parkkitchings
Adventurer
Thanks. I tried sharpening somewhat in Lightroom but I took this really late one evening when it was almost dark so I had to really push the ISO setting, thus the noise in the picture. In this case it is what it is.....great subject matter but a not so great photographer. I really love photography but am second rate amateur at best. I met a wildlife photographer at the library in Haines while there that was from Germany and his pictures were unbelievable. He was however shooting with a zoom lens that sells for about $12,000 and his camera body went for about $6,000. Oh yea, he had a back up of each in the event he had a problem with one. Mine didn't cost quite that much and my back up is a $150 clapped out point and shoot.
Shot some more bear pics on the last morning in heavy fog to wrap up the Haines experience.
Ferry rolled in late that afternoon along with the fog. Rode on and got set up on the observation deck. You can get a berth, for a price, or choose to sleep on the recliners provided on the open deck. It's covered on three sides and has heat lamps above. If you've got a good bag it's really the way to go. With the heat lamps you don't get cold at all even if you're just sitting around and not in the bag. Staying here you also tend to meet a lot of differnt people. Was a great experience and I'd go this route again if not wanting to ride back down. I talked to a few on the boat who had taken the ferry up from Washington and now were taking it back down. Not sure I'd do that as you miss a lot by not making the drive up but to each his own. I grab a recliner, spread my stuff out, and roamed around the ship to get the lay of things. They have a bar, movie theater, cafeteria, formal style dining area, hot showers, small gift shop and comfortable seating areas throughout the ship. I made use of all of them throughout the float.
Ferry....
Covered deck area with heat lamps above. Couple of people set up tents but really didn't see the need unless you really wanted some privacy.
Met a guy in his 40's who had ridden his bike up from Argentenia to Deadhorse, Alaska and was now headed back down. Was going to Washington via the ferry and then riding it back to Argentenia. This is his ride............a Yamaha 125 loaded to the hilt. Who says you need a fancy overland rig or big bike to do epic trips. He was telling me he'd been over some high passes on the trip where he'd have to get off the bike, leave it in first gear and run alongside of it to get over the pass.
The inland passage is just beautiful and I'm glad I took the ferry back down. Trip overall was a great experience. Two months in the truck/camper and then another month off of the bike. Not a bad way to spend the summer. I got back into Tacoma and took one more two week trip in the camper with the bike in tow down to Oregon and the Hells Canyon area in October. If any interest I may just keep the report going until I complete that two weeks as well. Will be heading down to Baja in February and hope to attend the Overland Expo shindig in Flagstaff come May so I'll be back on the road real soon. If you see my rig (pic on first page of this report) motoring along somewhere be sure and say hello.
Last shot taken on the inland passage near Ketchikan. I know I enjoy others reports here on the forum and hope some of you have gotten something out of this one. Thanks for coming along and if you haven't been up north then make it a priority.
Remember.......
