Tide Travels: Canadian Adventure- Part 1: The Inside Passage to Skagway

Now that we're back in Alaska and I'm finally (sort-of) caught up in the rest of my life, I can't wait to share our most recent adventure with you: a four-day trip to the Yukon Territory and the Northwest corner of British Columbia! For those of you who might need some brushing up on Canada's geography (like me) here's a cheat sheet (found here):

The trip included some of the most gorgeous, expansive views ever, some surprisingly good food, and a bit of small-town curiosity directed our way... with a few compliments paid to the borrowed Zodiac tied to the top of the car. :)

Moon setting over the water, very early on the morning of our departure~ Statter Harbor, Auke Bay

But let me start at the beginning...

The night before we left we were up late putting the finishing touches on packing the car under the light of the blue moon. Spirits were high- after all, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned road trip.

Since we live in Juneau, we had to take the ferry to Skagway in order to access the road to Canada. Which meant waking up at five in the morning on a Saturday- ouch. But a bit of coffee and excitement got us there well in time. Then, the drill is to go inside the ferry terminal office, pick up tickets, and return to your vehicle to queue up with the other cars waiting to board. You wait your turn until a ferry employee tells you to go and then someone checks your tickets and IDs before you can start down the gangway. Once you're parked in the boat, you need to take anything you might need or want for the voyage as passengers aren't allowed back into the car deck while underway.

A little side-story: While we were waiting to drive aboard, we watched an older man in line next to us attempt to start- and re-start- an extremely old truck; it finally revved to life and a few people cheered. But when he drove onboard the beast sputtered and died again; we watched as four ferry workers teamed up to push it into a easy-to-access spot in the corner of the ship's belly. Witnessing how these men all rushed to help push the old truck made me think about how in other places they might have simply not allowed him on the boat... another thing to love about Alaska.

The ferry route goes through Alaska's Inside Passage, an inland waterway made up of barrier islands and small coastal communities. With only one ferry per day going to each destination, there is no choice of which ferry to take (it's not like choosing between flights). The travel duration on our vessel, the Malaspina, took six hours and 45 minutes, including a stop in Haines to drop off and pick up more passengers.

Getting coffee in the galley aboard the Malaspina

After boarding, we got breakfast in the cafeteria near the back of the boat. It's sort of like a cozy, self-serve diner and where most people seem to congregate.

After eating the "Chuck-wagon breakfast" it was time to walk around and check out the top deck.

We'd taken our time eating and all of the reclining lounge chairs above deck in the heated solarium had been snatched up, but it wasn't raining so we curled up on the deck for a while with my well-loved Mexican blanket.

Just south of Haines, Alaska

By the time we got to Skagway we had napped and were more than ready to get on the road to Atlin. It was already two in the afternoon as we pulled out of town.

Skagway, Alaska

Klondike Highway near Canadian Border in Fraser, BC

The road to Canada is an adventure in itself. AK-98 N, better known as the Klondike Highway (in fact, most highways in Alaska are referred to by their names rather then numbers like in the Lower 48), runs parallel with the White Pass & Yukon train route out of Skagway through the town of Fraser, BC, and onward to Carcross, Yukon.

Here's what we saw on our first few hours on the Klondike...