Getting to Alaska

Please note that our adventure trips do not include airfare to and from Alaska.  For your travel to Alaska, you will usually need to connect in Seattle, and then take a flight on Alaska Airlines to Petersburg or Sitka; some guests also fly via Anchorage to southeast Alaska.  We will do our best to help you locate transport from your airport to the boat.

To help you make your flight arrangements, you can visit the Alaska Airlines website by clicking HERE, or by calling (800) ALASKAAIR.

An additional option for travel to and from Alaska is the Alaska State Ferry/Alaska Marine Highway System.  Travel options include departures to Alaska from Bellingham, Washington, and multiple ports within the state of Alaska.  Various lodging options are available aboard the Alaska State Ferries, and differ between individual vessels.  For additional information, please visit the Alaska State Ferry/Alaska Marine Highway System website by clicking HERE, or by calling 1-800-642-0066.

CLIMATE INFORMATION

Southeast Alaska is a temperate rain forest.  Annual rainfall amounts range from 150 inches in Ketchikan to 30 inches in Skagway.  May and June are the driest months, while July and August are a bit wetter but warmer as well.  Normal temperatures range from the mid-fifties to low seventies, with temps dropping about ten degrees at night.  Rarely, when the sun comes out, temps in the eighties can occur.  It is important to note that there can be up to 20 hours of daylight in early summer.   The weather in southeast Alaska can and does change with amazing frequency.  In order to stay comfortable, one needs to be prepared for these changes.

LUGGAGE TIPS

Remember that you will be on a boat. Avoid bringing hard luggage.  The cabins have closets and drawers, but storage is limited. Soft luggage or duffel bags are preferred as they stow easily, and you will not be competing for space in your stateroom with your luggage.

FISHING LICENSES

In order to harvest crab and shrimp aboard Ursa Major, at least one guest per trip must be in possession of a valid Alaska fishing license, (which are available to non-residents on a temporary basis, ranging from 1 day to 1 year in length).

Fishing license fees in Alaska are priced depending on the duration of the license, and type of fish targeted. (King salmon fishing requires a stamp).  To purchase a non-resident temporary Alaskan fishing license for your trip with us, click HERE.

Alaska & the Inside Passage

1.  Alaska’s Southeast, 9th Edition: Touring the Inside Passage – Sarah Eppenbach & Michelle Gurney

2.  The Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska Adventure Guide – Ed Readicker-Henderson & Lynn Readicker-Henderson

3.  The Inside Passage to Alaska: A Short History – Hugo Anderson

4.  Lonely Planet Alaska (Regional Guide) – Jim DuFresne, Robert Kelly, & Catherine Bodry

5.  Alaska’s Inside Passage:  National Geographic Destination Map

Local Culture & History

1.  Heroes and Heroines: Tlingit-Haida Legend – Mary Beck

2.  Shamans and Kushtakas: North Coast Tales of the Supernatural – Mary Beck

3.  Tlingit Indians: Results of a Trip to the Northwest Coast of America and the Bering Straits – Aurel Krause & Erna Gunther

4.  I Heard an Owl Call My Name – Margaret Craven

5.  Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story of Early Naturalist George Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska – Corey Ford

6. Good Time Girls of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush – Lael Morgan

7. O’ Rugged Land of Gold – Martha Martin

The Natural World

1.  Nature of Southeast Alaska: A Guide to Plants, Animals, and Habitats – Rita M. O’Clair, Robert H. Armstrong, & Richard Carstensen

2.  Geology of Southeast Alaska: Rock and Ice in Motion – Harold H. Stowell

3.  Guide to Marine Mammals of Alaska – Kate Wynne

4.  Guide to the Birds of Alaska – Robert H. Armstrong

5.  Familiar Plants of Coastal Alaska: A Guide to Identification – Stephen MacLean

6.  Reaching Home: Pacific Salmon, Pacific People – Natalie Fobes, Tom Jay, & Bradford Matsen

Travel Writing

1.  The Reader’s Companion to Alaska – Alan Ryan

2.  Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings – Jonathan Raban

3.  The Curve of Time: The Classic Memoir of a Woman and Her Children Who Explored the Coastal Waters of the Pacific Northwest – M. Wylie Blanchet

4.  The Last Wild Edge: One Woman’s Journey from the Arctic Circle to the Olympic Rain Forest – Susan Zwinger

5.  Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage – Jennifer Hahn

6.  Travels in Alaska – John Muir

7. As the Sailor Loves the Sea – Ballard Hadman

Cruising

1.   Exploring the Inside Passage to Alaska: A Cruising Guide from the San Juan Islands to Glacier Bay – Don Douglass & Reanne Hemingway-Douglass

2.  Charlie’s Charts: North to Alaska – Charles & Margo Wood

3.  The Coastal Companion: A Guide for the Alaska-Bound Traveler – Joe Upton

4.  Southeast Alaska Current Atlas – Randel Washbourne

Miscellaneous: Non-Fiction

1.  Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea – Donovan Hohn

2.  More Faster Backwards: Rebuilding David B – Christine Smith

3.  Working on the Edge: Surviving In the World’s Most Dangerous Profession: King Crab Fishing on Alaska’s High Seas – Spike Walker

4.  Coming Back Alive: The True Story of the Most Harrowing Search and Rescue Mission Ever Attempted on Alaska’s High Seas – Spike Walker

Miscellaneous: Fiction

1.  Alaska: A Novel – James A. Michener

2.  The Sea Runners – Ivan Doig

3.  Raven Stole the Moon: A Novel – Garth Stein

4.  The Yiddish Policemen’s Union – Michael Chabon

5.  The Alaskan Laundry – Brendan Jones