The first time I went to Alaska, I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be THAT epic. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve been spoiled with beautiful scenery and wildlife. I thought Alaska would be pretty similar. I. Was. So. Wrong. It was seriously one of the most amazing trips I’ve ever been on!! Like jaw-droppingly awesome. Like whale-snot-just-got-all-over-my-lens epic.

So, when UnCruise Adventures asked me to return to photograph another one of their Alaska itineraries, of course I said heck yeah!

UnCruise is a small ship adventure cruise line based in Seattle. Calling them a “cruise line” feels weird though since their trips are nothing like the big ships (hence the “Un”). Instead of thousands of passengers, UnCruise ships carry between 30 and 80 people. Instead of dropping everyone off at a town packed with souvenir shops, UnCruises drops you off on glaciers for some hiking. It’s pretty awesome.

On this trip, Adam and I were joined by our friends Amanda and Bull as well as by my parents. It was so great to spend the week with all of them plus new friends we met on the boat

Our week on the boat was ridiculously packed with adventure! We hiked along the shoreline spotting bear tracks, went snorkeling (they provided us with really thick wetsuits), kayaked among icebergs, watched all sorts of wildlife, and the best part: WE WHALE WATCHED FROM THE HOT TUB!! It really doesn’t get much better than that! Photographing whales is one of my very favorite things. Another of my favorite things is being comfy and warm. So photographing whales WHILE SITTING IN A HOT TUB is one of the most amazing things that could have possibly happened to me.

After our trip with UnCruise, we spent a glorious day in Juneau with Above and Beyond Alaska paddling to Mendenhall Glacier and exploring the ice caves before catching our flight back home to Seattle.

I seriously can’t get over how great this trip was. Check out the photos: