Alaska Summer Solstice Cruise - Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Cruise Day 27

Friday, July 5, 2024

Today we are in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, our last port of the cruise before returning to Seattle and thankfully, we will be docking.  I have been to Prince Rupert once before and it brings back very fond memories for me.

My best friend Jack and I were taking the first of several long motorcycle tours together and left our home in Southern California and drove up the West Coast to Canada where we ferried over to Vancouver Island. We drove up the east coast of Vancouver Island to the very tiny town of Kelsey Bay where we caught a ferry that took us up to Prince Rupert.  From Prince Rupert we made a big loop driving the Yellow Head Highway to Jasper National Park then down to Banff before completing the loop and returning home.  It was a great trip with many memories for Jack and I and now, here I am again, this time with Val.

Prince Rupert is a small town on the rugged northwest coast of British Columbia, Canada.  The area is remote and also very scenic as it is surrounded by wilderness.  Even though it has population of only 12,200, it is the third busiest port in Canada.  It is a very nice town and a great place to visit, but we won't be seeing much of Prince Rupert today as we have an all day tour planned.

The last time for viewing this overview map as Prince Rupert is the last port on this cruise before returning to Seattle.

A more detailed map the Prince Rupert area.  As you can see it has a very rugged coast and surrounded by wilderness. Off the western coast of the area is the Haida Gwaii archipelago also called the Queen Charlotte Islands.  Prince Rupert is the red marker.

We are on a private tour today organized by one of our Cruise Critic Roll Call members.  We are taking a small boat and follow the west coast north of Prince Rupert and into the Portland Inlet and then into the smaller Khutzeymateen Inlet to get to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary.  The tour didn’t start until 8:30, but we had to be checked in before eight, so Val and I were up before 7:00.  After getting ready and having some breakfast we got off the ship and made our way down to the tour office.  It was fairly close by and only about a half mile walk so we were quickly there.  We checked in and then made our way to the boat.  That was more difficult than expected as the tide was out and the long ramp down to the boat dock was very steep and many people were struggling to get down.

This is where we are going today.  We start in Prince Rupert (the red marker) and travel by boat up the north coast of British Columbia and then follow the Khutzeymateen Inlet to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary (the yellow marker).

We finally boarded the boat and claimed a spot to sit when we weren’t out on the deck.  This tour was fully booked and there were 100 people on board, but the boat was pretty big and comfortable with several outside viewing decks.  The weather was cloudy and a little foggy, but it was showing signs that it would clear up.

It was a short walk from the ship to the dock where we boarded our tour boat.

After an introduction and safety talk, we cast off and were on our way.  We sailed out of the Prince Rupert Port area heading north along the coast.  The scenery was beautiful and at one spot, whales were spotted. Everyone rushed outside and the decks were crowded with people watching the whales and taking pictures.  I didn’t get any good pictures, but it was Val’s turn today as she got pictures of five different whales breaching.  I guess I should mention here that these were orcas also known as killer whales.

We're on our way.  The day started out gray and foggy, but thankfully that changed as we traveled north.

We spotted some orcas in the area.

 

The first of five orcas breaching that Val got pictures of.

It took about two hours to get from Prince Rupert to the entrance to the Khutzeymateen Inlet that would take us to the grizzly bear preserve.  By this time the sun was breaking through it was a beautiful day and the scenery kept getting better.  Val and I stayed out on the deck and staked out a good spot as we were heading into bear country.

As we slowly made our way deeper and deeper into the inlet everyone had their eyes peeled for bears along the shore.  We were told to stay very quiet and not make any noise as the bears might be spooked and get scared away.  Finally, the first bear was sited and the boat stopped and rotated around so everyone had a good view.  We took many pictures, and it was fantastic to see a grizzly bear in the wild, but at this time of the year they were mainly feeding on grass, so they were just grazing.

At this time of the year the bears are just grazing on grass and weren't moving around much.

This bear looked young and maybe a little thin, but at this time of the year they are just coming out of hibernation and have used up a lot of their body fat.

After a while we moved on and had our second bear sighting and a short time later, our third and final bear sighting.  We had made it all the way up to the end of the inlet and started our slow cruise back out.  It was so interesting sailing through this wilderness area not only seeing bears, but just seeing the beautiful, pristine scenery.

This was an incredibly beautiful and pristine area.

There is a wilderness lodge in the area so these people probably came from there.

 

Our second bear of the day.

Our third and last bear of the day.

As we made our way out of the inlet into the sound, we saw some more whales and stopped to watch them for a bit.  We moved on and once again, in the same spot we saw them this morning, we saw more whales.  We stayed there quite a while watching the activity, before it was time to head back to Prince Rupert.  I got some good whale tail pictures, but other than that we didn’t get many whale photos on the way back.

Time to start making our way back to Prince Rupert.

 

The Khutzeymateen Wilderness Lodge.  It is actually floating in the inlet.  There are no roads so the only way in is by boat.

Back into open waters.

My best (only) whale pictures of the day.  A series of pictures of a tail flip.

We also stopped when a large group of eagles were flying around.  There must have been good fishing for them as they were soaring and diving all around us, it was quite spectacular and we got our best eagle pictures of the trip.

Our best eagle pictures of the trip.

We were back in Prince Rupert around 3:45, just in time to walk back and board the ship in time for the 4:30 all aboard.  What a wonderful tour this was today, maybe the best of the trip.  It was seven hours long, but the time seemed to pass by quickly.  The crew was very personable, friendly and very knowledgeable.  One of the crew members was taking pictures and sharing them with everyone plus posting them on their Facebook page.  Lunch was served during the tour and while not gourmet, it was good enough, especially since we were all pretty hungry.  If you are in Prince Rupert, I would highly recommend Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, you won’t regret it.

We arrive back in Prince Rupert.  It had been a long day, but a very wonderful day.

A few pictures of the tour boat we were on today.

After getting back, I downloaded the pictures of the day and backed them up and then Val and I relaxed until dinner.  I did spend a little time on the balcony watching us sail away from Prince Rupert and was amazed at how large the port was.  Prince Rupert is the third busiest port in Canada which is quite amazing for a town of 12,000.  When looking at the industrial port near town, it didn’t look that big, but as we sailed out it stretched for miles and miles with very long trains loaded with containers.  I couldn’t figure out why Prince Rupert would be such a busy port, but on the tour today they told us the reason.  First of all, it is the closest port in North America to many of the Asian Ports including Japan.  Also, there is a major railroad terminus there which makes transport in and out easy and efficient.

There was mile after mile of these cargo handling facilities.

Tonight was the night they offered surf and turf for dinner, and I took advantage of it and found both the lobster and the steak very good.  Val doesn’t care much for lobster, so she opted for something else.  As has been the case all of this cruise, dinner was very good.  Val finally had a good night in the casino and we both got to play for quite a while tonight.  Tomorrow is a sea day and the last day of the cruise, so we stayed out later than usual as we don’t have to get up early tomorrow.