About Southeast Alaska on the Inside Passage
The magical Inside Passage is a water route between Seattle’s Puget Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. Alaska’s part of this passage is about 500 miles (800 km) from north to south and 100 miles (160 km) east to west. It consists of 1,000 islands and endless coves throughout a pristine labyrinth of fjords and mountains. Also, the amazing Glacier Bay makes for epic scenic cruising with abundant glaciers and marine wildlife. And SE Alaska offers some of the most unique ports, like Juneau & Ketchikan. Overall, the Alaska Travel Guides below offer more detail about these awesome destinations.
The Tongass National Forest covers most of southeast Alaska. It’s one of the last remaining temperate rainforests in the world. Also, the forest is home to many rare flora and fauna, as well as the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people. The stunning scenery of southeast Alaska is known for its incredible wildlife. For example, it has coastal bears, moose, bald eagles, humpback whales, porcupines, seals, dolphins, orcas and sea lions. The maritime climate is regulated by the Pacific Ocean. It remains moderate with summer daytime highs in the low to mid 60’s F. and nighttime lows in the 40’s F. Winter temperatures rarely fall below 20 F. Because it’s a rainforest, expect rain and mists at any time.
Popular ports of the Inside Passage are wonderful to explore, such as, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Haines, Icy Strait and Sitka. Juneau is the northernmost state capitol of the U.S. Many of these areas are only available by boat or plane. Therefore, taking a cruise or ferry is a fun way to explore the inlets, ports and islands of the Inside Passage. Here, I worked as an Acupuncturist-at-Sea, visiting these ports numerous times. So, I wrote these Alaska Travel Guides based on my experiences and research.
