ICY STRAIT POINT: Alaska’s Newest Cruise Port! 🧊🚠 Things to Do: Sky Peak Gondola, Cannery and Hike 🦅

ICY STRAIT POINT: Alaska’s Newest Cruise Port! 🧊🚠 Things to Do: Sky Peak Gondola, Cannery and Hike 🦅

Right now we are disembarking in Icy Strait Point. 
So we are learning all about salmon. How it was processed, how it was canned. Look at the size 
of that. It looks like we’re walking through Jurassic Park. Seems like these one they grow 
forever. The views were simply phenomenal. As soon as you get to the top, you get off and there’s 
this viewpoint of Glacier Bay and you’re like, “This is the Alaska I came here to see.” Just 
nature at its finest. Raw, rugged beauty. This has been a lot of fun. I’m enjoying cruising. First 
cruise and I’m sold on the concept. All righty, friends. Good morning. This is our second port of 
the trip of the cruise to Alaska. And right now, we are disembarking in Icy Strait Point. This 
place is spectacular. We are in the middle of the forest. And first thing we’re seeing as we 
get off the cruise ship, two bald eagles right in front of us. Pretty amazing. So, yeah, we’re just 
going to try and get a little bit closer and show you the wildlife here. It’s amazing. Again, really 
great weather today. It’s a little bit overcast, but it’s nice and pleasant. So, today is going to 
be all about enjoying nature, wildlife, walking, just running up ahead to get a shot of a bald 
eagle. I mean, we haven’t even got off of the platform yet. And already we’re we’re being 
treated to spectacular wildlife. So excited to be here. This is definitely a more tranquil 
destination. A really small place. I think we’re just going to wander around, do some hiking. 
There’s the opportunity to go to the gondola. Just so happy to be here. It’s so so beautiful. So, as 
soon as you get off the dock, you’ve got kind of like this welcome area with an information center. 
You can book different tours. And the first thing you spot, of course, is the gondola. That’s 
one of the main activities here. And then also, they have one of the biggest zip lines in the 
world. All righty. We have two options, guys. Yes. And we’re going to do both of them. Yes, we 
are. But we’ll talk about both. So, first off, we’ve got we’re going to be taking the Transporter 
Gondola, this beautiful gondola system. It’s free. It’s free for anybody. And then we’re going 
to come back on the nature trail. It’s only a 15-minute walk. FYI, there’s bear activity. Yeah, 
there’s bear activity. It says so there’s a sign. So yeah, be careful and be aware of the bears, 
obviously. But uh yeah, let’s go check it out. Okay, we made it. We made it in Germany. What a smart idea for them to do this. Oh yeah. All righty. So, I’m going to show you here on the 
map. That is where we started. That’s where our cruise ship is docked. We took the gondola 
over to this area. And next there’s a nice little boardwalk. We can walk up to there to that 
section where we’ve got the Huna Caneries. So I think that is our plan. Oh, people are zip-lining 
behind us. I don’t know if you can see them going past. That’s a little too scary for me. Um yeah, 
but the ride was really nice. You just go through the middle of the forest and it is like so thick 
and dense and lush. You can tell they get a lot of rain over here. And yeah, it’s just a beautiful 
ride. The scenery is spectacular. We’re planning to walk back when once we’re done with our 
day of sightseeing so that we can actually enjoy being in the woods, being in the thick of 
it. Um but yeah, here we’ve got a nice little stop with some restaurants. There’s a smokehouse, 
washroom facilities, that sort of thing. And yes, just having a lot of fun. This is a really 
cool spot that I had never even heard of before. So very excited to be here in Icy Strait 
Point, Alaska. I just want action. Things to do. Heat. Heat. Here we are walking along the beach with Aurelia in 
arms with grandpa. And you noticed something. Something caught your attention. Do tell. 
What caught my attention was the size of this log. I’m going to show you here. Look 
at this behemoth. It runs all the way like down there. That’s a tree passing that little tree 
there. And also all of these ones, they have the uh chain system. Yes. Okay. This one has the chain 
and this one has the uh clip. That means that these logs were the ones that were used on the uh 
perimeter. You know when they float the trees and the logs down the water by the lake or the river, 
it looks like a huge raft. Yeah. But the logs in the middle are just loose. And the ones all 
