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MissouriBird's avatar
MissouriBird
Explorer
Jul 12, 2015

Beautiful SE Alaska

We are midway in our ferry trip from Prince Rupert to Skagway--right now we are in Sitka--and it has been worth every penny it cost! Beautiful--a simple but accurate description. The ferry people have been wonderful to work with in helping us load our truck/trailer, all 47' of it, at each spot. We had no trouble going to the car deck, when the ferry stopped in Ketchikan and Wrangell, to walk the dog. Petersburg was amazing--we so enjoyed their small town 4th of July celebration, especially the log rolling and 2x8 stomp. Don't have those events in Missouri!

We haven't seen many whales; a few bears and lots of deer and eagles. But--that's OK. There is much more to come, I'm sure. We leave Sitka tomorrow, after a five day stay, back to Juneau and a tour of Tracey Arm, then on to Skagway and the rest of our trip. Don.t plan to leave Alaska until early Sept.

My primary purpose in this message is to encourage anyone considering using the ferry system for one part of their trip is "GO FOR IT!" It is wonderful and quite different from the rest of inland Alaska. We spent 13 weeks in Alaska in 2002--all of it inland or in a coastal city--none of it on the ferry system. We have no regrets for spending the money to do the ferry this time.

Hope to see many of you on the road later this summer.

Ken and Robin
  • MissouriBird's avatar
    MissouriBird
    Explorer
    Aug 16, 2015
    Someone asked how often we walked the dog. We walked her in each port, Ketchikan and Wrangle, which were about 10 hrs. and 6 hrs.in between stops. I understand that when the ferry has longer stretches between ports they let you go to the car deck about every 4-5 hours to walk pets. The biggest problem I can see with that is that our dog thinks she has to have grass to do her thing--and, the cars are parked so close together that there was very, little room to get her out of the RV and to the end of the ferry where they have a walk space. So, we just waited for port calls and she did fine. Hope this helps.
  • EEWally's avatar
    EEWally
    Explorer
    Jul 14, 2015
    We did 2 weeks of island hopping between Prince Rupert and Haines last year. The best piece of advice I got during our planning was to spend more time in Sitka. We had 4 nights at the Sportsman's RV Park. More would have been fine.

    I hope you're taking the "fast ferry" if you're going to Juneau next. It was a blast! 32 knots.
  • jessjerr1831's avatar
    jessjerr1831
    Explorer
    Jul 13, 2015
    Doing this trip right now. In Wrangell at a B&B. Left P.R, Did Ketchikan. Looking forward to Sitka. Sorry we can no longer do the RV lifestyle but still follow RV.Net for all of the wonderful & informative info we get. Meeting brother & his wife in Haines and headed up to Kenai Peninsula and anything else we can find.
  • sodajerk's avatar
    sodajerk
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2015
    We did much the same last year, with several stops. Sitka was great. Our RV is a 20 foot Class B, so the cost was less, but still worth it. No dog to walk.
  • PA12DRVR's avatar
    PA12DRVR
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2015
    The ferry trip (particularly if taken for the entire North-South inside passage) is pretty unique. I've been fortunate enough to see several whales on the ferry ride, but to really observe them, a dedicated side trip is much better.

    If you have the chance, don't miss the tour of Misty Fjords out of Ketchikan.
  • margemak's avatar
    margemak
    Explorer
    Jul 12, 2015
    Thanks for your post nice to know are you staying in the different ports in your RV for a few days? That sounds like a wonderful trip.

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