Petersburg to Juneau Via The Fog

Our ferry was about two hours late leaving by the time it appeared out of the fog and we were loaded.  We all speculated as to how often this happens in southeast Alaska—a lot we would bet!!  The fog was entirely gone when we left Petersburg but the ship entered another fog bank not too long after our departure—we traveled in heavy fog for over a hour, lessening our chances of seeing whales.

But see whales we did!!!  Most were at some distance from the ferry but with binoculars we were able to see lots of blowing, backs rolling out of the water and tails rising (flukes).  Amazing, stunning, breathtaking—the entire front observation lounge on the ferry was a cacophony of ohhhs and ahhhs!!  Everyone was so helpful—“there’s one at 2 o’clock, there’s one right over by that sun lighted shore line.  No photographs, they were too far away and too quick plus the bright sunshine after the fog was making any photo taking difficult.

 

This isn’t the greatest of shots but shows the fog bank the ship is about to enter—the island looked like a jelly filled doughnut!

Our cruise from Petersburg to Juneau was eight hours long—way too long for one little black dog to remain alone in the camper on the car deck!!!  And she sure let us know how unhappy she was when we released her from captivity!!!  Now that we know the ferry riding ropes, next time will be different and there most definitely will be a next time!!  There is a “fast ferry” to some ports and there is a fast ferry which runs from Petersburg to Juneau—four hours—much better for Emmi!

Tent city on the aft deck—Larry and Geri said the entire deck was covered with tents when we first boarded. Just like the cruise ships!

We arrived in Juneau about 7pm and were met by a high school classmate of Larry’s who just happened to be visiting Alaska—they hadn’t seen each other in 40 years!!!  After a little bit of catching up in the ferry parking lot we all headed off to find our campground. 

Imagine this—a quiet, forested, huge, secluded campsite with water and electric hookups—and it is a USFS campground!!!  An added bonus—we can also see Mendenhall Glacier from the campground!!  This is the only USFS campground we have ever run across with full hookup sites—yep, some of the sites even have sewer hookups.  There is also a dump station on site plus heated bathrooms with lots and lots of hot water for showers!!!  We are taking a breather here in Juneau for a few days. 

Juneau and Mendenhall Glacier in the background.

Our Millenicom internet isn’t working so well here in Alaska so blogs will post sporadically!