around the edges, they have these chains. Yeah. They’re tied up together. Yeah. They they tied 
up together and then the tug pulls from them. So, uh, this is to avoid that the log that are 
floating in the middle and they’re not tied to anything. They just wander off with the current 
and they disappear. So, it’s basically like a like a ring made out with this and that’s how they 
transport because around here, you know, you have no roads and you have no means of transporting 
anything other than by water and uh that’s how they do it. They bring it to the mills floating 
and then they just process them for whatever it is that they need like uh boards or post and beams 
and whatever. Right. But this is the way that uh it is done here in these parts of the world. And 
another thing that you were mentioning these are cedar trees. Yeah. And the other day we learned 
that they use red cedar to carve the totem poles that we’ve been seeing. Yeah. Because the cedar is 
uh one of the trees that has the most uh uh it’s like durability, would you say? Yeah, durability 
at the uh to the elements with the element to the weather. It doesn’t rot. So a cedar tree once 
it’s been cut, it can stand for years, decades, and maybe hundreds of years without getting 
rotten. And this is also a tree that has a natural repellent for all these insects that like to chew 
and eat and carve and bore uh in the wood. So the cedar is also a a natural repellent. The smell 
of the cedar is there’s got to be something there that uh uh it’s like a moth bowl, a giant moth 
bowl, right? It’s a cedar tree. Amazing. Stop. Heat. The different kinds of salmon. Who knew there were 
so many? My gosh. Wo. Apparently, the king salmon is running right now. And the bears love to eat 
that one. It’s the biggest. So, we are learning all about salmon. How it was processed, how it 
was canned. Yeah, it’s amazing. And this is the Henry. And uh they have like a actually they have 
the original machines. Yeah. That they were using for uh to process the salmon. Uh the fish is not 
real of course. It’s make believe, you know. But uh they have different stations and they show over 
there on that side how the fish was gutted and the head and the fin were removed over here. And then 
on the other side we have the actual uh canning process. It’s uh super interesting because uh 
this is not the stuff that was made just for the museum. It’s the actual machine that these people 
were using back in the day. And you know you wonder how did they manage with so little. When 
you get to be my age, these are the type of thing that makes you wonder how many generations of 
people worked in a place like this, in a factory, in a cannery like this, how many mothers and 
fathers they have to put in the days to feed the family and to bring up the kids. And uh I must 
have been a a a real hard life because back in the day here I don’t think there was much other than 
the cannery or going to the bush and with an axe and fell trees you know like uh there was no other 
means or possibilities of uh making a dollar if you will. So this was kind of a maybe for a lot of 
people a forced situation to get into and having to work in a place like this just because survival 
dictated it. Okay, since we’ve been since we’ve been talking about salmon, salmon, salmon, let’s 
actually talk about the life cycle of the salmon, which we can see here in the diagram, but my 
dad Daniel is going to give us a quick lesson. Is this a biology lesson here? Yeah, salmon 
is so good to eat, but a lot of people ignore completely what uh what’s the salmon life like, 
you know? Yeah. Uh we’re not going to talk about the farm salmon because those they they live in 
a cage basically. We’re going to talk about wild salmon. The salmon is born in a very uh shallow 
and small creek, usually up in the mountain with a very crystal clear water. And the bottom has to be 
pebbled. Okay, that’s where the salmon is born. Uh that’s where the female lay the eggs and that’s 
where the males they uh fertilize fertilize the egg. What happened the first uh the first month of 
life they they live there where they’re born. They get strong and then slowly they start swimming out 
of that little creek. They go into a bigger river and a bigger river and they always swim towards 
the uh here we’re in the west coast. So they they swim toward the Pacific Ocean. Once they reach 
the ocean they go and they spend depending on the different species of salmon the time could vary 
