Okay, maybe you're not surprised.
At the end of the summer, I do have to leave Alaska and head back to Utah where I will (hopefully) find a job to support myself, save money, and get ready fro engineer's school next year.
But I don't have to go directly to Utah. I can have a little fun getting there.
Lately I have heard a lot of good things about the Alaska Marine Highway, the state owned and operated ferry system. It operates all over Alaska, as far west as Dutch Harbor. Since I have heard a lot about it, and I have never been to southeast Alaska, I thought I would look into going home that way. It leaves from Whittier, which is close to Anchorage, and it goes all the way to Bellingham, WA. As it turns out, it only leaves from Whittier and goes to Juneau once a month, so that is not really that practical. But then I got thinking about flying to Juneau and getting on the ferry from there. It runs more often from Juneau to Bellingham than it runs from Whittier to Juneau.
Without rehashing my entire thinking process, let me go over a few things that were important. The first ferry leaving Whittier after the season ended was October 6th. Out last ship is two weeks before that, and I did not really want to hang around with nothing to do for that long. Also, that would put me in Juneau for four days. I'm sure it is an interesting town, but it is pretty small. Also, I wanted to visit Skagway, if possible, and when in Skagway, I wanted to ride the White Pass & Yukon Route, a narrow gauge railroad which goes up into the Yukon Territory of Canada. That only operates seasonally, and the last day is on September 24th. I also wanted to visit Sitka if possible. I have heard it is a beautiful place. It is the old capital of Alaska, before Juneau, during the Russian time. Taking the ferry on October 6th would not make that possible.
Here is the what I am doing:
9/23:
Fly from Anchorage to Juneau.
9/24:
The ferry leaves Juneau at 8:00am for Haines and Skagway. I should be in Skagway by 11:30am. At 1:15pm I depart for Fraser, BC, where I will catch the train back to Skagway. This will be the first time I have taken the train over an international boundary. So far I have only driven and sailed. It is about a 3 hour ride as I understand, on an old (late 1800s), narrow gauge railroad car. This will be on the White Pass & Yukon Route, which was built during the Klondike Gold Rush. It is the only scenic railroad in the world which crosses an international boundary.
9/25:
In Skagway. I will probably try to go to either Whitehorse or Haines for the day.
9/26:
In Skagway. I will probably try to go to either Whitehorse or Haines for the day.
9/27:
Depart Skagway, at 4:15pm, on the ferry, heading for Bellingham. It will stop in Haines and Juneau on this day.
9/28:
On the ferry. On this day we will only stop in Sitka.
9/29:
On the ferry. It will stop in Petersburg, in the middle of the night, then Wrangell, early in the morning, and then Ketchikan for most of the day.
9/30:
On the ferry, at sea.
10/1:
The ferry arrives in Bellingham at 8:00am. I am not sure what I will do with the rest of the day, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.
10/2:
In Bellingham. I will probably go back to Vancouver and Whistler for a visit. It should be pretty quiet in both those towns without the Olympics.
10/3:
10/4:
Board the train in Seattle. This will be the Coast Starlight, which goes all the way to Los Angeles. I will ride it to Sacramento.
10/5:
Arrive and depart Sacramento. I will be arriving early in the morning on the Coast Starlight. I have about a four hour layover, and then I get on the California Zephyr, which goes east all the way to Chicago. I will take it as far as Provo.
10/6:
The California Zephyr arrives in Provo, at 5:15am.
