Summer Solstice in the Last Frontier: ICY STRAIT POINT

Tuesday, June 25 - Relax & Recharge

We like to leave one port stop with no set plans if possible, to give us a chance to relax and recharge. Icy Strait Point was a perfect choice for this. It's a tender port, and the top things to do there are whale and bear watches. Since we had done the whale watch in Juneau, we enjoyed just being flexible for a day.

The tendering was not a problem at all, at least when we went ashore, which - no surprise - was very early. We arrived at a rather low tide, which meant the ramp from the tender dock to the dock area was very steep. Some less mobile folks had some trouble walking up the ramp, but RC employees helped when requested. As the tide rose, later in the day, the slope decreased and was not a problem.

We walked through the cannery display and museum inside the cannery building. We were so early that most of the shops were not yet open, but we stopped in later to check them out.

We headed to the nature trail, which was gorgeous. Quiet and eerily beautiful among the huge trees.

We came out onto the beach trail.

Our fierce wildlife encounter on the beach trail:

Radiance posing:

A couple of residences (and a relaxed resident) on the walk back to port:

Campfire to throw in the cedar chips each passenger is given upon arrival, for good luck.

We decided to take the $5 shuttle to Hoonah, just to walk around and see what was there. It is walkable in about 30 minutes or so (1.3 miles), but we were feeling lazy.

Hoonah is a sleepy fishing village, with a picturesque harbor and a few shops and restaurants. We just walked around. There was a kayak excursion as well as a biking excursion passing through while we were there.

King Crab pots:

We didn't stay long, maybe 45 minutes, and headed back to the dock to spend the afternoon relaxing on board. And of course taking photos, for my part.

Here is a photo of that 1.3 mile road between ISP and Hoonah, taken from the ship:

Totem pole near the shuttle bus pickup area:

Zipliners having fun. We considered this, but it's just too much money ($132 per person) for such a short experience, to us. Those who did it loved it, though.

You can see that later in the afternoon, the tide had risen significantly, lessening the severity of the slope of the ramp from the tender dock.

I spent much of the afternoon on the balcony, enjoying the view. I saw several spouts in the area but not a lot of whale activity. The Celebrity Century joined us about 2:00.