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Commentary, nature, Photography

Inside Passage to Port Hardy, Part One

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To return home from our visit to Haida Gwaii, we decided to take the 15 hour ferry trip through the Inside Passage from Prince Rupert to Port Stanley.

Our route is marked by red-circled numbers.

The passage is sparsely inhabited and quite narrow in places so we easily saw lots of bald eagles, hawks, a couple of bears, deer, and several dolphins. I was more interested in watching rather than taking pictures so the few that I did take weren’t great. The scenery was gorgeous, however, so I have lots of those photos!

Our seats at the front afforded fantastic views, although I have to admit that the ship movement provided a nice nap!
Our ship – the Northern Expedition
The water was the most amazing flat calm. It was a wonderful ride.
I stood outside for long periods just enjoying these spectacular views. This view also shows the wheelhouse on the right.
The Northern Expedition’s stern.

On this trip we took two round-trip ferries and then there was the 15 hour trip from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy (all with B.C. Ferries). We found all the vessels to be clean, comfortable and in good condition. On the other hand, the onboard meals offered were dry, overcooked, overpriced and ran heavily to hamburgers and other fast food, so for our 15 hour trip, we brought along a cooler and had our own snacks and sandwiches, something that seemed to be commonly done. Overall though, we found that B.C. Ferries were really quite good.

Happy Monday.