Day 20 -- Icy Strait -- July 30, 2014

Day 20 (Wednesday) Icy Strait -- Hoonah and Zipline

Icy Strait Point is located on Chichagof Island, 1.5 miles from the town of Hoonah and 35 miles west of Juneau. The Tlingit people settled Hoonah two thousand years ago when they had to abandon their original home because of advancing glaciers.  Icy Strait Point is built around the restored Hoonah Packing company cannery complex. It is owned by Huna Totem Corporation and caters to the 145,000 cruise ship guests each year. 

Our cruise ship could not dock right at Icy Strait Point, so we used tenders to arrived at the dock. The small boats were loaded with cruise passengers for the two-minute ride to shore. We were at Icy Strait Point from 9 am to 5 pm. We wanted an adventurous excursion, so we booked the Ziprider. It is advertised as a "Scenic Mountain Ascent and World's Largest Ziprider." Arlen, Justin and I boarded a bus to go to the top. The driver went through the town of Hoonah as he journeyed up the mountain, giving a great narration as he went. It was a tour on the way up to the top. After the bus stopped, we had a walk down to the Ziprider launching point. We could see Port Fredrick, Icy Strait and our cruise ship from the top.

The Ziprider is 5,330 feet long, 1,300 foot vertical drop, 60 mph maximum speed and 90-second ride. Six riders sit in harness seats and then launch at the same time. What a ride! I made it down to the bottom first, and was greeted by Linda, Wayne and John at the bottom. 

Arlen, Justin, Linda and I ate fresh crab from The Crab Station. The crab was cooked after we ordered and was delicious. The rest of the time we walked around in the area and toured the museum and shops.

Map of Icy Strait Point, where we spent the day

Ship tenders took us to Icy Strait from the cruise ship

Our rooms at the front of the ship

John and Wayne sitting and watching the tourists

Doe and her fawn were on the road up to the zip line

View from the top where the zip line was

Arlen and I ready to go on zip line

Justin 

Notice our cruise ship at the right

We are still smiling before the ride down

Justin has his feet out like we were told to do

What a thrill!

Arlen is feeling the breeze

Signs remind us to hold on and keep our feet up

The crab station was a busy place.

Delicious crab!

Norwegian sun had a sign where you could pose for a picture

Linda strolls along the board walk.

Tlingit dancers

One of the dancers and me

The dock for the tender boats from the cruise ships

The tenders are lifted back up to the ship

Arlen and I ride on the glass elevator in the cruise ship

View from above

A whale in the water right below our cabin

Day 19 -- Day at Sea Cruise Hubbard Glacier -- July 29, 2014

Day 19 (Tuesday) Day at Sea Cruise Hubbard Glacier 

We had smooth cruising over night in Prince William Sound and into the day until we reached the gigantic Hubbard Glacier in the late afternoon. The Hubbard Glacier is North America's largest tidewater glacier. It is 1,350 square miles of blue ice and is one of the most active in Alaska. We didn't see any large calving of the glacier, but did see some sea lions on small portions of the glacier floating in the ice water.

Linda and I decided to play Bingo on the cruise ship. I was lucky to win with a blackout game. It wasn't enough to book another cruise, but I did have a little spending money.

We continued to cruise all night toward Icy Strait Point.

Norwegian Sun Southbound from Whittier

View from front of ship

Justin with the Hubbard Glacier in far distance

Hubbard Glacier in distance

Wayne and John looking at the Hubbard Glacier from their deck

Hubbard Glacier

Stellar Sea Lions

Arlen, Justin and I pose for the NCL cruise ship photographer

Wayne, Linda and John smile for the camera

The assistant cruise director and myself after my "big" Bingo win

A towel animal in our cabin made by the cabin steward