Summer of 2020 I was lucky enough to visit southeastern Alaska for a girls’ trip with my friend Mara and her friend from high school, Molly. Even though we stayed within Alaska this was my first “Covid Vacation” and it was definitely a different experience (maybe more on that later.) Despite the unique atmosphere, we had a great time discovering new places and exploring old favorites!
Our excursion started with a flight to Juneau. This was the first time I’d been on a plane since February, so I was pretty excited! The flight route through southeast is frequently referred to as the milk run, but the layovers rarely ever show up on an Alaska Airlines itinerary. For those not familiar with travel through southeast, don’t be surprised if you make a few extra stops at various other communities!
Once we arrived in Juneau, we picked up our rental car and headed out in the drizzle in search of lunch. (If you’re planning a trip to southeast, expect clouds and precipitation as more or less a given. The Tongass National Forest is classified as a rainforest, after all, so if you aren’t familiar with local weather patterns, just know that anything water proof is your friend!) When we were discussing lunch options, Mara mentioned the Sandpiper Cafe. She had visited during her last trip to Juneau and loved it, so we started there.
The food was great, portions were huge, and I loved their logo! The cafe has a great atmosphere and we really enjoyed it. Conveniently, the Sandpiper is also at the base of the neighborhood where the governor’s mansion is located, so after we were finished we strolled up to take a look. It was nice to stretch our legs after sitting most of the day, and although you can’t go inside the mansion the exterior and gardens are beautiful. Honestly the windy Juneau streets that climb up the mountain are pretty cool to wander around in general!
After returning to our car we headed towards Mendenhall Glacier and decided to do the quick hike out to Nugget Falls. It was a beautiful walk despite some (more) rain, and the trail is very well maintained. During a previous visit to Juneau while my parents and brother were visiting we had also stopped to see the Mendenhall Glacier and hiked the Photo Point Trail. Both times the Visitor Center has been closed, so I will have to keep it on the list for next time. There are a few other trails in the area that I also wouldn’t mind exploring!
Our next stop was the Shrine of St. Therese, where we visited the church dedicated to her and walked around the grounds. There are beautiful gardens, a rock path labyrinth, and marmots have been crawling around alongside the trail both times that I’ve visited! Since we were already and about headed away from town, we decided to drive the rest of the way to the end of the road. The views along the way are usually beautiful, but it was still so overcast and cloudy that not much was visible.
Our final stop of the day was Forbidden Peak Brewery in Auke Bay. We enjoyed flights and samples of their sodas, and also ordered some snacks from Red Spruce, a small restaurant located within the brewery. We didn’t even know about Forbidden Peak until we almost passed it on our way back to our AirBNB, but it was definitely a happy accident! Afterwards we headed to our AirBNB and settled in for the night.
The next morning started with oatmeal and hiking! Last time I was in Juneau my family and I took the Mt. Roberts Tram, but it was closed this time around, so we decided to try out the hike from the beginning. It was still misty out, but we really enjoyed the hike despite the lack of views as motivation, The fog even cleared enough on our way back down that we did get to glimpse a little window of downtown. There is a museum near the trailhead as well, but we opted not to visit.
Instead, we headed to downtown Juneau and stopped in at the State Capitol Building. Mara said that she’s toured the building before, but there were no visiting options because of covid. We explored the exterior and nearby plazas before heading to lunch at the Imperial. Another restaurant within a bar situation with really great food!
We stopped in at some shops and galleries downtown, and then decided to drive over to Douglas, a small island across from the city that is easily accessible thanks to a bridge over Gastineau Channel. We did some small hikes along the coast, discovering a swing at one stop and a boardwalk at another. When my family was visiting a few summers ago, we stayed at a BNB on the Douglas side and I loved the view of downtown Juneau looking out over the channel.
After driving up the road to the ski resort on Douglas (just for funsies) and taking a peek at the ski fence, we headed back towards downtown for a stop at Devil’s Club Brewery. We enjoyed some flights before making our way to our AirBNB to pack up for our departure the next morning.
After Juneau, our second stop was Skagway! We used the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, which took about 7 hours. None of us had traveled by ferry in Alaska before, but we all agreed we would totally do it again! It was quiet and peaceful, plus the views of mountaintops shrouded in fog and sprinkled with waterfalls were gorgeous.
Once we arrived in Skagway, we walked through a very deserted downtown to our AirBNB. The first attraction to our list of places to visit was the Gold Rush Cemetary, where the infamous con-man Soapy Smith is buried. I was glad to be traveling with two native Alaskans, because this probably wouldn’t have even been on my radar otherwise! We hiked up the nearby Reid falls before walking back to town. Our final stops for the day were The Station Bar & Grill for dinner and Klondike Brewing Company. The food at the Station was really good, and we loved the option of sitting out in the “beer garden” at Klondike to enjoy some brews with a view!
The next day we went adventuring in Dyea, which was once the location of a town. Although a few people still call it home, for the most part it is abandoned. It was about 30 minutes from Skagway to Dyea, and we were lucky enough to have had someone recommend the Dyea-Chilkoot Trail Transport to us.
