You can’t do southeast Alaska without including some heavy hitters like Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. Unlike the smaller ports, we were no longer the only cruise ship in town – and surrounded by 3 or 4 other cruise ships, there could be up to 15,000 passengers flooding into the area. The best option then for keeping it real is to go a bit further than the t-shirt and nik-nak shops. Or in our case, a lot further.

5!!! Ships in town. Seabourn Sojourn is on the far right.

SITKA

Darren had a hike in mind, so after walking through the town to get to the trailhead, we set off up the Gavan Hill trail. It was a heavily forested trail which included a number of boardwalk sections, which soon turned into wooden steps. Which turned into steeper wooden steps and steeper still, until we were practically climbing this damn hill up wooden ladders.

At around 75 degrees, we had chosen the hottest day of the year so far in Alaska to do this walk. Apparently only 2 degrees cooler than in Hawaii! And for us being acclimatized to SoCal weather, it was the super high humidity that was the killer. We passed a sign telling us it was 1 mile to the first viewpoint. As I wiped the sweat from my eyes for the umpteenth time, hauling my feet up yet another wooden step, it felt like going a mile directly upwards.

Eventually we reached the viewpoint, which meant a view down to the ship (yay!). We also lost most other hikers at this point – for them, this was a full on hike they could brag about to their fellow passengers over dinner. For us… onward and upward.

I spy a Seabourn Sojourn

The going didn’t get any easier. In fact, in whose definition was this a ‘hill’ rather than a ‘mountain’? I swear I’ve been up easier mountains. (Side note, I googled it. If you type in ‘hill vs mountain’, the very first definition listed, courtesy of the National Geographic Society, is this: “Hills are easier to climb than mountains. They are less steep and not as high.” Well NGS, I do not concur. I would bet a small fortune that the person who wrote that has not been up Gavan Hill.)

But oh, was it worth it when our 3 hours of climbing and clambering through the trees brought us out into the open onto a ridge line with views to die for. Look right to see back down to the sea with its pretty little islands and inlets and teeny tiny ships. Look left over to grand mountain ranges, barely sporting the last of their winter snow. Not only that but a welcome breeze – bliss!

We hadn’t figured on this walk taking quite so long, and we had a brewery to fit in before getting back to the ship, so couldn’t hang around for too long. The way down was arduously tough on the knees, and my calves and quads were beyond broken for days after. All in, we did around 10 miles and over 3,000 feet of elevation gain (which was pretty much all in 3 miles).

As you might guess, the beer at Baranoff Island Brewing was very welcome and refreshing! We were cutting it fine though, so even Darren could only squeeze one beer in. We were indeed the last passengers back to the last tender (and therefore the last people to get back onboard before the ship left Sitka), but we thought we judged it perfectly – in fact with 4 whole minutes to spare, Darren was wondering if he should have had another beer after all.

KETCHIKAN

Our day in Ketchikan was kinda similar to Sitka. Hike and brewery.

The Hike: slightly less humid; less boardwalk & steps and more rock, shale & tree roots; more flies (Do not get me started on the flies – big nasty black things that circled my head relentlessly causing me at one point to throw my arms in the air, hands flailing wildly, and yell at full volume “What do you want from me?”. Darren gave me ‘a look’.) Similar distance and elevation gain to Sitka; awesome views; oh and the important difference here is that we get to call this one a mountain!!! Deer Mountain to be precise (although we didn’t see hide nor hair of a deer).

The Brewery: We very nearly missed out on Bawden brewing. They take a relaxed attitude to opening and closing times here, and given that custom had dried up for the day, they were about to shut up shop just as we rocked up. Our desperate eyes and lolling tongues suitably communicated our thirst, and they obliged by staying open to serve us a beer.

We were not in danger of missing the ship this time, but again we couldn’t hang around for fear of missing out on curry night (or as they refer to it on Seabourn – the Grand Indian Buffet). Beer and curry after a hike like that, yes please.

As usual, I forgot to take any pics of the curries… but here’s a little selection of Indian desserts we tried

JUNEAU

Sometimes you need to give your legs a break from all that hiking lark. Use some different muscles at least. Straight to the bike rental shop in Juneau then for a couple of road bikes.

A network of bike lanes, quiet back roads, and bike paths led us up to Mendenhall Glacier. The air was hazy from a number of huge forest fires that were burning in central Alaska and BC (the closest of which was still 250 miles away). So without the sun burning through it was a cool day to start off with – and as we approached the glacier it got noticeably colder. Like when the fridge door is open and you can feel the chill – wait no, more like the freezer door.

We locked up our bikes while we went for a walk to get a better view of the glacier and Nugget Falls. Because we were cycling, we only had very limited stuff with us, so no woolly hat or cap. I kept my bike helmet on instead during the walk for warmth. Darren walked a few paces behind in an attempt to disown me.

Nugget Falls with Mendenhall Glacier in the background

A bike ride isn’t complete without a brewery. Good old Alaskan Brewing is a few miles out of town, so the bikes came in very handy for getting there. We shared a flight of taster size beers. Their Pilot Series Imperial Oatmeal Stout stole the show, better than any of the beers we’d had at the smaller breweries.

A ferocious headwind cut the bike ride short to 30 miles. I wasn’t complaining (well, maybe a bit about the weather and my bike, but not about finishing early). As we had a full day with a late sail from Juneau, this meant there was still time to hit up a couple of other breweries in town. We rounded off our Bike & Brews day at Devil’s Club and Barnaby Brewing. And bonus, we were able to get an Alaska Brewing tin tacker for our little garden display back home 🙂