Explore vibrant Seattle before meeting fellow expeditioners at Sea-Tac Airport then flying to Juneau, Alaska’s capital.

This morning is at your leisure, but recommended is the Admiralty Island Pack Creek Bear Tour before boarding the Wilderness Explorer in the afternoon for departure.

A winding fjord, waterfalls, and glimpses of Rocky Mountain goats lead you through Tracy Arm Wilderness to Sawyer Glaciers, where huge icebergs calve. Watch for bears, wolves, deer, Arctic terns and red-breasted mergansers, then move to Frederick Sound, alive with humpbacks spouting, fluking and breaching, and orcas and Steller’s sea lions. In Endicott Arm, ice-laden granite peaks, calving ice from the Dawes Glacier, and seals on bergy bits abound. If tides allow, explore narrow Ford’s Terror.

At Thomas Bay, trek through scenic rainforest or paddle the surreal blue meltwater of Patterson Glacier. Thomas Bay is known for glaciers, gold and quartz deposits, moose, brown bears, black bears, squirrels, wolves, birds, and rabbits. It is also known as "The Bay of Death," due to a massive landslide in 1750, and the "Devil's Country" since 1900 when several people claimed to have seen devil creatures in the area - learn of the area’s mythical, shape-shifting creatures called Kushtaka.

Enter a wonderland carved by mighty glaciers, ridged by moraines and decorated by muskegs (Arctic bogs rich in Arctic life). Watch for orcas in the Wrangell Narrows and the next day, visit Wrangell, home to the Tlingit and Haida people. Enjoy the town’s many totem poles and cultural presentations at historic Chief Shakes Tribal House. Once under the jurisdiction of the Russians, the British, and the Americans, as well as originally a Tlingit territory, Wrangell has the unique status of being the only Alaskan city to have been governed under four "flags". Today, it is home to native culture, wildlife and wonder.

Wake up surrounded by pristine Tongass National Forest and hike to El Capitan Cave, largest in Alaska. On Prince of Wales Island, keep watch for bears, deer and eagles. Offshore kayak and paddle board, sharing the sea with harbor seals, humpbacks and orcas. Next you may visit Kasaan, a traditional Haida village, and enjoy marine life and easy treks in Behm Canal.

Enter Misty Fjords National Monument, searching thousand-meter granite cliffs for seabirds, eagles and mountain goats. Kayak through Walker Cover or Rudyerd Bay, soaking in the 'Yosemite of the North'.

Known as the “Salmon Capital of the World,” Ketchikan is located on the edge of the Tongass National Forest. After breakfast next day, disembark in Ketchikan for an airport transfer, Seattle flight, and trip’s end.