There is something romantic about going to Alaska, and it has nothing to do with a cruise (which I did not take anyway). Be it gold and riches in the past, or the grandeur and power of nature and wildlife today, the lure of the Final Frontier remains as latent as its promise of adventure. So with a huge sense of anticipation, my trusty backpack, and aargh, a bulky sleeping bag, I set off for Seattle, the start of my ‘last grand adventure’ following on the footsteps of the colourful Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98 …

Oh, it was so good to be in Seattle again. Miraculously, the sun was out. Golden rays in abundance, quite unlike the grey drizzly city I remembered; I could actually see the mountains as we touched down (so they really do exist!) The déjà vu feeling was especially strong when I trudged with my heavy load from the bus drop-off to the HI-Seattle hostel, my first hostel eons ago it seemed (see An American Tale Part I: Amtrak-ing in the West, Seattle section).

This was my supply stop. Seattle had flourished precisely because of its strategic location, not only as a transport hub but as a centre for outfitting prospectors during the gold rushes. As I was to learn on the hilarious, and highly recommended, Underground Tour at Pioneer Square, Seattle was a buzzing ground for entrepreneurship, not to mention scams a-plenty, to help “equip” the hapless miners heading for Alaska and Yukon as well as “relieve” the successful ones who actually made it back with gold. The same zealous spirit was applied to the way the city developed, which (would you believe it?) was all due to a sewage problem!

The Pike Place Fish Market was as entertaining as ever. Coincidentally, I was to attend a course back home one month later, conducted by the owners of the joint. They had gone from being fishmongers (albeit ‘world famous’ ones) to credible management gurus with a bona fide video hit on ‘Fish Philosophy’. Yes, the ‘Seattle Spirit’ coined by the Underground Tour is well and alive!

There is no direct overland route to my destination – Southeast Alaska, also known as the Panhandle – which stretches 500 miles from north of Canada’s Prince Rupert to the Gulf of Alaska. It’s either the sea or by air. So the cash registers go a-ringing for the popular cruises that ply the waterway, dubbed the Inside Passage, for the very brief tourist season, effectively from June to August each year. The brochures promise dramatic fjords, cascading waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, calving glaciers, lush forest valleys, pristine islands, scenic villages, not to mention “guaranteed” humpback whales, orcas, seals, bald eagles, salmons, bears, etc.

However, as I couldn’t fit myself into any of the categories of “The Newly-Wed”, “The Nearly Dead”, or “The Overfed”, I opted for the public ferry transport, called the Alaska Marine Highway. Just kidding. Tis not a case of sour grapes, although the cruise folks did look really pampered and as I was to discover, whole towns come alive and all the attractions throw their doors wide open whenever a cruise ship docks at the port. Seriously, I wouldn’t mind at all the VIP treatment offered by these gigantic “moving condominiums”, but when the price for luxury was freedom to stop where I wish and how long I spend at each place, I would rather choose the hassle.

In any case, the ferries were not bad, even though I didn’t manage to book a cabin for the 37-hour first leg from Bellingham (1½ hours from Seattle) to the first port at Ketchikan. The solarium, an open-decked observatory, proved fine to camp in once the heat-lamps were turned on. And so it was that, on 6th September 2002, we set sail from Bellingham amidst a carnival atmosphere into the Alaskan sunset.

T’was a romantic start. Unfortunately, the good weather didn’t hold. There was that niggling detail about the frequent rains or ‘liquid sunshine’ that I had read about – guess there had to be a trade-off for the dense and luxuriant Tongass National Forest covering some 90% of the Southeast. In fact, I was told later that they actually experienced twice their average annual rainfall this year while the rest of US was dry. Often, we encountered “innocent-looking” clouds which became foggy nothingness for hours on stretches.

Still, the leisurely ferry rides were quite fun. There was decent food and movies to catch, though most of the time was spent in the observatories where binoculars were out in full force and everyone got all excited whenever there was a sighting. Plus the Southeast backdrop was simply beautiful, as we negotiated past hundreds of islands and saw some of the things promised by the brochures.

My first stops were Ketchikan & Sitka, two towns of contrasting characters, and I particularly love the latter with its Russian heritage. Then it was Juneau, the state capital of Alaska and “glacier-land”, with an incredible side-trip to Tracy Arm Fjord.

The last stop of the ferry was Skagway, where I embarked on a fantastic ride on the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, that traces one of two legendary arduous passes that the stampeders had to cross. From here, I moved on to my next mode of transport on part of the gorgeous Klondike Highway to visit Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The city’s name hailed from the white treacherous rapids of the Yukon River – the penultimate leg of the gold seekers’ journey to Dawson City and the Klondike gold fields.

Short of time, I backtracked to Skagway to take the expensive but excellent flights back to Seattle via Juneau, which provided an exhilarating recap of the Southeast landscape from the air.

Each destination was a remarkable odyssey on its own. Suffice to say, the images from this journey are enough to fill a lifetime. Alaska is a great land blessed with richness of resources (apart from gold and oil) and an abundance of flora and fauna. The wonder of witnessing a salmon run, the trepidation of seeing my first black bear, the indescribable thrill of watching a glacier continually calving ice off its face, and above all, the spectacular beauty of the wilderness – these treasures are worth more than gold to me, and it is hoped that these stories will inspire others to travel to this wondrous place.

Ketchikan/Sitka           Juneau                    Skagway               Whitehorse   © Ong Hwee Yen 2003

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Comments shaggy harlow! was just checking out your Alaska pages - some nice pics youve got there! anyway, looking forward to your East Europe write-up! :) Keep writing! Jennie Beaumont What a great story and beautiful pictures. We are off to Alaska in August. and I have been checking out camp sights and found your site, great work thanks. Jen. Diane oh my goodness... you have answered my questions as to HOW to get from Seattle or Vancouver up through the passage. I loved your photos and your commentary... Other america stories: An American Tale Part I: Amtrak-ing in the West, An American Tale Part II: Tribute to the East & foto memoirs ~ niagara falls.