutting a hard, low, fast right 180 degree turn, zooming in just a couple of feet above the water...

 

 

 

Commencing attack run...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radar locked, weapons check...

 

 

 

 

 

Locked & Loaded!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Impact!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Welcome to Bald Eagle Airlines. Just sit back, relax...ahh never mind...it'll be a short flight"

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Bald Eagle Airlines/Snack Run Part 2...

 

 

 

"We're leavin'...on a jet plane...don' think that I'll be back again..." - or that either of us will make it if this guy doesn't pull up!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and with that, my final great wildlife photography moment of Alaska 2012 comes to a FANTASTIC end! The bears and eagles and whales on these trips make it worth every penny and every bit of hassle lugging my DSLRs and lenses on and off the plane!!!

 

 

 

L.J.

[am-mc]

You have such amazing pictures - I am so impressed. We have six months and then we are there - I cant wait.

[MichiganStateMom]

LJ - thank you SO much for sharing your vacation with all of us! I got some really useful information and really LOVED viewing your pictures. You are a wonderful storyteller! :)

[allzcwbyfan]

LJ,

Loving the whole thread and those eagle shots were amazing. I so am jonesing to go to Alaska. Feel like we are there with you. Thanks so much for sharing with us.

[WalleyeLJ]

You have such amazing pictures - I am so impressed. We have six months and then we are there - I cant wait.

 

 

am-mc,

 

I happy for you and jealous:D. Will this be your first Alaska trip, or are you returning? Barring a lottery win, we likely won't be back until 2015, but I'm already planning...;).

 

L.J.

[mommybearx2]

Thank you so much for taking so much of your time to post pictures and your storytelling. I loved reading it and the last pictures were amazing. I also loved seeing the smiles on your Dad's and Bev's faces. We are on our way in July and will aspire to get some shots close to yours. KUDOS!!!

[WalleyeLJ]

LJ - thank you SO much for sharing your vacation with all of us! I got some really useful information and really LOVED viewing your pictures. You are a wonderful storyteller! :)

 

Thanks MSM!

I'm glad you liked the photos, and that we were able to give you some good information. CC, and this board in particular, are a terrific resource.

We of course have only experienced a few of MANY things to do and see in Alaska, but some things, like the Kenai & Katmai, are a bit harder to find info on here, so hopefully that'll be useful for some folks!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

LJ,

Loving the whole thread and those eagle shots were amazing. I so am jonesing to go to Alaska. Feel like we are there with you. Thanks so much for sharing with us.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read thgouht it. I'm just sorry it has taken me so long - least I'm almost there:)! On the other hand, the longer I take, the more I get to relive it, and the less time until our next trip there!

L.J.

[WalleyeLJ]

Thank you so much for taking so much of your time to post pictures and your storytelling. I loved reading it and the last pictures were amazing. I also loved seeing the smiles on your Dad's and Bev's faces. We are on our way in July and will aspire to get some shots close to yours. KUDOS!!!

 

Yes, that run by the eagle was awesome! I was kind of a Nat Geo moment for me:D. We did have a great time together - I'm glad we finally were able to get all our schedules on the same page! Have a great time in July!!!

L.J.

[sue402001]

Those eagle shots are amazing LJ. If my hubby can do as good a job as you I'll be a happy gal. :)

[WalleyeLJ]

Those eagle shots are amazing LJ. If my hubby can do as good a job as you I'll be a happy gal. :)

 

LOL - I'll keep my fingers crossed for him (and you) then!!! Half of it is being ready - the other half is just good timing:D!

L.J.

[DizzyDallasDi]

Congratulations LJ! What a fantastic end to your fantastic Alaska adventure. The eagles catching their prey are by far my favorite pictures. Thank you for sharing the fun times you had...it was fun for me too. :D

[WalleyeLJ]

Congratulations LJ! What a fantastic end to your fantastic Alaska adventure. The eagles catching their prey are by far my favorite pictures. Thank you for sharing the fun times you had...it was fun for me too. :D

 

Di,

 

I'm not done yet - just with fantastic wildlife opportunities. I've still got to finish off the day in Ketchikan, the Inside Passage and some additional shots of Radiance and the final shows!

 

L.J.

