shadowmeboy

Day 5 - July 4th, 2023 Hubbard Glacier, AK Happy 4th of July!

Photo Time! Sailing down the Lynn Canal . Cheese Ravioli Shanghai Pork Pot Stickers Eldred Rock Lighthouse Roma Tomato Salad Asian Noodle Salad So we asked our waiter to see a kids menu for reference for our friends on a future cruise. Mediterranean Sirloin Beef Brochette - This was fabulous Breaded Flounder Filet Our server let us order the chicken tenders from the kids menu. They were yummy. I would order them again! Scanned copy of the kids menu Chocolate Espresso Cake Traditional English Cherry Trifle We just kind of chilled after dinner. We went back to the room and watched the scenery pass by out the balcony. We also just watched a bit of TV and relaxed. Hubbard Glacier is tomorrow!

After wandering around town a bit, we headed back towards the boat. Back onboard, the tide had come up a lot. We watched the helicopters take off and land from the helicopter base. Finally it was time to pull out of Skagway You can see how much the tide dropped in the amount of time from when we got back till when we departed.

We got off at the depot, so we could walk around town a bit more. We had to make a stop at the Klondike Doughboy! It was popular amongst tourists and locals! the locals We should have shared, but we were not in a sharing mood.

I spy some Cruise ships! The gentleman holding the phone is our friend, Mark, and his wife, Julie, to the left were on this cruise with us. We didn't know they were going to be on the same sailing until embarkation morning. I got these pictures stealthfully! 2023 is the 125 anniversary of the White Pass & Yukon Route. They had a bunch of cool special gear. I made sure to get the hat that you can only get onboard the train. So if you want a hat, bring cash with you. A little blurry, but this train was following us down. Crossing the East Fork Skagway River at Denver Almost back into Skagway We finally made it back! We had an awesome time! We always recommend the train to anyone going to Skagway. If any of you have some free time, and would like to relive a past trip on the White Pass or have never been on it. We attached the GoPro to the window of the train car and filmed up and back down the pass. So here is the complete White Pass Summit Excursion Train Excursion!

Susan captured this shot of Parker with a boy on our train. Parker was so awesome with him! Time to head back down the pass So nice of the White Pass to park their Tinker Toys in front of the recreation cabin and flags at the border. They ruin a perfect photo opportunity. The obelisk is the actual US - Canada Border. The US/Canada Boundary Commission puts these up along the entire length of the US -Canada Border. Back in the US Another shot of the trail

I wish I was on a cruise; Not cooking; Just had something’s come up that kept me from working on it. Dang life! Sorry 😞

So this is part of the White Pass trail and the trail of 98. You can still see items left from the travelers on the trail. We made it to the summit and had to wait on the train behind us to clear before heading back down.

Sitting and enjoying the ride for a while! Carmack Glacier Bridal Veil Falls

So I was blocked for the first train, but not the second. I had a perfect vantage point as the train came down the tracks along side us. Beware there are quite a few pictures in this series, rapid fire picture taking! This is a likely submittal to the picture contest as well.

I actually think the larger ships are worse due to the number of decks (sail effect). The Sun being more compact, in my experience sailing her 3x, makes her a bit more stable in my opinion. I don’t mind a little roll though!

No, we did not. I found the restaurant online doing precruise research. I wanted something that the locals go to, and quite a few locals recommended it.

Here comes the second train Second train rounding the corner

You can see the train coming down the mountain up on the rock wall. We will meet that train and one more at the next siding. The other train This will be a submittal to the White Pass Photo Contest. The end of the 1st train passing by

The words on the rock say 'On to Alaska with Buchanan" Looking into the next car forward Susan is enjoying the ride! I felt like I could reach out and touch that rock. Oh wait I could. That one too! Looking further up the Klondike Highway and White Pass Grave Marker So serious...

So the original plan was to go to lunch at Skagway Brewing Company. Unfortunately, due to the change in Shore Excursion time, it was off to the Garden Cafe instead. We would have eaten in the MDR, but the MDR was closed while in port. Once we finished, we grabbed what we needed for our excursion and headed to the train which was parked shipside. That is the one benefit to booking the White Pass through the ship is you can catch it next to the ship instead of heading downtown to catch the train. Starting up the rails along the Skagway River We were seated in the car with Parker, who was doing the commentary for the entire train. The nice thing about that is once he did the generic train commentary, he would elaborate more for the people in our car. Bonus! Susan enjoying the start of our train ride up ad back down! Believe it or not, this is our 4th time on the White Pass, and the first time we have done the summit excursion train and gone up White pass aboard the train. We have always driven up the pass and ridden the train back down. At Denver, we were allowed to go out on the platforms if we so desired. Crossing the East Fork Skagway River These were not as clear as I would have like them to be. Too much motion. You can see the ships way down there in Skagway. Alaska Highway 98 - The Klondike Highway climbing out of Skagway up White Pass. The creek is really far down there That one is a bit better!

Since Norwegian changed our excursion time, we started to make our way back to the ship to get our stuff ready for the excursion. We headed back onto the ship!

Train pulling into the railroad dock Switcher moved forward then reversed to get out of the way of this locomotive coming to the train at the Broadway dock. Train from the Railroad dock reversing out of the Railroad dock to the Yard. Here is the video of all the railfanning I did!

After the Museum, it was about time for the early early trains to return to Skagway, so I headed over to Skagway Junction. Susan capturing another of me! This one I am going to submit to the 2023 WP&YRR Photo Contest Train reversing out of the main depot and heading for the railroad dock switcher coming back out - its all decked out for 4th of July tomorrow

These side by side pictures were really cool

Walking around the Museum

We headed over by the main depot of the White Pass & Yukon Route The depot is next door to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. It had been a few years since we were here last (2019 for me; 2018 for Susan). Interesting fact: Someone walked the Chilkoot trail with a google camera and did a Google Street view map of the entire trail. Street view map of Skagway - Check it out on Google if your interested. Its pretty cool.

Then the second train came from the railroad dock. 3006 leads this train. I packed up the camera gear after the second train.

Being a railfan, I set up my camera gear next to the railroad tracks at the trailhead. I wanted to catch the morning trains departing Skagway. 3001 rounds the corner leading the first train from the Ore Dock. You can see the tripod. There was someone else set up filming the train as well. Susan got this one of me as the train was going by!