Mike & Jan's Great Escape: Onwards North to Juneau

Sorry about the long delay in updating but that is what comes with being in a “Third World Country” No regular internet!! Ok only joking but internet is not found that often where we seem to be so far.

OK lets recap, we had a 1000 mile drive from Calgary to Prince Rupert across the Canadian Rockies, into the sort of central plain area and onto the Coastal Range of mountains. Driving is easy and the scenery magnificent and all helped by the superb weather we had until 20 miles or so outside Prince Rupert. We had started the last day of that particular part of the journey in gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures with reflections on every lake you could die for. We came across a large river that poured through a small gap in the rocks by a local “First Nation” Village. We had to stop to look and the local people were trapping salmon in the white water. I asked where they sold them and the answer was they didn’t, it was for the villages food and was traditional. It looked good with plenty of fish.

The salmon runs were in full swing so we looked forward to great things later on in the trip.

On the last leg to Prince Rupert we had a choice of 2 RV sites, one some 15 miles outside PR and the other between the town and the ferry port. It started raining just before the first and when we arrived it was a beautiful site beside a lake in the forest but it was pouring so we thought we would try the one in PR. We managed to get a space and the site was OK, not as good as the first but near to the town so we stayed and walked into PR. It was dead, no I mean a dead town, virtually nothing there and very sad. The town used to have a large timber industry that seemed to employ the majority but that has gone and a container port opened instead but that is not busy so the town seems to be dying.

We cooked for the first time inside the RV, it is well equipped with gas hob, grill and oven plus microwave so was not a problem but we prefer sitting outside round the fire.

Onto the ferry the next morning for the 36 hour ferry ride up along the Alaskan Coast and into a channel called the Inside Passage. Prince Rupert is in Canada but the first stop is USA so the ferry runs as an American ship and border controls were strict but at least friendly as opposed to the Airport ones.

We had a cabin booked so once sorted it was on deck to watch us depart and then onto the observation deck to see what would be around.

As far as ferries go it was great, food was OK but never is fantastic on these sort of places. The ferry stopped at several smaller places on route as it is the only transport for many. We were told to lookout for whales and we were not disappointed as we saw several including Humpback, Minke and Killer whales as well as Bald Eagles, seals and many other species. We got of the boat for an hour or so in Ketchikan where it was still raining but after a short nights sleep the weather changed and was bright again. In fact the rain produced lots of cloud and mist which in the early morning sunshine produced fantastic light and beautiful scenery.