Our trip begins in the fishing community of Petersburg, AK. Situated on the tip of beautiful Mitkof Island, with a proud Norwegian heritage, this frontier town is unaffected by large scale tourism and cruise ships. We’ll cruise north along the rugged mountains of Alaska’s Coastal Range (look for ‘Devil’s Thumb’ a shear rock feature that juts 9000 ft into the air) to a protected anchorage. There is time to kayak or beachcomb in the afternoon.

After breakfast this morning we’ll get our first glimpse into Frederick Sound. Watch for the tell tale spouts of Humpback Whales, Orca and Dalls Porpoise as we cruise past the islands surrounding Five Finger Lighthouse. We will spend time watching and photographing marine life that we encounter along the way. Our destination for the evening is a small cove nestled beneath a hanging glacier at the edge of the Tracy Arm Fords Terror Wilderness.

Wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, take a stroll on deck to take in sweeping views of mountain ranges across channel. We’ll get underway early and cruise the length of spectacular Tracy Arm or Endicott Arm Fjord. Nature is still raw here and you will be awed by the scale and grandeur of Alaska’s rugged beauty as we cruise beneath sheer granite walls with cascading waterfalls. We’ll navigate between glittering blue icebergs in the hope of reaching the massive tidewater glacier, South Sawyer (or Dawes), that calves regularly into the sea.

Watch for Bear, Mountain Goats, Bald Eagle, Harbor Seals with pups on icebergs and their nemesis the Orca (Killer) whale.

In the afternoon our journey continues south towards Admiralty Island.

A National Monument and pristine wilderness area this island has the densest population of Brown Bear in the world and is a popular nesting site for Bald Eagle. We anticipate spending today at the two viewing areas of Pack Creek Bear Observatory (a tidal estuary and optional hike through beautiful rainforest to a viewing tower) to observe the bears as they go about their day in the meadow or fishing for salmon in the creek. Bring your camera and binoculars!!

Today begins at a leisurely pace. There is the opportunity to kayak before breakfast, pull crab pots with the crew or jump in the skiff if we see a bear on shore. We’ll cruise back down Seymour Canal, into Frederick Sound and south towards the Brothers Islands. These forested islands offer an unexpected fern and lichen rainforest ecosystem or beach and tidal pools to photograph and explore. In the afternoon we’ll pass a Sea Lion haul out and fish for Halibut enroute to another beautiful bay.

Watch for wildlife: Humpback Whales, Orca, Dalls Porpoise

We expect some spectacular whale activity crossing Frederick sound today. In August and September Humpback Whales are seen gathering in this area and Orca sightings are more frequent. We will stop to fish for salmon and look for Sea Otter whose numbers continue to increase in the inner waterways, much to the dismay of locals as they love to eat Dungeness Crab. We have the choice of visiting the small community of Kake in the afternoon if time allows.

We have a scenic days cruise today along the northern shore of Kupreanof Island, detouring for wildlife in between, to our final anchorage and one last dinner to celebrate adventures shared and new friends made.

Its the final morning and a cruise back to Petersburg where we aim to be docked (after breakfast) by 11am.