Alumni Spotlight:  Alice Kriby

Alaska is known as the last frontier, with frigid temperatures for most of the year and summer days that don’t seem to end. Alaska is home to some of the most picturesque scenes in the United States, from Denali, “the great one” in the local Koyukon Athabascan language, to the skyscraper-sized glaciers.

This is how LSU Alumna Alice Kirby (1978 BACH AG, 1981 MAST AG) described her recent Alaskan cruise. Not only did she see the beauty of Denali, the highest mountain in North America, but she also remembered the ethereal experience of seeing a group of 14 humpback whales feeding, floating on the water fairly close to the group’s boat.

“Seeing their flukes come out of the water, and then coming out of the water, was awesome. It was absolutely something I’ve never seen before, and there's only a slim likelihood I would ever see that again,” Kirby said. “It truly was about being at the right place at the right time.”

Cruising the Inside Passage

The trip was a 12-day Alaskan cruise for approximately 70 guests, with fewer than 100 people on board, including the crew. Her trip included a boat cruise through the Inside Passage, a 1,000-mile coastal route between Alaska, British Columbia, Canada, and northwestern Washington.

According to Kirby, there was a selection of activities to do each day, such as kayaking, skiff tours, which is a closer tour of the passage on a smaller boat, and hiking the various islands where the boat would drop anchor. Most of the trip, they traveled through pretty remote territory.

“There’s nothing luxurious about where we were staying. But it more than met our needs for being there and why you were there,” Kirby said. “But it had great food. The chef was excellent!"

Getting to know the other people on the trip was another highlight Kirby noted, stating that everyone gathered in common areas like the bar. Everyone learned each other's names, which made the experience even better. A bonus was that the crew was "absolutely fantastic!"

Kirby said the temperatures on the cruise were much cooler than on mainland Alaska: in the low 40s, with the average temperature around 60 degrees, a stark contrast from the oppressive heat and mugginess of Atlanta, Kirby’s hometown.

Into the Heart of Denali

Once the boat returned to the dock, Kirby took a flight from Juneau to Anchorage. ​The inland journey began there and then on to Denali via a two-lane Alaskan state highway, similar to LA-327 (River Road) near campus, and guided by a naturalist.

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“We were very fortunate in that we saw many, many moose. We even saw moose with calves. We also saw a bear, Dall Sheep, and caribou. Only two of them, but we saw them.” Kirby said. “The only one of the major five mammals that the naturalist referred to as ‘the big five’ we didn’t see in Denali was a wolf.”

​Kirby said a major component of the trip was learning Alaskan history. She learned about the Alaskan Gold Rush and how Americans from parts of the lower 48 states first settled in Alaska. She also learned the history of the indigenous populations.

A Landscape Larger Than Life

The other major component of the trip was learning about the natural beauty of the area, from seeing wildlife like bears up close in Denali to flocks of birds resting on the uninhabited islands in the Inside Passage​.

“We saw glaciers, which were fantastic. When you’re a quarter-mile from them, taller than a 10-story skyscraper, it sort of puts in perspective the things that you have seen in the pictures, movies, or other National Geographic television series.”

​But Kirby said that the highlight of the trip — the part that changed her — was observing the humpback whales feeding.

“It truly felt like an out-of-this-world experience."