SUNDAY, 25th JUNE, 2017 – SKAGWAY, ALASKA

Yesterday was pouring with rain in Skagway, but not today – we got lucky!!  Along with 4 other couples we set off on a tour organised by Karen, in a very comfortable mini bus, driven by our great guide, Tom.  We travelled up the Klondike Highway (the old Gold Rush route and only road) and crossed over the border into Canada, enjoying gold rush stories, whilst paralleling the White Pass & Yukon railroad, past magnificent waterfalls and into the beautiful scenic mountains.

 

Whilst on the bus, our job was to look out for wildlife and it didn't take long to spot this handsome black bear munching away on the lush vegetation, not too far from the road.  A little further up to the Summit there were goats way up high on the mountain, away from the vegetation and the bears.

 

We stopped at a very quaint tiny town called Carcross where we bought coffees and were treated to huge individual red velvet bunt cakes, made by Tom's wife – as it was Karen's birthday – and they were 'unreal'!!!  A short distance away we were totally surprised to discover there was a large dessert of golden sand, amongst the pine trees!!!  From there we drove to the totally magnificent Emerald Lake where the colours were incredible – it was like an oil painting.

 

This fast moving tour then took us to the musher camp of Iditarod, Michelle Phillips, where we patted some puppies and also took a dog sled ride with 13 dogs. It was a great experience, even though it was behind a buggy and along a dirt/gravel track.  The dogs went crazy when they knew they were going to get a run and also the moment they saw water, they all dived in, which was very funny…   It didn't take long for them to regroup, when they got their orders.

 

We returned to Skagway, where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

To be continued…… 

     

     

    

  

      

    

    

      

 

    

   

SUNDAY, 25th JUNE, 2017 – SKAGWAY, ALASKA

Continued….. the afternoon in Skagway:

The photos of the town of Skagway say it all as it looks just like a movie set.  We wandered up and down the colourful and quaint main street and had a super burger lunch, with another Alaskan beer at the very popular Red Onion Saloon, which was once the most exclusive bordello in Skagway in the days of the Gold Rush.

 

This very pretty town appears to survive on souvenir shops and 'Princess' jewellery shops during the summer months when the ships come to town.  During the winter the majority of the workers return to their warmer homes down south….  

We're now bound for Icy Point Strait tomorrow.

     

    

    

    

    

 

    

  

SATURDAY, 24th JUNE, 2017 – CRUISING GLACIER BAY, ALASKA

The promise of seeing whales around Cape Spencer around 8.15am from those in the know yesterday, got us up and on the lookout, but the weather had changed and it was a grey day.  The sun rose at 3.57am and the minimum temp was 10deg.C to a high of 13deg.C, if we were lucky.

 

We rounded Cape Spencer but sadly not a whale to be seen.  As we continued into Glacier Bay, we kept a vigil for any kind of wildlife out there in this beautiful wilderness.  Not much human life to be seen around the decks either, due to the much colder weather and wind today.  We also confined ourselves to our cabin's balcony for most of the day, with hot food and lots of layers, totally in awe of this pristine adventure through the Inside Passage.  A beautiful gull sat on the railing below for a very long time (I was tempted to get some hot chips, but of course, that is a No, No!!).

 

With our National Park Rangers giving commentary during the day, we seemed to be gliding from one beautiful Glacier to another – 3 in all -  Margerie Glacier, Johns Hopkins Glacier and the prettiest of all, Lamplugh Glacier, which glistened with many shades of blue.  Again the sounds of 'calving', was exciting and hoping to catch 'that photo' of some ice sliding down the glacier and crashing into the water, kept everyone on their toes.

 

I don't need to mention that we are being very well fed and I can't believe that I could ever possibly say, "Not salmon again, think I feel like some chicken today!"!!  We did however, have another tasty salmon lunch, which was sooo good!

 

Never to miss an opportunity, some of the photographic staff were strolling the Promenade Deck selling binoculars and selfie sticks.  We followed our way back through Glacier Bay and still no 'sightings of whales' around Cape Spencer.  

It was amazing watching the big slithers of ice, in all shapes and sizes, in various shades of white to dark grey/black, glide gracefully by.  A truly wondrous day!!

With all that fresh air today and excitement, it was an early night, in preparation for our tour in Skagway tomorrow….