Inside Passage
After 10 days on the road, we arrived at the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) ferry terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. We parked the Murano in the hold of the M/V Matanuska and embarked on a 36-hour cruise through Alaska’s “Inside Passage”, the calm coastal waters of the archipelagos which form the “panhandle” of Alaska. Regular ferry service began in Southeast Alaska in 1948, and AMHS has served Prince Rupert since 1963. Since the inauguration of state ferry service from Bellingham, Washington in 1967, AMHS has provided a means to transport vehicles from the Lower 48 to Alaska without passing through Canada.
Craig aboard the M/V Matanuska in Frederick Sound
We had originally intended to start this maritime leg of our journey in Bellingham, but were unable to secure a berth for this popular route. Faced with a choice of camping out on the deck for a few days, or sleeping in comfort in a private cabin, we happily drove two days out of our way to the Canadian port.
The first evening aboard the ferry was uneventful, as we cruised through Chatham Sound on our way to Ketchikan, Alaska. As much as we wanted to explore the town – famous for its totem poles, and as the proposed site of the infamous “bridge to nowhere” – our layover was in the middle of the night, during the few hours of darkness at our disposal, and we had a long day ahead of us.
Wrangell
Day 11 of our journey began with a stop in Wrangell, a small town on an island of the same name. Wrangell has the distinction of being the only Alaska community to have been governed under the “flags” of four different nations: Tlingit, Russian, British and American.
Approaching Wrangell aboard the ferry
Russian fur traders first began doing business with the local Tlingit inhabitants here in 1811, and Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel established a fort here in 1834. Six years later, the Hudson’s Bay Company leased the post, which they named Fort Stikine after a nearby river. With the purchase of Alaska from the Russians, Americans took possession of the fort, now called Fort Wrangell, in 1868.
- Click here for more photos from the voyage to Wrangell
Petersburg
Back aboard the ferry, we embarked on perhaps the most perilous portion of our voyage. The most direct route to our next stop at Petersburg is through the Wrangell Narrows, a 22-mile passage between Mitkof and Kupreanof Islands. Too shallow and confined for most cruise ships, this winding channel offered unparalleled opportunities to view bald eagles up close and personal.
Bald eagle in the Wrangell Narrows
At the northern end of Mitkof Island, Petersburg is a small fishing village named for Peter Buschmann, a Norwegian immigrant who established a cannery and sawmill here in 1897. Known as “Little Norway”, the town celebrates its strong Scandinavian heritage.
- Click here for more photos from the Wrangell Narrows & Petersburg
Fredrick Sound
After a short stop at Petersburg, our route took us northwest through Frederick Sound, then north into Stephens Passage. Summer home to hundreds of humpback whales, this area is popular among the whale-watching crowd. We certainly saw our share of fins, tails, and spouts in the waters around our ferry!
Five Finger Lighthouse
We slept through the next middle-of-the-night stopover at Juneau, getting as much rest as possible before the ferry reached, Haines the next morning. From here we disembarked for our final two days on the road, which led back through Canada before making its way into Alaska.