Monday, August 14, 2017

Alaskan Cruise 2017 - Day 5: Skagway

7/10/17

On this morning we made our 2nd port of call:  Skagway, Alaska.

The view from our balcony at 5am this morning
I believe that small town on the water's edge is Haines, Alaska


We were scheduled to dock at 7:00am in Skagway at 7am and needed an early start for our excursion today, so Todd and I had breakfast at the Windjammer Cafe at 6:40.  I had a cheese omelet, hash browns, breakfast potatoes, turkey sausage, a piece of bacon, a banana, and Raisin Bran cereal.  Afterwards we disembarked at 7:05 for a 7:20 rendezvous with our group.

Heading north up the Chilkoot Inlet
Beautiful
A closer view of the snow-capped peak ahead
Pulling into port at Skagway.  Can you see the eagle flying near the center of the photo?  We watched it fish while the ship docked.




Amazing views
Pulling into dock

Today's excursion for the 2 of us was the White Pass Train and Klondike Bike Tour - a scenic train ride across the Canadian border, then a 15-mile bicycle ride/coast back down to Skagway.  Oh my gosh it was so much fun!  John and Norma did an out-and-back trip on the same scenic railway, but later in the day.

The meeting point for all the excursions was at the end of the dock, so we found our excursion group, signed our waiver form, and met our (excellent!) ride leader Laurie.  A short time later and we were on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway train just waiting on one couple who had to make a mad dash back to the ship because they didn't know they needed their passports (since we would cross the border into Canada everyone had to have their passport with them - it's specified when you buy the excursion, printed on the requirements/FAQs, and printed on the individual tickets, so I'm not sure how they missed it).  At any rate, they just made it on board the train before we started rolling away.

The scenic ride up into the mountains was 90 minutes, and it was scenic.  Tip: Sit on the left for the best views as the canyon/valley will be on that side.  I'll admit I fell asleep for a few minutes due to the gentle rocking of the train as it progressed.

It's a long walk to the end of the dock.  This train parked conveniently alongside the dock is like the one we will ride, but alas isn't.
The scrum at the end of the dock to find the correct excursion group
Success!  We found our group, signed our liability waivers and are ready to go.
Our train car complete with bathroom in the front on the right.  Fun fact: The toilet had a pump-handle flush, like pumping water from a well.
The view at the beginning
One of several water crossings
One of two tunnels on the way to our destination
Luckily this amazing old bridge is no longer in service
Happy to not be on that one
About to stop in Canada

We crossed over into British Columbia and stopped shortly after at the Canadian border post, Fraser Station.  We were instructed by our guides to stay seated, to not speak to the agents, and to have our passports out and in our left hands, held open to our photos and held next to our faces.  A few minutes later 2 Canadian border agents entered our car and slowly walked down the aisle looking at each person and passport as they passed.  Only when they moved to the next car was ours allowed to exit.


When we got off the train it was cold.  We made our way over to a parked van with the bicycles and took a 10-minute ride up to our starting point.  By the time we made it to the summit it was 10:00am. We got out of the van and it was bitterly cold and raining.  "We've made a huge mistake" I thought as we prepared to whiz down the mountain in the wet freezing cold (luckily it didn't rain for too long and we warmed up to just plain cold as we made our way downhill - it was fun!).

Exiting the train we can see our bicycle and waiting van by the lake
Our chariots await!
There were 6 people in our group.  We grabbed helmets that were stowed under the seats in the van, then were given rain paints, gloves, and a rubber band to go around our right pants leg to protect it from the chain.  We had a quick lesson on the bikes and safety and points, then had to listen to a verbatim reading of the complete disclaimer statement and verbally agree.  I get it and don't blame them.  After that we took off and were on our way down!

We rode single file down the right side of the road on the inside of the white shoulder line.  Several people seemed surprised (and concerned/worried) that we were going to ride on the actual road with traffic and all, but what did they expect?  There is no bike lane, and only a small shoulder.  Traffic was light and was used to the bicycles - drivers either politely hung back until we pulled off on one of the few stops we made, or they safely passed us on the left.  No problem.

