Day 5: Ketchikan / Misty Fjords National Monument

In Ketchikan, connect with the Tlingit Culture. Tribal leader and local legend Joe Williams, known as Ka Xesh X’e in his native language, guides you on a walking tour. With a rich oral tradition, the Tlingit passed stories from generation to generation—and Joe’s storytelling is captivating! 

Amble through the surrounding forest on a moderate to easy trail or challenge yourself to a hard-charger hike along trails and boardwalks past, cedar, spruce, streams, and waterfalls. Next up, Misty Fjords is the largest Wilderness Area in the Tongass National Forest and a haven for wildlife—grizzly and black bears, salmon, and deer. Calm settles over these parts and all you can hear is nature. Deep glacial fjords filled with seawater. Wetlands, estuaries, dense forests, and sweeping granite cliffs. Paddle through a bay, silty from the outwash of a mountain river.

Day 6: Captains’ Choice

Just what you need, morning stretches on deck with your guide. Warm those hard-at-play muscles. You know firsthand—conditions in Southeast change one inlet to the next. Your captain is at the helm and your expedition team picks just the

right spot. Wherever you head, the adventures are as big as the water is deep! So many hidden pockets in the Tongass

National Forest. Give your paddle board skills a glide. Watch for big-eyed harbor seals from a kayak. Bushwhack into the

forest of giants. Your guides know the area’s history and keep it lively.

Day 7: LeConte Bay / Ideal Cove

If it’s high tide, a skiff ride brings you up-close to LeConte Glacier’s iceberg gardens. Sculpted by the warm summer air,

these glacial works of art are a testament to the mastery of Mother Nature. If tides are low, take a boot-sucking walk to

check out icebergs resting on the mudflats. Surrounded by national forest, Ideal Cove’s boardwalk trails wind through

habitat known as “muskegs,” boggy meadows of ferns and grasses. Or test your balance paddle boarding in this quiet

cove. It’s just you and the vast wilderness.

Day 8: Frederick Sound / Chatham Strait

Humpbacks beeline it to this region each season to feed on zooplankton and herring. Watch for whales feasting in

these abundant glacial waters. Hang out and enjoy the show. Based on wind and weather, your expedition team has the

lineup of adventures all mapped out. Cruise past Five Fingers Lighthouse, Alaska’s oldest light station and The Brothers

Islands, where sea lions nap on rocky nobs. From kayak or skiff, scope the intertidal zones of un-named bays and coves.

Eagles fish here too, their white noggins give away their perches. Kayak into a seascape of wild, forested islets, or take

the pace down a notch with an easy stroll amidst the tide pools. It’s remote, and remarkable.

Day 9: Sitka / Peril Strait

Alaska’s wild natural history surrounds the historic community of Sitka. With access to the Tongass National Forest all around you, take the hint and take a hike—your guides know the way into the mountains to a clear lake and along boardwalk trails through a temperate rainforest to a waterfall. Later, set sail into Peril Strait and join your expedition guides who share the tragic tales of how this passage earned its foreboding name.