[Jdfireman]

Hello WalleyeLJ and to the rest

 

Here is my question if you can help I am doing the July 5th saling on RCL

Leaving from Seward I would like to know what you would do in each port please using cruise line tours. What is the best thing we can do. I am trying to plan this trip right Thanks for the help

Here are the ports

 

Juneau

Skagway

Icy Strait Point

Ketchikan

 

Please let me know on here or send me a e mail thank you again

[subtchr]

Hello WalleyeLJ and to the rest

 

Here is my question if you can help I am doing the July 5th saling on RCL

Leaving from Seward I would like to know what you would do in each port please using cruise line tours. What is the best thing we can do. I am trying to plan this trip right Thanks for the help

Here are the ports

 

Juneau

Skagway

Icy Strait Point

Ketchikan

 

Please let me know on here or send me a e mail thank you again

 

I'm not LJ, and in fact I am planning my first trip to Alaska as well, but I thought I'd add a couple points from my experience.

 

First of all, is there a reason you are only considering cruise line tours? From our very first cruise, we have always used private tours, booked separately, when available. They are usually less expensive, and almost always have much smaller groups than the cruise line tours. That is important to us - we want to have as much of a "local" experience as we can, wherever we are.

 

There are so many private tours available, and with research on CC and on TripAdvisor, you can read reviews to ensure that a company is reliable. Especially with Alaska, it's easy to make phone calls as well, being in the US and all!

 

The only misgiving some people have about booking tours outside of the cruise line is the worry about "missing the ship". The port days in Alaska are the most part so long, that is not usually a concern. And as I said, if you do your research online and choose a reliable company, they KNOW how important it is. All it would take is one review saying a tour company made a client miss the ship, and that company would lose a great deal of business. This is these peoples' livelihoods - I have faith that they will get me there.

 

With that said, here is what we have planned (we are doing RC Seward to Vancouver a couple weeks before you):

 

Juneau - Whale watching with Harv and Marv's. The tour makes a short stop at Mendenhall Glacier after the tour, and if we want to explore longer, we will just take the shuttle ($8 per person each way) back to the port. We also may take the tram to the top of the mountain if the weather is good and we have time.

 

Skagway - Tour with Dyea Dave. This has great reviews, and in fact Dave called me a few weeks ago to answer a question I had asked via email.

 

Icy Strait Point - We don't have anything scheduled here, just plan to walk the nature trail.

 

Ketchikan - Misty Fiords Flightseeing with Island Wings. So excited about this!

 

Good luck, and I am sure LJ and others who have actually been to AK will chime in!

 

LJ, I just have to thank you for the amazing review!! I am also an avid photographer, so I adore your perspective. Can't wait to read more!

[Jdfireman]

Hello and thanks for the great reply.. I mostly book with places other than the cruise line. But being to new land even though its the usa i was not sure what way to go. I am looking at the places now that you suggested and they look good. Thank you for reply again when are you sailing

 

Anyone else have charter groups they use in alaska

 

JD

[WalleyeLJ]

With the sweeping attack run of the eagle, our fishing time was almost up. The action had stayed fast and furious, and in the end, after zero fish in the first two hours, we ended up with 22 salmon in the last 2 hours!!!

 

 

 

Some of our catch...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So who ended up with the Gold Medal in the Weslowski's Fish Alaska 2012???

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the final tally for the day, I caught 8, and Bev & Dad each caught 7. Bev decided that the bonus kicker was the fact that I caught the only Coho/Silver, which meant that I caught the most species of fish on the whole week, so she crowned me the winner. I don't think my Dad agreed, but he survived, and it's probably the only time I've ever outfished him!! Fishing done, we had a short 10 minute run back into the dock & Radiance. Just after we started back in, we passed The Aleutian Ballad, which was featured on Season2 of Deadliest Catch and does one of the more popular excursion/tours, The Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour. While we have not taken this tour, we've met several people who have that have really enjoyed it. They take folks out on the boat, then bring up crab pots and traps, and empty them right on deck, where they sort out the catch, and people can even check out and hold some of the critters! Definitely on our future to do list!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes later, and one gentle right hand turn of the Miss Parker around one of the many islands that dot the waterways around Ketchikan, and there was Radiance, patiently awaiting our return...along with the Sea Princess just tot he aft of Radiance...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.J.