Our first stop on the way down.  I got the yellow "fisherman pants" as our guide called them.
Bridal Veil Falls and a rando from another group for some scale
Our chariots await!
Woah...deja vu.
The view across the highway
Our guide Laurie said that the pipeline on the right of the falls channels water from the top to hydroelectric generators that provide about 98% of Skagway's power.  For a sense of scale, that pipe's about 3 feet in diameter.

We had to cross back into America from Canada which we did at the blue-roofed border station in the center of this picture (taken after the one uphill climb on our ride).  We approached the station and waited at the red light while Laurie rode up to the building and declared us all (somehow), then signaling us all to ride ahead once we were cleared.

Fun fact: The border crossing has the only red light for more than 100 miles (I think it may be more than that, but I don't remember what Laurie said exactly)
A zoomed view.  The blue roof is the US border crossing station.
Another fun fact: Neither the US nor the Canadian border stations are at the physical location of the border.  Due to avalanche conditions it's too dangerous to man a crossing at the actual border, so the two nations agreed to build their respective crossings about 8 miles (I think) from the actual border.

At another stop we watched the White Pass train heading back down to Skagway.  Our guide Laurie said sometimes they'll blast their horn for the cyclists.  Did they do it for us?...




We made it back to Skagway and rode through town, past a couple of large dogs I though were dead but turned out to just be sleeping in the middle of the street, to the Sockeye Cycle shop.  We dismounted, handed over all our borrowed gear and tipped our guide, then strode through town back toward the docked ship for lunch.  It was about 12:30pm and as we walked past the parked scenic train we saw John and Norma on board waiting for their tour to start.

A massive rotary snow plow.  A video (not mine) of it in action can be found on YouTube.
The town of Skagway.  The population is roughly 1000 and doubles during the summer months when the tourism industry comes back to life.  Our bicycle guide said she lived above the bicycle shop with 9 other guides, and that when the season is over the retail shops downtown close since they're only operated for the tourists.
A short walk back to the ship
Hi Norma.  Hi John.
We're at the end of the dock, past the Radiance of the Seas.  While on the train ride earlier we heard that the woman from the couple who didn't bring their passports ran back to the Radiance (thinking it was the Explorer) and insisted they let her on even though she wasn't coming up on their registry.  Allegedly it took some doing to convince her she was trying to board the wrong ship.

We arrived back on board our ship and went to the Windjammer for lunch.  I had a hot dog, tilapia, mashed potatoes, fries, prawn crackers, roll, lemonade, water, strawberry pavlova, lemon cookie, chocolate chip cookie, lemon-vanilla cupcake and fruit salad.  I tried a lot but again had small portions of each.

After lunch we walked back into town to explore a few of the shops.  I came away with a Sockeye Cycle t-shirt and an Alaska baseball hat, and an Alaskan-made wood igloo nativity set to take home to Mom.  Todd also got an Alaskan hat and t-shirt set.  It was a strange mix of stores:  on the high end you had large luxury jewelry stores with lit glass cases, employees in suits and ties, and guards, and on the low end you had a tacky souvenir mega-mart that was like a cross between Walmart and Wall Drug.  There was one shop named The Loom selling nice, beautiful, locally-woven bedspreads, pillows, bags and shoes but we didn't need any of those things.

We headed back to our ship and napped/rested until it was time for dinner at 7:30pm.

Not sure what the graffiti wall beside the dock was, but the skull was well done
A closer look
At dinner I had a mixed berry and yogurt frappe, then cranberry-apple turkey roulade followed by drunken Kahlua cake.  The turkey was good, but the standout by far was the Rekorderlig pear cider I ordered to drink.  Omg, it was so good.  Good enough to find a local store that sells it once we were back home - we've enjoyed it several times since we've been back.

Ambrosia

When we got back after dinner we discovered a new towel animal in our stateroom:

Cute

We called it a (good) day and went to bed.  The next day would bring a different sort of port of call, in that we would make a brief stop but not dock or disembark the ship.  Stay tuned.

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