My two-man pack tent, taped down to the steel rear outdoor deck of the MV Columbia — side by side with my co-campers on the Alaska Marine Highway’s ferry run from Bellingham to Juneau, Alaska ...

KETCHIKAN, Alaska -- How do you pitch a tent on an Alaska ferry? You pack Gorilla or Duck tape. Without stakes to pound, very sticky tape is necessary to secure your tent to the deck floor while ...

Wrangell, Alaska. How do you pitch a tent on an Alaska ferry? You pack Gorilla or Duck tape. Without stakes to pound, very sticky tape is necessary to secure your tent to the deck floor while the ...

Alaska is a big place, ... On the ferry, though, he was back in vacation mode, sleeping in a tent on the deck of the ferry and spending his days enjoying the view.

Camping out on the back deck of an Alaska-bound ferry as it leaves Bellingham, Wash. (Terry Richard/The Oregonian/2003) After just having walked through the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, I got a ...

Q: We want to travel to Alaska via the Alaska state ferry out of Bellingham in late July/early August. We want to get off the boat and stay in towns overnight and then catch the next boat north ...

But it's a superb way to see parts of Alaska too -- without much fuss. Eleven vessels sail the 3,500-mile series of routes all year, in all sorts of weather, to more than 30 terminals.

The Alaska Ferry departs from and returns to the Lower 48 from Fairhaven, ... But the pros know you use those early morning hours to get settled in a modest state room or pitch a tent on the deck.