The Alaskan Marine Highway

View from the Solarium

 In the past, I may have casually mentioned the fact that I love traveling via the Alaskan Marine Ferry. It is hands down my favorite way to travel, in fact I kind of wish all of my traveling could be conducted on a big slow boat.

Allow me to catch you on the latest; I departed Gustavus with my dear friend Kara Nelson on Wednesday, August 15, after my last day of work (sad). We were set to depart at 10:40 AM via Wings (small jet). I prefer to fly Air Excursions but they’ve had 3 crashes this summer, one with a fatality so I thought I would test the competition. Mistake! Long story short, Kara ended up getting on the first plane out three hours before I even boarded the plane from Gustavus. So poor Kara had to sit in the Juneau airport with all of our stuff, including my wallet and ID. As you might have imagined, I almost faded away in the Gustavus airport with no money and no food. No worries, we made it to Juneau. That night we stayed with my friend Kayl who lives right next to the ferry. We went out for drinks and ended the evening with a costumed poker party. Luckily I always travel with costumes. I’m sad to report that I don’t have any photos of this event. Just trust that it was really funny.

 Early Thursday morning Kara and I catch the ferry to Sitka. In Sitka we do all of my favorite things: hike, camp, take public transportation, eat good food, and drink beer. Sitka is home to Baronof Brewing Company with a great assortment of handcrafted microbrews. I was pretty much in heaven. 

What do you normally hike in?

I prefer hiking in a dress and a pink cardigan

Friday night we missed the bus back to our campground (not we, I missed the bus, if Kara had her way, we would have totally made it) and had to resort to hitch-hiking for the 7 miles back to camp. It was dark and raining, not particularly cold but we knew all of our stuff would be wet once we got there. Any who, we finally got picked up (what a relief, we were scared for a minute that we might actually have to walk the entire way). At this point Kara has decided that she is going to stay in Sitka for a couple of days instead of traveling back to Thorne Bay with me. I have to catch the ferry in morning, boarding time: 3:45 AM. Snap. We try our best that night to keep our stuff mostly dry and to actually get some sleep, this results in me getting up at 2 O’clock in the morning and walking the mile to the ferry terminal in pitch darkness (scary). Did I mention we are in bear country? I can honestly say that I was a little scared. Once I get to the ferry terminal, I’m drenched and have two huge bags with me (what? I’m moving!). I ask the people at the terminal if I can please board the boat (almost two hours early), and they’re like, “sure!” And that’s when the sky opened up, and the birds started singing and everyone held hands and smiled. Well, not exactly, but it was a joyous moment for me because I was tired, and soaking wet, and REALLY needing a shower. 

Once on board I went straight up three flights of stair to the solarium where all the rift-raft or poor people stay on the ferry. Basically camping on the boat deck, but it’s super cool, and I’d like to think that even when I’m older and have more money, I will continue to stay up here because it’s awesome. In the solarium there are heat lamps and lawn chairs. I laid my wet sleeping bag on a lawn chair under a heat lamp along with all my wet clothes and took the best shower I’ve taken in some time, it hadn’t even been that long but I was so gross from hiking and camping. Finally, at about 4 am, the boat departs Sitka and I am warm and dry on a boat headed for Ketchikan. 

Later Saturday morning, I wake up on the boat, naturally practice some yoga, read a book, paint my fingernails, and bask in the sun because it is sunny and warm, and I’m on a MF boat, and have nothing to do and nowhere to be, and this my friends, this is why I LOVE the Alaskan Marine Ferry. The price is comparable (usually cheaper) to flying, you have tons of space, you meet cool people, it allows you to get off at every stop, all the employees are kind and respectful, it’s clean, it’s really peaceful, AND you get to take in the beauty of the Inside Passage. For those of you unaware, this is the same route that cruise ships take. I’m telling you, every person should experience this at least once in their life.

Tonight I will arrive in Thorne Bay. I don’t know if I already mentioned this but I am really excited about sleeping in a bed inside of a house. I love camping, but my body could really use less mosquito bites and a real bed. As it is right now, pretty much every part of my body hurts. This is a combination of a gnarly hike Kara and I did in Sitka and a summer of sleeping on the ground. The last two nights in a lawn chair haven’t helped either.

By all measures, life is really good. I’m really excited about my second year of teaching and 9 more months in Thorne Bay. For those curious about my plans after that, you’ll have to wait because I’m not sure. At this point, I don’t see any reason not to return to Gustavus for another summer of kayaking, but that’s all I know.

May all beings be happy, at peace, free from suffering and filled loving kindness.