but usually around 4 years they spend swimming around the Pacific Ocean getting big I mean 
getting nicely and fat. And then the time comes when they have to reproduce again. And slowly from 
that huge ocean water, slowly they make their way to the same place where they were born. Exactly 
the same spot. They come into the ocean through the bigger rivers and they swim upstream always 
because the river flows towards the ocean. So the salmon is fighting always the current and 
sometimes they have to go over some falls and slowly they get to the same area where they were 
born and that’s where the female will lay the eggs again and the male will fertilize and that’s 
the cycle of life is over. The salmon dies there. Now it’s over for the fish, but it’s not over for 
nature because out of that you have all kinds of wild animal that they feed and they survive thanks 
to the salmon because they eat it. You have a lot of the um natural uh trees and vegetation that 
can drive because of the nutrient they get from the salmon. Usually the bears or the wolves or 
the foxes or the eagles will take them into the forest consume part of it and the rest will be 
there left to rot. So once is rotten that goes into the ground and it gives a lot of nutrient to 
the trees and the plants. And as you can see, it’s a cycle of life that not only feeds a human being 
that they fish the salmon and then they, you know, eat it, but it also serves to feed a whole variety 
of wildlife and even the uh plant life. Okay, this is one of the biggest mysteries of uh life. No one 
knows exactly for sure. There are some theories, but no one knows exactly for sure. How does the 
salmon manages to after swimming four years in the Pacific Ocean make his way back to the same 
spot little mountain creek where he was born? What kind of GPS is the earth magnetic field 
that guides them? We don’t know for sure. But the thing is that this this fish can find his 
way back to the origins and uh that’s the story of the cycle of life cycle of the salmon that a 
lot of people don’t know. It’s a it’s a marvel of uh nature, right? Thank you. Thank you for that 
lesson. I hope I didn’t bore you with it. No, that was fascinating. Okay. So, I really enjoyed 
visiting the Canary area and so appreciated the history tour you did with your father. That 
was fascinating. Yes, there’s a gift shop. Yes, there’s also places to eat. But they have a 
fascinating museum inside so you can learn about the history of this place and also about 
the history of Alaska and the different industries they’ve had over the years. So, I found this a 
really fascinating place to go. Very laid-back, very chill, and we spent probably almost 2 
hours here. So, we had a really good time. Okay, so we are now walking back to the cruise 
ship and you saw us come on over via the gondola. Now we are going back on foot. There’s a nice 
hike. It’s a 15minute hike and it’s a trail that winds through the forest and all around us. We 
can also see the treetop trekking. That’s one of the things to do and activities that you can do 
here in Icy Strait Point. So, if you’re feeling adventurous and you don’t have a problem with 
heights, they have all sorts of obstacle courses. You can also see them behind me. And I wanted to 
share one piece of advice. If you are traveling as a young family with babies or little kids, 
it’s good to have an all-terrain stroller with big wheels. Especially if you’re planning to 
do the hiking cuz here we are on like a dirt trail with a bit of gravel. I mean, if you do have 
the the simpler, smaller umbrella style stroller, you’ll probably want to come and go via the 
gondola because you’re going to struggle. You you’ll probably lose a wheel. But we have my dad 
pushing Aurelia, who fell asleep finally. This here, Alaska, the last frontier, is not for flimsy 
equipment or Mickey Mouse things. here you need, you know, equipment that can take it. And the 
stroller is uh is a good uh example of that. If you come with a little umbrella, folding stroller, 
uh $29.99 kind of thing that you use in the city here, you’re going to destroy it and you end up 
carrying the baby in one hand and the stroller in the other one. So, get yourself an a 4×4 stroller 
and then you won’t have any problem. There you go. Believe me, it’s a good piece of advice. He’s had 
three kids, so he knows. Despite the abundance of forest wildlife, ranging from deer, bear, and 
moose, there are snake Despite the abundance of forest wildlife ranging from deer, bear, 
