“I’m on a boat, I’m on a boat, I’m on a…”

Here was our home for the next 4 days…

The ferry M.V. Columbia crosses the Lynn fjord in Haines
The ferry M.V. Columbia crosses the Lynn fjord in Haines
The M.V. Columbia in port at Haines
The M.V. Columbia in port at Haines
Bike parking on the Columbia
Bike parking on the Columbia - bring your own tie-downs!
Tents on the Columbia
We took the lower deck - out of the rain, a bit noisy, protected from wind.

Anticipation was high for the Inside Passage, and I kept bouncing around the decks firing the shutter on my camera, finishing with almost 500 images by the time we docked in Bellingham.

Let me share a few of the good ones here…

Clouds and fog over the Inside Passage
Clouds and fog over the Inside Passage
Container ship on the Inside Passage
Container ship on the Inside Passage
Shipwreck on the Inside Passage
What caused this...?
Tug boat on the Inside Passage
Blue sky, big sea
Rear view from the Columbia
Rear view from the Columbia

The Tongass National Forest is the largest forest in the United States, covering over 5.7M acres, with 19 different designated wilderness areas. It’s simply immense, and traveling by boat is one of the best ways to appreciate it. We saw whales, sea otters, swimming deer, and orca. We saw no bear, but would steer people to a recent article in National Geographic magazine to read about the rare ‘spirit bear’, which is a black bear born with white fur. Fascinating stuff.

We also ran into some great people on the ferry…quick shout outs to Rich, Don, and Steve…

Lunch at the Ocean View in Ketchikan
Brady, Rich, Steve, and Don at the Ocean View in Ketchikan

Here are a few composites for additional local color…

Lighthouses on the Inside Passage
Lighthouses on the Inside Passage
Vessels on the Inside Passage
Red on right, green ahead

If anyone is interested in seeing more of the Inside Passage, MSNBC did a nice photo essay over the summer, worth a scan.

After landing in Bellingham, it was a quick scamper home, and we called it a wrap: 5100 miles, 50GB of media to wade through, and time to power scrub the bike.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.