North to Alaska…

NORTH TO ALASKA… THE PROLOGUE

My Africa adventure is a time that I will never forget. Thank you again Liza, Greg and Gillian Parker for your invitation to visit you and go on safari. And thank you Emile Sprenger de Rover for your hospitality and serving as our private guide.

It is now North to Alaska and though this will be my sixth summer traveling to Alaska and the Inside Passage I still cannot wait to get there. The pristine waters, lush rain forests, mountains that glide upward from the sea and the vast numbers of diverse wildlife that inhabits the area make it just that much more special. As John Muir said… “The Mountains Are Calling… I Must Go!”

I’ve always loved the mountains ever since I was very young. I grew up with my grandfather in Merced, California in the San Joaquin Valley. It was only a stones throw from the mountains, which we spent nearly every weekend except in the dead of winter. He was part Native American and passed on his love of nature, the mountains and the wildlife that lived there.

Because of these experiences I have a deep-seated love of the mountains. After he died I moved in with the rest of the family to Laguna Beach, California, which is also a very special place for me and close to my heart. Even with that said the mountains are where I feel the most at home. My son Christian said it best when he was 12 years old… “Dad you are a Mountain Man not a Beach Boy.” And so it was to be for I have lived in Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe and the Wood River Valley in Idaho the vast majority of my adult life.

For the next couple months I will be writing and posting of my experiences in Alaska. I will be traveling as I have before working as an Acupuncturist at Sea on a cruise ship. This time my home is the Coral Princess carrying 2,300 guests and a crew of approximately 1,000 from countries all around the world.

We will be visiting the historic ports of Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We will also make side trips to view a number of glaciers in Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Yakutat Bay the home of my favorite glacier the Hubbard Glacier. At the end of the season we will also visit Icy Strait and Kodiak Island as we cruise to Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii before heading back to Los Angeles.

Each post I will select a different tour or shore excursion that has been a favorite and give you an insiders view of what you might expect if you travel to Alaska. It may not be by cruise ship as there are various ways to get here but cruising the Inside Passage to Alaska is by far the best way to go and offers you the best scenic views, chance of wildlife sightings. All of this from a luxury cruise ship filled with a variety of activities, wonderful restaurants and where you never to cook a meal or make a bed. And one thing that I have heard from numerous guests is… “we only have to unpack once”.

So get ready and lets travel North to Alaska…

Author: larry pannell

I started my career in photography as a professional photojournalist in 1979 at the time working with several newspapers and magazines in Southern California. What I loved most about photojournalism was its diversity and over my career I covered professional sports, concerts and travel. As life would have it mine took yet another turn and in 1988 I developed an interest in holistic medicine. I became a professional massage therapist specializing in sports medicine. In 1991 I decided to go to medical school and obtained a medical degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine and stared my career as a licensed acupuncture physician. After medical school I moved my practice to northern Idaho for a year before settling in the resort area of Sun Valley, Idaho. I’ve always been an outdoor person and hiking and backpacking the Rockies and fishing the pristine river waters and high altitude lakes offered me a wonderful photographic opportunity. In 2010 I left Sun Valley and I once again found myself on a cruise ship, this time working as an “Acupuncturist at Sea”. For the past seven years I have traveled to 85 countries, which has allowed me to photograph much of the world. View all posts by larry pannell