Alaska photos (raw)
 

Here are some teaser shots from my Alaska trip. I'll be working on a full trip report but for now please enjoy these shots!

http://moonliner.smugmug.com/gallery/735999

Cool shots, Moon! It must have been weird climbing on ice during the summer. Okay, get the rest up already!:snap:

OOOH! I soooo wish I had been a stowaway! Denali has been my dream for ages. Add the amazing wildlife in there and I'm in heaven.

I can't wait to hear more about your trip. Tell us also who you booked through. I'm sooooo interested.

NA:

Of course the criuse was booked with Princess (via a travel agent friend) but the rest of the trip (Denali, most shore excursions, lodging, etc..) I booked independently. I have a bit of a phobia about the way cruise lines tend to treat people like cattle so I pretty much avoided them where I could.

This trip was over two years in planning, reading books, trolling news groups, searching on the Internet, etc... A somewhat obsessive trip report web site will follow in a couple of weeks. I need to clean up some of the photos, edit the video and get it all typed up nice and neat. I promise it will be worth the wait, The "Mr. Brown Bear takes a bath" sequence alone will be worth the price of admission!

Hey -- were you on the Sapphire Princess that kept stalking us all week?

Nope, Island Princess - Southbound.

Skagway Aug 9th
Juneau Aug 10th
Keitchickan Aug 11th
Vancouver Aug 13th

Did we miss each other?

One other big question, Moonie......Is a cruise a "must" to see Alaska? I have never been a big cruise fan, but, if it is a must, I'd do it for Alaska. Or are there other ways to see the water sights?

You can DEFINTLY see the sights and have a great time without the cruise. It takes more planning on your part but it can be very rewarding. We did the cruise because it was a family thing (age range 9 to 85) and it just made sense. We each did our own thing during the day and then met for dinner to tell our stories.

I had my reservations about the cruise however I would like to say (post first cruise) that I could get used to the cruising life style and it was an efficient way to get around.

Yup. We were:

Juneau Aug 9
Skagway Aug 10
Ketchikan Aug 12
Victoria Aug 13.