Skagway & Juneau

 Yesterday was Skagway and today was Juneau. I am doing two days in one blog post because uploading these posts is getting costly. Actually, that isn’t the problem. It is the hidden apps on my phone that download podcasts and other things on my phone in the middle of the night while I’m sleeping. You have to remember to log out of your browser every time you are done or your phone or computer will use up all of your precious data!

So back to Skagway. We had booked an excursion that had three parts - train ride, pan for gold, and sled dogs. It was a 6.5 hour enterprise. First we took a 1.5 hour train ride on the White Pass & Yukon Route. Our host was Max Glacier, a young guy who had been doing this job for about 2 months. He was dressed in character and did a decent job telling stories. The boys liked him better than I did. I got a little tired of him constantly exclaiming “Whoo!” The railroad was an alternative and easier way for prospectors to get to the Yukon where gold had been discovered. Building the railroad was treacherous and only one man seemed to have the willpower to get it done, Michael J. Honey. The train ride took us from sea level to 2,078 feet and then back down. The views were spectacular and breathtaking.

After the train ride, we went to a place where we learned how to pan for gold. Fortunately, the guides are much better at it, and helped us swirl the pans so the gold flakes settled on the bottom. My gold measured 1.4 grams with a value of $16.72. So of course I had to spend $40 to store it in a Christmas tree ornament. Next we moved on to learn about the Iditarod from an actual musher who has raced his dogs a number of times in the race. He told some very interesting stories. For example, he shared that although some people like to put foot warmers in their boots, it can cause your feet to sweat which can then lead to frost bite. We also got to see the dogs do a very brief demonstration of pulling a sled. The dogs were Alaskan huskies. Not at all like the Siberian huskies or malamutes. They were relatively small, but apparently very strong, fast, and smart. The best part of seeing the dogs though was when they brought out the puppies. Oh my goodness! They were only about two weeks and their eyes had just opened. Such cuteness!

There was more talking and listening as our guide told us more about gold mining and the pieces of equipment used. It was a warm day and I was getting tired of listening, so I was glad when headed back to the dock. We went back on board to change clothes and leave jackets behind and then took a quick walk through downtown Skagway. Nothing too impressive to see, just lots of jewelry stores. So it was back to the ship to watch Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny before our 8:15 dinner. I was in bed by 9:30 preparing for another early morning.

This morning after a quick breakfast, we were off on our second excursion. I liked this one better, I think mainly because we weren’t tied to non-stop talking guide and got to explore things on our own. Our bus driver was funny and pointed out sites along the way to the Mendenhall Glacier. We saw an eagle’s nest and he pointed out at least four different bald eagles on the drive. The Mendenhall Glacier is in the National Forest and is actually run by the Forest Service. It is not a National Park. There is something spectacular about seeing a large swath of ice covering the space between two mountains and realizing that the ice actually carved its way through and created the pass. Although the glacier moves anywhere between 1/2 foot to 1 foot per day, it isn’t moving enough to combat climate change. The glacier is melting at a very rapid rate. You can see the photos from 1930 up to today showing that the glacier is retreating dramatically. In 1930, the glacier was at the actual location of the visitor center. Today it is over a mile away. You can still see it, but the expectation is that by 2050, it will no longer be seen. We walked on the Nugget Falls Trail and saw a great waterfall that fed into Lake Mendenhall which is at the base of the glacier. It was a nice little hike about a mile out. We even saw a porcupine on the hike.

After the glacier, our driver took us to a salmon hatchery where we learned about the different stages of life of salmon and we even got to see some swimming up the ladders to their final destination. It’s so crazy, that salmon babies have their birth location imprinted in their system and that they are able to return to their birthplace five years later to spawn even after living in the ocean for most of that time.

Our last stop was the Alaska State Museum which had many interesting exhibits about Native Alaska, Russian Alaska, and American Alaska. There was also a separate exhibit about how intestines and other parts of animal gut were used to make so many different things including parkas.

After the museum, Joe and I headed into town to explore. Once again, there were plenty of jewelry stores, but there were more shops of interest and Joe was able to get a huckleberry milkshake which I am told was very good. We both purchased a few souvenirs before heading back to the ship.

I finished off the day doing some laundry, watching the Frozen Live Action show, and eating dinner at Tritons. Tomorrow is Ketchikan, but we won’t even get off the ship until 11:30 so it will be a good day to sleep in a bit.