The Chilkoot trail traverses 33 miles total, starting near the old Dyea townsite and ending in Bennett, British Columbia. Although I’d love to return to hike the trail in its entirety, we stuck to a short day hike this trip. After making our way a little ways past the Beaver Ponds we headed back to the Chilkoot Trail Outpost for lunch.
Our shuttle driver, Ann, met us at the outpost and then took us touring around the old Dyea town site. Truthfully there’s only one false front left and a couple of walkways with information plaques. We made a couple of stops along the way, getting out to walk here and there. The campgrounds were more or less empty, and beyond a few straggler RV’s and fishermen we had the entire “town” to ourselves. Our last stop on our way back into Skagway was a gorgeous overlook, which offered great views of the entire town. This was another suggestion of Ann’s, and I would highly recommend her if you need a way to get around Skagway and Dyea!
After Ann dropped us off, we stopped in briefly at Skaguay News Depot & Books before making our way to Lower Dewey Lake. This hike was beautiful! As with the Chilkoot trail, the initial ascent was pretty brutal, but once that was out of the way it was more or less smooth sailing! As you would imagine, the trail’s destination is a lake, which you then loop around before returning to descend back into town. The lake was beautiful, there were lots of wildflowers scattered along the edge of the trail, and we even stopped at a little picnic spot to snack on the fudge we’d purchased in town earlier.
Once we got back into town, we stopped in at the Klondike brewery again before grabbing takeout from the local Thai restaurant. We enjoyed our take-out at “home” in our AirBNB and then started packing up for our departure the next morning.
Instead of taking the ferry out of Skagway, we opted to travel with Alaska Seaplanes. We checked in and dropped off our bags before checking out the short hike to Yakutania Point. The girl who checked us in told us to “just listen for the plane,” so we had a good wander around before heading back. Our flight was only 45 minutes, and that included a quick stop in Haines to drop off an 11-year-old’s birthday cake! I love remote Alaskan travel.
The final stop of our itinerary was Sitka, but there wasn’t really a Skagway to Sitka transportation option, so we ended up back in Juneau for a few hours. It didn’t feel worth it to rent a car for just a few hours, so we opted to take a taxi from the airport into town. Luckily there were some shops open that hadn’t been during our previous visit, so we stopped in at the Senate Building art galleries, Alaska Robotics, Rainy Day Books, Treetop Tees, and Kindred Post. All of these are well worth a visit! We also walked along the Juneau Seawalk, taking a little break to hang out at the base of the Tahku whale sculpture.
In addition to the Seawalk and shops, we did a lot of munching through downtown Juneau. We started with Deckhand Dave’s Fish Tacos, which had great outdoor seating. We followed up our fish tacos with some crepes before investigating Pel’meni Russian dumplings at a little hole in the wall restaurant in The Wharf. Our final stop before the airport was Barnaby Brewing, where we enjoyed some flights while hanging out with the brewery cat.
Once we arrived in Sitka, we hailed a cab to our AirBNB and dropped off our bags before heading out to dinner. Despite eating our way through Juneau, we were still hungry enough to grab some pizza at Mean Queen. We enjoyed a walk through a very quiet “downtown” near St. Michael’s Cathedral before heading back to our AirBNB.
The next day started with a quick breakfast at the Highliner Cafe before we headed out on a rainy kayaking adventure! We met our guide from Sitka Sound Ocean Adventures at the Big Blue Bus near Crescent Harbor and geared up with waterproof clothes (and snacks!). Our guide, Connor, was absolutely awesome and made sure we were all set before we headed down to the water.
We took two double kayaks out for our half-day trip and had an amazing time! Connor took us out past the Sitka lighthouse, making sure to point out any sea stars and urchins while rattling off the names of various islands we passed. It was really fun to see the various houses people have built in the small islands just off the coast of Sitka. The sun even came out towards the end of our excursion (the first time since 4th of July according to Connor!)
Our final destination was a popular camping spot near Bonsai Island, where we met our water taxi to head back to town. Our water taxi captain, John, was awesome and took us through a popular fishing spot for a closer look at the purse seining process. If you’re in Sitka and like kayaking, I would 1000% recommend Sitka Sound Ocean Adventures! I talked to them a bit about possible overnight trips to various public use cabins scattered around Sitka, and I can’t wait to see what future trips to the island community have in store for me!
Once we got back to downtown, we explored the various art galleries, shops, and the book store in downtown. After a quick stop at home to change out of our kayaking gear, we met up with Connor, who had offered to drive us up Harbor Mountain. The top of the mountain was one big cloud, but we still got some great views in on our way up! I can only imagine how beautiful it is on a clear day.
Our day in Sitka ended once again with dinner at Mean Queen, but this time we stopped in at their harbor location at Totem Square. The sunshine had come and gone throughout the afternoon, and we lucked out with a sunny view to end our day. While Mara and Molly would be staying another two days in Sitka, this was my final night and a suitable ending to a great week!
