Our final port of call is Ice Strait Point, one of those made-up cruise destinations like the private islands in the Caribbean or Costa Maya where a cruise stop was created in a remote area of Mexico to allow better access to the Mayan ruins.  The idea is to create or support access to excursions for cruise ship passengers.  https://icystraitpoint.com/

The land was purchased by the Huna Totem Corporation in 1996 and opened to cruise passengers in 2004. Icy Strait Point didn’t even exist the last time we cruised in Alaska. “Huna Totem Corporation was established as a part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act signed in law in 1971. The Act was intended to resolve the long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in Alaska as well as to stimulate economic development throughout Alaska.” Wikipedia referencing Hunn Eugene S. et al. “Huna Tlingit Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Conservation, and the Management of a Wilderness Park.

Icy Strait Point is in Hooah, Alaska on the Island of Chichagof.  The Huna Totem Corporation is owned by 1,350 native Tlingit people and about 85% of the people employed there live in Hooah.  In terms of land-based excursions, you only have a few choices, a tram through the forest, a jeep or ATV ride, or the world’s largest zip line.  There is also an old cannery, now filled with a museum, shops, and restaurants.  A short walk from the cannery takes you into the village of Hooah, where an effort has been made to preserve the Tlingit culture.

If your berth is the cannery dock, you take a forest trail (about 25 minutes, not level) or ride the complimentary green gondola.  The green gondola travels at a raised level over the cleared forest floor allowing you to reach the base of the red gondola and the excursion center where you sign in for everything.  There is a charge to ride the red gondola which takes you up the mountain.  Our ship is docked at the original berth closer to the cannery and the village.

Given our early arrival, nothing was open near our dock.  I would have loved to do the ziprider, but there was no way Boris would do that.  We settled on the tram ride.  We had to take the green gondola over to the other dock.  There was a short wait for the green gondola.  Once we got to the other side, we saw the mega ship docked there and the place was swarming with tourists.  We had to go to the excursion center where you check-in for your excursions and sign any necessary waivers.  First, we had to stand in line to check-in, get a tram assignment, and get our red gondola ticket.  Then we had to stand in a long line to go up the mountain.  It could have been worse, at the green gondola station passengers from the mega ship were trying to go to where we had just come from (where everything was closed.)

It was a nice ride up to the top on the mountain.  There were views of the water from the top.  There really isn’t anything to do once you got to the top.  The few eateries and the single gift shop were so swamped you stood in long lines to make your purchases.  There was a cool fire pit with native speakers, but there were so many people you couldn’t get close to it.  The ziprider leaves from here as does the tram.  We just waited around in the cold until it was our turn to ride the tram.

This was exceptionally boring.  A tame ride through the forest on a road seeing next to nothing.  We had a nice guide from Detroit (not a native), but there just wasn’t’ much to it.  Then we spotted them, two bears foraging for berries.  We watched from the tram and took photographs.  Very cool.  It salvaged the excursion.  Without much to do up on the mountain, we headed back down to catch the green gondola back.  That meant another long line.  

Things were open by the time we got back to the cannery area, but it was so overrun with people-sheer insanity-that we got back on the ship.  Icy Strait Point was a total bust for us.  Too many people in too small an area.  The fact that it is just a bunch of made-up activities didn’t help.  We would have preferred to have skipped this stop all together.  Thank goodness we saw the bears or it would have been a wasted day for us.  This would be a great day to schedule your spa treatments or hang out at the enclosed pool.  I see Icy Strait Point as a negative on the itinerary.

That night aboard ship we had a big production show, Rockumentory.  It was outstanding.  Boris, who is a harsh critic, loved the show.  We went to the early performance, and I liked it so much I went back to the second show.  The day ended well.  We have to get up early in the morning.  Our cruise director told us we would be coming into the bay about 8 am and be close to the glacier by 9 am.  On to Hubbard Glacier…