[subtchr]

Hello and thanks for the great reply.. I mostly book with places other than the cruise line. But being to new land even though its the usa i was not sure what way to go. I am looking at the places now that you suggested and they look good. Thank you for reply again when are you sailing

 

Anyone else have charter groups they use in alaska

 

JD

 

Glad to be of help. I should have noticed you are an experienced cruiser! As I said, I feel even more comfortable booking private excursions in Alaska than many other places in the world, even though we have never been there, because it is easy to contact the vendors and there is no language barrier.

 

We are flying to Anchorage on June 18 and renting a car to explore that area for a couple days. No firm plans yet; we are considering a Denali flightseeing tour, but haven't decided for sure.

 

We have the Anchorage - Seward train booked (Gold Star service) on Thursday, June 20. We will visit the SeaLife Center and Exit Glacier that afternoon. Friday morning, June 21, we will do a Kenai Fjords boat tour, then board the Radiance of the Seas that afternoon. We are spending a day in Vancouver at the end of the cruise.

 

I am very excited for the trip, everything looks so beautiful!

[WalleyeLJ]

JD,

 

Sue saved me a lot of writing - what she said is dead on. After our first 3 crusies, I pretty muched stopped booking cruiseline excursions and research and book them all myslef, even down to rental car agenices, using Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. Another great point Sue made was that the port stays in Alaska are usually very long - at least on Radiance - so as long as you don't book a tour that will end 30 minutes or less before departure, you should be ok.

 

With that said, here is what we have planned (we are doing RC Seward to Vancouver a couple weeks before you):

 

Juneau - Whale watching with Harv and Marv's. The tour makes a short stop at Mendenhall Glacier after the tour, and if we want to explore longer, we will just take the shuttle ($8 per person each way) back to the port. We also may take the tram to the top of the mountain if the weather is good and we have time. We've been to Juneau twice and taken three trips with Harv & Marv - all three great experiences! We also did the H&M drop off at Mendenhall Glacier and took the bus back into Juneau our first trip there. Very easy - just make sure you take your H&M trip morning or early afternoon as you've got time to check out Mendenhall and catch the bus back into town. Also, many on here probably haven't seen this shot, but this was the best photo moment from our first trip to Alaska and with H&M...

 

 

 

 

 

Skagway - Tour with Dyea Dave. This has great reviews, and in fact Dave called me a few weeks ago to answer a question I had asked via email. We've rented a car with Avis in Skagway and driven up into the Yukon to Carcross & Emerald Lake. With 13+ hours, you've got plenty of time. We enjoyed the salmon fishing, but it was pretty slow compared tot he toher ports. The most popular excursion by far is one of the variations of the White Pass Railroad trips. Some are short, some are long, so involved the train one way, and a tour bus the other. Dyea Dave has a great reputation on here and should be a great option for you based on other reviews I've read.

 

Icy Strait Point - We don't have anything scheduled here, just plan to walk the nature trail. We've gone halibut fishing twice here with non-cruise ships operators. On both trips we've seen whales, tons of them the first time. Whale watching is one of the best and most popular excursions here as Point Adolphus is about 10 miles or so from ISP, and is considered one of the very best places to see Humpbacks in Alaska. If you go on the Icy Straight Point website, they have a list of the local tour operators, many of which have been discussed here on the Alaska board and on TA, so you can get an idea of which ones would owrk for you. Some people have had very good experiences with the bear viewing trips, but others haven't seen any, so it's a bit of the luck of the draw. Checking out the Heritage Theater would probably be a great experience, especially if you put a whale watch on one end or the other. If you did that in ISP, you could try something different in Juneau - although I think we'll probably take at least one trip with Harv & Marv any time we're in Juneau - can't see enought whales!!!

 

Ketchikan - Misty Fiords Flightseeing with Island Wings. So excited about this! We flew into Misty Fjords with Michelle & Island Wings in 2009 and had a fabulous time - plus if you book early/first thing, it'll leave you time to check out Ketchikan, especially Creek Street (coming up in the review shortly!)

 

 

 

2009 with Island Wings...

 

 

 

 

 

Hope that helps JD!

 

L.J.