Clicking on the images in this post will enlarge them for a better viewing experience.

The Tongass/Inside Passage map shown above (courtesy U.S. Forest Service) is annotated with this trip’s approximate adventure route.

Theodore Roosevelt established the Alexander Archipelago Forest Reserve by presidential proclamation in 1902 and in 1907 created another entity called the Tongass National Forest. These two protected areas were merged in 1908 to form the majority of what we know today as the Tongass National Forest. Most of the nearly 17-million acres that make up the forest are classified as temperate rain forest.

The Tongass is part of the Pacific Temperate Forest region, the planet’s largest temperate zone, which stretches from California to Alaska. A combination of mountains and moist ocean air creates the moderate temperatures and high rainfall necessary to sustain such an ecosystem.

To be classified as temperate rainforest, a region must receive at least 55 inches of annual precipitation and have a mean annual temperature between 39^o and 54^o F. Summer temperatures in the Tongass typically range from the 40s to the 60s with highs in the 70s. Winter lows are generally in the 30s occasionally dipping into the 20s. The annual rainfall in downtown Juneau averages over 90 inches while it is over 120 inches in Ketchikan. A combination of mild temperatures, rich soil and constant precipitation create an environment conducive to the survival of giant old growth trees. The Tongass contains a mix of conifers such as Sitka spruce, cedar, hemlock, and Douglas fir along with deciduous trees such as maple and alder.

The Inside Passage is a coastal water route composed of a network of passages that weave through the islands that lie off the mainland of the Pacific Northwest from Washington to Alaska. The Alaskan part of the Inside Passage extends 500 miles north to south and 100 miles east to west with more than 1,000 islands and thousands of coves and bays.

My trip began with a flight to Sitka to meet the rest of the photo workshop group led by professional wildlife photographer Juan Pons. Sitka was once the center of Russian influence in Alaska. Before the workshop began, I had the opportunity to visit the Sitka National Historical Park which preserves the site of a battle between invading Russian traders and the indigenous Tlingit. I enjoyed seeing a variety of totem poles (some examples below) carved by the Tlingit and Haida people that were collected from various locations in southeast Alaska and placed along a coastal trail inside the park.

The Northern Song provides exceptional accommodations with four guest staterooms having private bathrooms and showers on the lower deck (housing up to nine clients), a master suite on the main deck, a kitchen and dining area, comfortable lounge, pilot house with seating for all, and three levels of decks for excellent wildlife viewing. The boat also sports two tenders for beach landings and small group explorations. The crew of four consisted of the ship’s owner, the captain, a naturalist, and a chef.

Although Edgecumbe’s last volcanic eruption was about 4,000 years ago, the mountain became the subject of an elaborate April Fool’s prank in 1974 after a local man flew a large number of old tires to the mountain which he ignited. The resulting dark smoke emanating from the crater convinced the residents of Sitka that the volcano was erupting. The prank was revealed by 50-foot tall spray-painted letters that spelled out “April Fool”. While the FAA and Sitka police had been notified in advance of the prank, the Coast Guard had not which caused some consternation. Although some minor seismic activity has been detected recently, nothing indicates that the volcano is planning on awakening any time soon.

On this trip, we were very fortunate in the weather department. Several days treated us to sunshine, and only one day was mostly rainy.

For the first four days, we cruised around the islands of the western region of the Inside Passage. The landscape was heavily forested. The forest extended from ocean level up the lower slopes of mountains to snow covered upper elevations.

On Day 4, we transitioned to the eastern region of the Inside Passage via Frederick Sound and then proceeded northward through Stephens Passage into fjord country.

A fjord is a long, very deep and narrow water inlet bounded by steep rock walls that was carved by a glacier. Since large amounts of water were tied up in ice during the last ice age, the global sea level was as much as 400-feet lower than it is today. The landscape where a fjord now exists was covered with a very thick layer of ice. As the climate warmed, the ice began to melt and recede. The weight of these moving rivers of ice cut through the landscape beneath them forming U-shaped valleys which filled with ocean water to forge fjords that are often a thousand or more feet deep. Interestingly, fjords tend to be deepest as you travel farther inland from the ocean where the glacial force pressing down on the landscape below was greatest. Fjords are geographic features found in places such as Norway, Greenland, Chile, New Zealand, and Canada as well as Alaska.

After completing our tour of Tracy Arm, we meandered south through Stephens Passage exploring the nooks and crannies of the coastline looking for wildlife.

At the confluence of Stephens Passage and Frederick Sound sits the Five Finger Lighthouse. This lighthouse was commissioned in 1901 making it the first lighthouse built in Alaska. It was situated on the southern most island of the Five Finger group to guide traffic to the rapidly developing mining town of Juneau. It was lit for the first time on March 1, 1902. The original lighthouse burned in 1933, was rebuilt in 1935, and still stands today.

Five Finger Lighthouse has the record of being the longest manned lighthouse in Alaska as it was the last one to be automated (1984). Today the lighthouse is owned by the Five Finger Lighthouse Society, a non-profit organization that maintains the site which is listed as a National Historic Place. Volunteers from the organization live on the island during the spring and summer giving tours and working on the upkeep of the site. The two volunteers, who were returning for their third year, had just arrived on the island earlier in the week so the site was not yet open for visitors although they came to the dock and greeted us as we passed.

The lighthouse still serves as an active navigation aid but is now automated powered by solar panels. The site also serves as a weather reporting station for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Interestingly, a book entitled “Murder at Five Finger Light” by mystery author Sue Henry takes place at Five Finger Lighthouse, and she actually spent time on the island as part of her research. I had read that book a number of years ago so seeing the lighthouse had added interest for me!

LeConte Glacier is the southernmost tidewater glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. It emanates from the massive Stilkine Ice Field which also is the parent of the Sawyer glaciers that are about 85-miles to the north as the crow flies. LeConte Bay is a fjord reaching depths up to a thousand feet that is surrounded by high, steep mountains and often shrouded in fog. Our day on the bay was no exception. The rain, sleet and fog added ambience to the setting.

LeConte Glacier is a very active glacier, and the bay is filled with icebergs.

The phrase “tip of the iceberg” comes from the fact that 80-90% of the mass of a floating iceberg lies beneath the surface of the water. As we cruised up the fjord, the number of large icebergs kept increasing until there were so many large ones that it became too dangerous to continue. We had no wish to be like the Titanic! As a result, we were not able to reach the face of the glacier.

LeConte is particularly known for producing “shooter” icebergs which result from ice breaking off (calving) beneath the surface of the bay. Since ice is less dense (0.5 g/cc) than seawater (1.03 g/cc), and why the ice floats, a piece of ice broken from the bottomside of the glacier shoots to the surface.

When visible light from the sun strikes icebergs that possess little air, the red wavelengths of the light are absorbed by the iceberg. The wavelengths of light that are not absorbed are reflected. It is this reflected light that our eyes “see”, and the iceberg appears to be blue. Ice that calves from the top of a glacier will appear white to our vision because it contains more air, and most of the light wavelengths are reflected.

Although I had traveled via the Alaska Marine Highway System from Sitka to Juneau on the ferry previously, this trip was a very different experience allowing exploration of the nooks and crannies of the Inside Passage. While the focus of this trip was to observe and photograph the wildlife of southeastern Alaska, the scenery was amazing, and I wanted to share its beauty. I hope I have given you a taste of the wild Alaskan temperate rainforest, and I will do a separate post on the wildlife. Stay tuned for Part 2!