“Where are you?” I ask my husband as soon as I hear him pick up on his cell phone. I am standing on the Lido Deck of Holland America’s ms Westerdam looking nine floors down at the Ketchikan dock below. “The ship is ready to sail,” I say, trying to vocally project a need for expediency.
“I’m about 20 minutes out,” says Dan. I can tell he is breathing hard, probably running.
“Well, if you’re right, you’ll probably make it. If not, I’ll see you in Victoria.” I was confident that he would make it back from his hike. But he might have to argue with the portside security guards to let him onboard. It was going to be tight.
And such is the added adrenalin rush when you decide to do an independent hike while in port on a cruise. In Juneau we could have done a “shore excursion” where third-party hiking guides would ensure that we’d get back to the cruise ship on time. But that would have cost almost $90 each. You can do a lot with $180 --and going on a guided hike wasn’t one of them.
When we disembarked in Ketchikan, we walked straight to the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. We watched well-produced films orienting us to the area. The friendly folks at the center gave me a list of native art galleries to visit. Dan looked down at the list and then out the door towards a big green mountain. “I’m going for a hike,” he said as he kissed me goodbye. He had a wild look in his eye – and I knew it wasn’t from the kiss.
“What are you up to?” I interrogated.
“I asked the Tongass National Forest ranger if there was a tough hike out there,” he said fondling his stomach pooch. I could tell he was worried about what the midnight buffets were doing to his girlish figure. “She said that when she was training to hike Kilimanjaro, she hiked the Deer Trail. Kilimanjaro! You should go talk to her,” he said backing out the front door in a half run. Good flanking tactic -- Dan knew I would want to talk to her because, although I had been to the foot of Kili several times, hiking to the “Roof of Africa” was still on my “Just Do It” list.
Dan slipped out the door of the Discovery Center, and I went to talk to the Alaskan ranger. So that is how he ditched me on this hike, and why I am now on the cruise ship and he is not.
Twenty minutes later an anxious voice comes over the ship's public address system, "Will Mr. and Mrs. George Richardson please call the Security Officier. Mr. Scott Olson, please call the security officier immediately." OK, the ship was ready to sail and these folks had not yet slid their cruise identification cards through the ship's security boarding system. They were not yet onboard. But I breathed more easily -- Dan's name had not been called. That meant Dan was on the ship. Another thirty minutes later Dan plopped down on the chair beside me.
“You’ve got to see these pictures,” says Dan waving his Droid in my face. “It’s really cool hiking in a rainforest. There’s so much thick vegetation that the trail just disappears into the foliage. Look at this shot—it’s like the trail is disappearing into a black hole.” Check out the slideshow on the left-hand side of this page to see Dan’s narration of his hike.
For a detailed description of this Alaska trail and more information on how to get to the trailhead, mileage and elevation change, click here.
Enjoy this article? Receive e-mail alerts when new hiking articles are available. Just click on the “Subscribe to get instant updates” link above. Learn more hiking tips at www.vagabondinglulu.com
Comments