Alaska by Air - Tacoma by Sea

      Our ride south as we pull away from the dock in Anchorage.

I'm still not caught up on the blogposts from my five month trip touring the US but a quick trip up to Alaska in the meantime deserves a post.  After returning home in early August I had a couple of weeks of downtime before Tiffany and I were scheduled to fly to Alaska for a few days before boarding a cargo ship, M/V Northstar of Tote Lines, to get us back down to Tacoma.  Tiffany had won the trip last summer at a fund raising auction where the boys went to high school.    Tote donates passage to various charities but is not allowed to actually sell passage since they are a cargo vessel.  We were the only non-crew on the boat.  We boarded the boat in Anchorage on a Sunday around noon and arrived at the Port of Tacoma on Wednesday around 3 p.m.  It was a unique experience and one we were both glad we got the opportunity to do.  It's a no frills vessel, as it's a working ship, but we were provided a nice stateroom with a living area, attached separate bedroom, private crapper/shower and three square meals a day.   Had a TV with some DVD's, stocked fridge (sodas only as no alcohol is allowed on the ship) small library, games, etc.  The crew, which totaled 24 men, does nothing for you other than feed you, make sure you don't get in the way and provide a few tours of various sections of the boat.  You have access to the bridge, your stateroom, the galley and a couple of outside areas off the bridge.  Unless you're with one of the ships officer's that about covers it.  Ninety percent of the boat is set up to haul cargo so there's really no where to just roam around.  Very interesting as to how they load and unload the cargo.  It's what they call a RORO vessel.....Roll on, roll off.  All cargo is wheeled and the longshoremen can unload and load within 10 hours.  They dock according to the tide in Anchorage and only have the 10 hour window to get it done so the ship can get out on the next incoming tide. Cargo consists of semi trailers and vehicles.  Car/RV dealers and rental car companies transport their vehicles this way as well.   Pretty impressive watching them load the ship.  They're fast and they don't waste any space.  It's packed when they're done with it. The bridge is up top, our stateroom was one flight down and the galley right below that.  Not a whole lot of room to roam around in for almost four days.  I asked the Captain where in the hell the hot tub and pool were?  He stated they hadn't gotten around to installing those just yet. We're both glad we got to go but not sure I'd sign up again unless I had no other way to get back.  I've flown to Alaska, driven a truck to Alaska, motorcycled to Alaska, done the inland passage ferry from Alaska and taken a fancy cruise ship up once.  I'll opt for the drive, either truck or motorcycle any day over the other means. This was one of those experiences where once is probably enough.  I've heard of people going across the Pacific via cargo ship before.....trust me, that would be a long couple of weeks. 

Before boarding the ship we had a couple of days to kill in the Anchorage area so we booked an Air BnB in Anchorage for two nights and then one one night in Seward.  Friday was taken up with some hiking at the base of the Chugach Mountains along Lake Eklutna where we spotted two black bears and one sow grizzly with cubs.  All were at binocular range so.....no photos.

Lake Eklutna with the Chugach Range in the distance.

Break time.  We watched a black bear from here which was working his way along the shoreline on the other side of the lake.

Saturday we left Anchorage for the drive south on the Kenai Peninsula en-route to Seward with a stop at Bird Creek to watch some combat fishing.  I call it combat fishing because at times the fishermen are literally standing shoulder to shoulder.  I've done this and to be honest it's not a lot fun.  When you hook a fish it can get pretty hectic when it's really crowded. I've seen this place packed with fishermen before when the Salmon are really running.  I've also seen grizzly show up to fish.

I have hiked and camped out of Seward during some of my previous trips to Alaska and really wanted Tiffany to hike in and see the Harding Icefield if the weather would cooperate.  It's a strenous hike at about 10 miles roundtrip.  Distance is really nothing, it's the 3200 feet in elevation gain that first four miles that is the ass kicker.  Last time I hiked in here the weather was crap and you couldn't really see much of anything as I was in and out of the clouds.  This time, it was a perfect day for hiking.