and moose. There are no snakes to be found in Alaska. Look at the size of the leaves. Like, 
I need to put my hand here just for scale. Look at the size of that. It looks like we’re walking 
through Jurassic Park. The size of some of these uh plants, it’s just out of this world. Especially 
under a canopy of a pine tree like this. You know, it seems like really we are in some even I don’t 
know subtropical or even it looks in some area look like a tropical forest. The this one we 
call the lettuce. Look at that. The lettuce, you know. Look at this. And also the uh when 
you when you touch under the uh the tree trunks, it seems like it is a sponge, you know. Yeah. 
Like a cushion of leaves, like some sort of a cushion of uh moss and uh all kinds of debris. 
And that’s a good indication of the amount of water that must fall over here in the way of rain. 
You know, otherwise you couldn’t have, you know, this type of vegetation. this only, you know, 
this these are all species that require a lot of water and I mean not just a couple of days of 
rain a month. I mean heavy stuff and the height of these trees. It seems like these one they grow 
forever and that’s also probably due to the good excess of water that they receive. So water, 
water, water. Amazing. Rain, rain, rain. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Friends, I just completed an epic ride up on 
the Sky Peak Gondelola. Check it out on my wrist here. Everyone else was basically hanging out 
and chilling back on the cruise ship. We had a very busy day kind of just wandering around, but 
I thought I had one more activity still in me, so I decided to do this. It was $49. I’ve got 
to tell you, I used up all of my courage points for the day. That was one of the steepest gondola 
rides I’ve ever been on. There’s an area where it just feels like there’s just pure vertical ascent. 
Anyways, the views were simply phenomenal. As soon as you get to the top, you get off and there’s 
this viewpoint of Glacier Bay and you’re like, “This is the Alaska I came here to see.” 
The raw wilderness, the ice cap mountains, the pristine water. I mean, just nature at its 
finest. Raw, rugged beauty here in Alaska, and it was so worth it. Upon finishing that, I just 
went on the little nature hike that they have on offer. It wasn’t spectacular, just an easy little 
walk. You have a little bit of a lookout point, but that’s not the highlight. The reason to go up 
there is for the epic views and it was definitely worth it. 49 bucks and uh that covers your return 
trip. So, I’m really glad I went up there. And that is it for me today. I’m gonna partake in 
the siesta just like everyone else. Alrighty, it’s windy. So, we are now leaving Icy Strait 
Point. We spent the day here. It was beautiful. Enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. I 
mean, when I heard we weren’t actually visiting a real town, that this is just a stop for cruising. 
Um, I wasn’t sure what it would be like because everything we visit today has been built for 
tourists. But honestly, it was really fun. We got to visit a museum and learn about 
salmon canning. And the trail through the forest was just gorgeous. Sam ended up taking the 
gondola. Well, we also took one of the gondilas, but like not the epic one that goes up the 
mountains. And yeah, it was just a lot of fun. Now we are continuing onwards to Juno. And the 
captain just came on the speakers and announced that there’s a very good chance we’ll be able 
to do some whale watching on the way to Juno. The water is super calm right now. Like we 
have really lucked out with the weather. So, we’ve just grabbed the table here on the outer 
deck with the whole family. And we’re going to see maybe maybe we get lucky and we see some humpback 
whales or some killer whales. We already saw whales in Ketchikan. So, I mean, we’ve ticked that 
box, but it’d be great to see some more. And yeah, we’re just going to enjoy the journey. We’ve 
got really long summer days at the moment. So, yeah, perfect for just enjoying the scenery 
here in Alaska. This has been a lot of fun. I’m enjoying cruising. First cruise and I’m sold 
on the concept. So, it’ll be the first of many. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Icy Strait Point is one of the newer destinations in Alaska, having first opened to cruise ships in 2004. The idea to make this a cruise port came about because logging and fishing, the community’s main sources of income, were failing. Yet, this destination had so much potential!

