Category: Alaska

Alaska Highway ride – Chicken, Alaska to Whitehorse

Day 3 began very early – I went to sleep early last night and I was out taking pictures around Chicken before 06:00 this morning. It was a chilly morning – 39°F (4°C). This is the side road off the Taylor Highway that takes you to the Chicken Gold...
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Alaska tops bucket lists in travel resolutions poll

“With New Year’s resolutions fresh in consumers’ minds, Princess Cruises fielded a poll to its Facebook fans to learn which destinations and travel experiences top their bucket lists in 2011. And respondents decisively answered that their number-one destination choice for the coming year is Alaska. One-fourth of respondents resolved...
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Wings to Alaska – Pan American, 1946

Here’s the video I mentioned last night. It was shot for Pan Americn World Airways, probably in 1946, as it features a DC-3, and in 1947 they had added DC-4s to the Alaska run. The entire film is 25 minutes long – I bought the original 16mm film on...
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Skagway 1949

The 4-minute video posted below is from a 16mm film shot in 1949 by a woman on an Alaska trip. The 55-minute reel I have is probaby the second of three films covering her cruise from Seattle or Vancouver to Skagway, week-long trip down the Yukon River to Dawson...
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Tragedy at Hoonah, Alaska

I’ve been too stunned by Saturday night’s murder of 2 of the 3 police officers in Hoonah, Alaska, to even comment. There probably are no words to properly describe what I feel, being from a small town, being a former RCMP auxiliary member and being the father of a...
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A cheaper way to get Outside?

The first step getting out of the Yukon is the tough one. Not as tough as it used to be thanks to Air North, but still an “ouch” financially. I just got the Fall sale email from Alaska Airlines and when I dug into it and saw that you...
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The bucket list – the Aleutian Islands

Every now and then I come across something that triggers “man, I’ve gotta see that!” This morning it’s the Aleutian Islands again, prompted by a couple of photographs at the Museum of the Aleutians Web site. I’ve always been fascinated by the Aleutians war – by the difficulty and...
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Cruising College Fjord and flying home

My 21-day adventure on the Coral Princess is over. I’ve now been home for 27 hours and the ship is already so far gone from my mind that it could have been months ago that I was on her. At some point I’ll write up a full review and...
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Rain in Skagway, sunshine in Glacier Bay

I said on my talk from the bridge last night that I’d be on deck looking for whales at 04:00 this morning, and there were people there to talk to me – I love enthusiastic passengers! The first hour (around Hoonah) was slow, but there were several humpbacks at...
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A totem pole day in Ketchikan

As I start writing this post, it’s Monday night at midnight and the music from the Universe Lounge right above me is making the walls of my cabin vibrate. I’m willing to bet that there are a few passengers in cabins near mine whose travel agents didn’t warn them...
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