Saw another black bear going in but as you can see, binoculars were in order again.  Would have been a good shot with the glacier in the background if I could have worked my way down to him and gotten close enough.  This is as close as we got and this was taken with a 600 MM lens.  Oh yea, black spot in grass on right side of picture in case you're asking.....what bear?  Told you we were a long way off.

 My hiking partner with the Exit Glacier in the background.

Exit Glacier coming off the Harding Icefield.

Tiffany likes to motor along when she hikes where I like to stop and doodle at every opportunity as evidenced by the distance between us in this picture.  As long as we were up high in the alpine zone I didn't mind her taking off but down lower in the thick stuff we stayed close as I was the one carrying the bear spray.  Since Tiffany had never done any hiking in Alaska I let her know that her normal head down, haul ass mode may end in her  becoming lunch for some surprised Grizzly.  She actually slowed down a little!

On the hike in observed these two on Exit Glacier.  Being there un-roped could end bad for someone.  I've done it, but it's not the smartest move I've ever made.

 Tiffany taking in the view.

Had to do the selfie thing overlooking the Harding Icefield.

Emergency shelter along the trail near the edge of the ice field.

After a great day of hiking we went back into Seward for a good meal, cold beer and a night in a motel that was 116 years old.  We don't think the place has seen much renovation in the past 116 years.  It was a cool spot with a lot of history but I was so tired I couldn't even think about the camera.  We ate and passed out.  Following morning we re-traced our drive and headed back into Anchorage to board the ship.

We were greeted by a representative of the ship and shown our stateroom.  From our windows we could watch the loading of the cargo.

First Engineer giving us a tour of the engine control room.

Cut out of the Northstar.  Ship was built in 2003 in San Diego for Tote Maritime and designed specifically for the run between Anchorage and Tacoma.

   Here we're standing on the stern of the ship with John, the Second Mate, who was a really nice guy.  He does six weeks on, twelve hours a day - seven days a week, and then has six weeks off wherein he starts it all over again.

 Tiffany headed down into the bowels of the ship.

 Anchor locker.

 On the upper deck this is the only way to get to the bow.  They leave just enough room along the side to walk.  They don't waste any space as they like to say......space is money on a ship.

Tiffany watching the pilot out of Anchorage leaving the dock.  We were told that we could come up on the bridge but were not to engage in conversation with any of the crew leaving port unless they engaged us first.  Well, the pilot pictured here did start talking with us and showing us what he was doing on the computer when the Captain cut that short.  He, the Captain,  took us off to the side and told us that when leaving the dock he wanted his crews full attention on their jobs as he had to get a 150 million dollar ship over some very shallow shoals.  The Captain later told me that that particular pilot loves to talk and he should have addressed it with him since we were on the bridge.  I thought maybe we were going to get booted off on the first day! He realized we didn't start the conversation and the pilot was at fault.  The ship has a pilot, who is not part of the crew, take the ship out of Port and the same happens when coming into Tacoma.  The pilots know the waters from years of doing it and comes on board specifically for that purpose.  Other than when leaving or entering port you could ask the crew or Captain anything and they were more than willing to show you what was going on.

The twin propeller shaft is over 145 ft in length.

Once leaving the Port of Anchorage you head out to open sea before turning south.  After about 6 or 7 hours you start losing sight of any land and are in open sea until arriving at the Strait of Juan De Fuca.  We had some bad weather the first couple of days with some rolling seas.  It wasn't real bad but you certainly knew you were on a ship.  The weather turned nice again as we entered the Strait so the camera came back out.

Pilot boat coming alongside near Port Angeles.

Pilot leaving the pilot boat and coming up the ladder.  A fall from here would be a long one.

 Seattle skyline.

 Port of Tacoma.

Tug coming alongside to get us lined up for the dock.

Trip complete.