Before we visited Icy Strait Point on June 12, 2026, I had never heard of it. Icy Strait Point and Dutch Harbor were my favorite ports of the entire cruise! Icy Strait Point is a remote town on the Inside Passage which has slid back into obscurity after both its canning and lumber industries crashed. The Inuit, or native people, have received lots of money from the Alaskan state fund which receives royalties on oil from the North Slope. The representatives of the Icy Strait tribes have poured that money into developing a tastefully designed tourist hub. Luckily, we were the only ship that docked on June 12, and the area still seemed authentic.
We entered Icy Strait Point through a visitors center which was a renovated salmon canning factory.
Inside were shops selling Alaskan arts and crafts, including modern art such as this bear poster.
There were also displays of canning equipment and procedures, such as this authentic salmon cleaning table with fake bloody salmon on top!
Other displays showed the machines for canning the salmon, and the boxes the cans were packed in.
Outside were crab traps and the lines and buoys used to mark the traps' place in the water and then haul up the crabs.
The fishing pier could have dated to the 1890s, when Icy Strait Point bustled with logging and fish.
Our shore excursion was a ride in a UTV (utility task vehicle) along an abandoned logging road.
Our caravan of UTVs splashed through streams and drove through thick forests higher and higher on the mountain.
We finally reached a viewpoint where we could see across the bay to mountains beyond.
We paused at a streambed where an avalanche had torn down the hill.
We also paused next to the seemingly impenetrable forest on both sides of the road.
When we returned from our ride, we wandered among the totem poles, statues, abandoned boats, and quaint old houses in the area near the pier, as well as staring at the sheer beauty of the mountains, forests, and sea.
And then, back to the ship.
No comments:
Post a Comment