Yup, that’s right, we made our THIRD trip to Alaska in June!

We took Jules so they could see the glaciers before they all melt, and we had a marvelous time.

Because I know I need to keep my sleep consistent, we tried to keep to Eastern time as much as we could, which meant I was out and about at 5AM local time most days.

Still wasn’t early enough to catch the sunrise once got to Alaska, even when on the days I woke up at 4.

We did the cruise North from Vancouver to Whittaker, so our first day was at sea, and our first port was Ketchikan.

Ketchikan is in a rainforest–part of the Tongass National Forest.

Rainforest was a hint that we should have remembered to pack rain gear, so after getting raincoats, we went on a damp–but still amazing–boat ride and hike.

Tongass is 16.7 million acres, which makes the Tongass about larger than the entirety of West Virginia (but smaller than South Carolina), and it’s the largest (intact) rainforest in the world.

The hike was through an island rainforest, so zero permanent human habitation, and the walk was on a boardwalk, which minimizes the impact on the forest.

On the ride back, we saw harbor seals, and beautiful foggy mountains.

I would have enjoyed more time to wander around the town, which has plenty of history, but Ketchikan is the shortest stop on the cruise, and I wouldn’t have missed the rainforest for anything.

At sea (June 14):
Sunrise 5:15 AM
Sunset 10:07 PM
Temperatures 51-61 F

Ketchikan (June 15):
Sunrise 4:05 AM
Sunset 9:30 PM
Temperatures 52-57 F