An Alaska Port City Vignette – Icy Straight Point
Icy Strait Point, located some 60 miles west of Juneau, ranks as unique among Alaska port cities. But actually, it's not really a city at all. No one lives there. You won't find any residential districts, or schools, or churches, or city halls. What Icy Strait Point is, is an Alaska historic site, a collection of buildings dating back to the early 1900's "glory days" of Alaska salmon canneries and fish processors.
Today
it's a prime Alaska
Native
cultural and soft-adventure
center visited by a select number of cruiseships. Only one
vessel a day may call there. So what's there to see and do at Icy Strait Point?
If you're into high-velocity thrills you can experience the ZipRider – the longest, highest, fastest zipline in the world. Starting at the 1,300-foot level on the ocean side of a mountain, six zipline adventurers at a time, each strapped into a parachute-like harness hanging below six parallel mile-long cables, zip and zoom at speeds surpassing 60 miles per hour through lush tree-top canopies of spruce, hemlock, cottonwood and other species to a soft landing atop a tower platform on the beach below.
If you're more inclined
toward traditional
sightseeing there are
numerous additional options, among them wildlife (including brown bear)
search
expeditions, whale
watching
cruises, sightseeing
flights
to nearby Glacier Bay
National Park,
ATV (all terrain vehicle)
rides
through the surrounding forest, and bike
rides to to the nearby Alaska Native community of Hoonah. Among free
options you can
hike a forest nature trail
of
considerable merit. A few dedicated anglers bring their own fishing
gear and fish off the community dock. If you're a history buff there's the old cannery itself, a fascinating place that features an authentic "line" of oldtime machines and retorts (cooking ovens).
Other
exhibits
chronicle the proud history of Hoonah
and its Native peoples.
Local dancers in full
regalia provide a
particularly colorful and memorable experience. Of course, there are
opportunities to purchase items of Native
art at shops specializing in Alaskan totemic carving,
basketry,
paintings, beadwork and jewelry, Alaska canned salmon, and books. Plus,
of course, the ever-ubiquitous Alaska tees and sweatshirts.If this port interests you, you'll have to tell your travel agent or cruiseline booking representative to select a sailing that includes Icy Strait Point. Not all cruiselines offer the option and even among the lines that do, not all voyages include it in their itineraries. You can learn more at: www.icystraitpoint.com.