A 1912 Alaska salmon cannery was restored and turned into a museum, nature trails were created, a mountain gondola was built, and 100% Alaskan-owned retail shops were installed! The result is a beautiful tourist destination overlooking Glacier Bay.

Icy Strait Point is owned and operated by Huna Totem Corporation, an Alaska Native-owned and operated company with profits directly supporting the local community.

This was the second stop of our Alaska cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), and it was honestly one of our favourite stops! We spent the day riding the transporter gondola, learning about salmon canning at the Cannery, strolling the beach, going on a nature hike, and riding the Sky Peak Gondola for epic views of Glacier Bay.

Plus, there are lots of activities, like treetop trekking, riding the world’s largest ZipRider, jeep tours, whale watching cruises and more!

🚢 Book Your Cruise: https://samandaudrey.membercruises.com

🐟🌲 Alaska’s Icy Strait Point Things to Do: Epic Salmon, Gondolas, Wildlife & Forest Trails | Cruise Vlog 🦅🚢

🛳️ Arrival at Icy Strait Point
Welcome to Icy Strait Point, Alaska—our second port on this epic cruise! Right after disembarking, we’re greeted by stunning forests and two bald eagles perched right in front of us. The energy is calm, the air fresh, and the views already promise an unforgettable day. This is the Alaska we came to see: wild, raw, and breathtaking.

🦅 Wildlife Encounters & First Impressions
Almost immediately, we’re treated to wildlife sightings—bald eagles, deer, and the ever-present chance of bears (signs warn us to stay alert!). The weather’s cool but pleasant, making it perfect for wandering and soaking in the atmosphere. Icy Strait Point is a tranquil, small destination, ideal for those looking to escape the crowds and get back to nature.

🚠 Activities & The Gondola Ride
Main attractions include the free Transporter Gondola and one of the world’s largest zip lines. We opt for both: a scenic gondola ride through lush, dense forests (so much rain here!) and a plan to hike back via the forest trail. At the top, the panoramic views of Glacier Bay are nothing short of jaw-dropping—a total “this is Alaska” moment.

Tip: The Sky Peak Gondola (paid, $49) is steep, thrilling, and delivers absolutely epic scenery for the adventurous.

Family Note: The area is super family-friendly, with a welcoming info centre, places to eat, and washrooms right off the dock.

🍴 Exploring Local History: The Salmon Cannery & Museum
Next up is the historic Huna Cannery—now a fascinating museum. Here, we dive deep into the history of salmon canning in Alaska.

Highlights:

See original machinery and learn how salmon were processed and canned.

Discover the role of red cedar in totem pole carving and the durability of local wood.

Reflect on the generations of families who lived, worked, and survived thanks to these industries.
It’s an interactive lesson in local culture, wildlife, and resourcefulness. This is more than just a museum—it’s a window into Alaska’s rugged past.

🐟 The Life Cycle of Wild Salmon
Daniel takes us through the extraordinary life cycle of the wild salmon:

Born in clear, mountain creeks, young salmon journey out to the Pacific, spend years growing strong, and then—guided by an unknown, mysterious instinct—return to the exact spot they were born to spawn and die, providing vital nutrients for the forest and wildlife.

The interconnectedness between salmon, bears, eagles, wolves, and the forest ecosystem is truly awe-inspiring.

The cycle is still not fully understood—a real marvel of nature.

🌳 Forest Walks, Giant Trees, and Jurassic Vibes
We explore Alaska’s unique rainforest.

Strolling along the beach, we marvel at enormous driftwood logs, learning about log transport by water and the importance of cedar trees (naturally resistant to rot and insects).

The vegetation is lush and otherworldly—massive leaves, mossy ground like a sponge, and thick canopies make it feel like Jurassic Park!

Treetop Trekking: Adventure courses wind through the forest canopy for those feeling bold.

🌄 Sky Peak Gondola & Glacier Bay Views
Sam braves the epic Sky Peak Gondola ($49) for even higher vistas of Glacier Bay:

Steepest ride yet, but totally worth it for the panoramic lookouts.

After the thrill, a relaxing walk through the woods completes the experience.

#alaska #cruisenorwegian #alaskacruise

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