The final leg
Things went awry with the boat straightaway. We were supposed to load up about 1400, but there was no sign of the boat at that time. I overheard the ticket agents talking about how they were going to deal with the delay. When I went up and asked them what was going on, they said the boat was broken down and was still in Juneau. Already worried about riding down that crazy ramp and getting seasick, now I had to worry about being late, and how I would handle things if they said a boat wouldn’t come for another week. The ferry only runs once a week this year. About 1600 they told us another boat would come fetch us and take us to Juneau, where we would meet up with the Columbia.
Trouble
I was issued a new ticket and told the bus would arrive at about 1700-1800. We would get off this ferry in Juneau and then reboard the Columbia when it arrived in Juneau at about 0200. That would make for an incredibly long day. And, I’d need to negotiate 3 ramps, 2 in the dark, instead of just one. A bunch of the people in Skagway were only taking the ferry to Haines, which was supposed to be the first stop. They were understandably upset, as Haines is about 8 hours away by car and less than 2 by boat. For myself, I felt lucky that I’d run into another biker in Skagway named Andy that would be riding the ferry. He said I could follow him down the ramp and he would ride Kymani in if necessary. I felt unlucky because Skagway was the first stop for the ferry, and getting on here would give me my choice of spots for sleeping on the deck. I’d just need to see what happened.
A little ferry came and picked us up and I had no trouble loading Kymani. This ride wasn’t going to be long, so there was no point in looking for a spot to sleep, and there was a lot to see. The rain had stopped, and while it was cold and windy, it was gorgeous. There were mountains, waterfalls, porpoises, and lighthouses to see. It was truly worth it to take the ferry.
Mountains as we got underway Leaving Skagway
A couple of waterfalls
More beautiful mountains
A glacier
Although the photos aren’t great, these are Dall’s porpoises
A fishing boat A lighthouse
Juneau and the Columbia
Eventually we made it to Juneau. It was about 11 at night, cold and misty. Andy was still looking out for me and told me to follow him up the ramp. This one wasn’t as steep and the last ramp hadn’t been as hard as I thought it might be. I followed Andy up the ramp and then he rode up over the curb, through some grass separating two parking lots, and into the next parking lot so we could get our new tickets! I have never ridden over a curb before, but I followed him with no problem. We got in line to get our new tickets. The ticket agents seemed tired and kids were running around screaming, as it was late and they were obviously tired, as we all were.
After getting out tickets, they told us where to put our bikes in preparation for loading onto the Columbia when it came. Andy and I hung out in the terminal for a while, but once the Columbia arrived, we went out to our bikes. We waited for almost an hour before they told us we could get on. We rode the bikes down the ramp and put them in a temporary spot. They told us we would move them tomorrow when we got to Petersburg. We pulled our stuff off our bikes and headed to the solarium where we would spend the next three nights.
Kymani and Andy’s bike crammed in the hold of the boat
Sleeping on the deck
It was nearly 3am by the time I made it up to the solarium and we were far enough south that it was dark night. There were a bunch of people already sleeping in the solarium, which is basically the deck with a roof over it. Many were on lawn chairs, but a bunch were also in sleeping bags on the floor. I stumbled around in the dark until I found a chaise to set up my sleeping bag. I blew up my mattress, unrolled my sleeping bag, stuffed my bag under the chaise and crawled into my bag. It had been a brutally long day and I was beat.
First day at sea
I had a tough time sleeping, as I was surrounded by a bunch of strangers. My sleeping bag was warm and I didn’t want to leave it. I did make my way down to the snack bar to get some boiling water to make my coffee. There was a lot to see on the water. I saw humpback whales, bald eagles, and orcas.
Humpback whales
A bald eagle
Some of the orcas I saw
More orcas
I spent my time taking photos and reading books on the kindle. You’re kind of stuck on a boat and the entertainment is just watching the wildlife. The ferry was a very old ship and there was a lot of wear on it. They had a restaurant, but of course, there was no vegan food. They had a snack bar and I was lucky to occasionally find a small salad I could buy. I still had my food, but I was ready for something fresh.
The solarium from my chaise
Time passes
The ferry stopped in Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan, and finally, Bellingham, Washington. I had a really tough time sleeping the entire time I was on the ferry, so I read a lot. At least I wasn’t in the rain, there was a roof over my head, and I could always go inside the boat if I wanted.
A beautiful sunset on the water
The view of Ketchikan from the ferry
The end of the trip
Eventually, we made our way to Bellingham. We arrived early, about 0700, and I was ready to go. After 4 days on a boat and a couple of days of waiting for the boat, I was definitely ready to hit the road. I’d gotten a message that the campground I had planned on staying at near Mt. Rainer was closed due to another fire. That would mean I was way out of the way to get to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint to see Mt. St. Helens, so I decided to just take the interstate 5 home and get there as soon as I could. I was tired after more than a month on the road.
A ferry similar to the Columbia. You can see the glass solarium on the top deck
The port at Bellingham
Home
I made it from Bellingham, Washington to Roseburg, Oregon, about 450 miles and stayed the night in a hotel. I loaded up and headed out early the next morning and made it home about 2 in the afternoon. My trip was finished! I had made it to Alaska and back. I was glad to be home.