Our Legend… (Wait for it) …Dary Alaskan Cruise 2017

[NWACruiser]

Glen told several stories about the Gold Rush. Due to a lot of prospectors dying due to a lack of resources, they passed laws that required each prospector to have one year’s supplies before adventuring in. Because the boats were small, it required several trips to get the supplies gathered. The White Pass & Yukon Railroad was built to help bring supplies for the prospectors to Carcross.

 

Once we reached Carcross, we stopped at the world’s smallest desert.

 

 

 

 

 

It is made of sand deposited by glaciers when they receded.

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We travelled to the Caribou Crossing Trading Post for lunch. We had some time to wander around the trading post afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

My house is a very, very, very fine house

With two alpacas in the yard

Life used to be so hard

Now everything is easy cause I’m king.

(Sorry Graham Nash for changing your song)

[NWACruiser]

The dogs love to run. When they get set up to pull a cart, the dogs go crazy, barking to get to pull. Once they are hooked up, they jump and struggle to get going.

 

 

 

 

 

Puppies!

 

 

[NWACruiser]

After lunch, Glen took us up the road to Emerald Lake. It is one of his favorite spots on this trip.

 

 

 

Beautiful Location

 

 

 

[tweety27]

Enjoying your review, thank you!!

[NWACruiser]

We headed into Carcross. Carcross was the gathering point for prospectors during the gold rush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[NWACruiser]

Finally, we left Carcross to head back to Skagway. We went in and out of a few rain showers, before hitting heavy fog at White Pass. There was a group of bicyclists riding down to Skagway. It was cool, foggy, and drizzly. We were glad we did not take that tour.

 

Once we got to Skagway, Glen dropped off anyone who wanted to walk around the town before heading back to the ship. SIL, DW, and I got off. DC and DCF headed back to the ship. I walked around in the rain taking photos. We would meet up at the Red Onion Saloon about 4:45 PM when they were done shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

 

 

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

I made it to the Red Onion with enough time to have a beer. I saw an open spot at the bar, and ordered a local brew.

 

 

 

While sitting there, I engaged in conversation with a local gal. She was a tour guide.

 

DW came in at the appointed time. The three of us chatted for a few more minutes, before DW and I headed back to the ship. It had stopped raining, so we walked back.

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

The Norwegian Sun Departing

 

 

There is a tradition when a ship docks the first time at Skagway, the crew goes out onto the rock wall and paints the ship’s name, date, and captain’s name. The higher up the wall its painted shows how much love the crew has for the captain.

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, we hung out in the cabin to watch the Carnival Legend depart Skagway. Later that night, while sitting in the piano bar, I saw a pod of orca alongside of the ship.

[ljslight]

Loving this review! I am going 7/17/2017!

[NWACruiser]

Juneau, Alaska’s State Capital

 

We made it to Juneau. We did it by one of the two ways you can reach Juneau. We came by ship. The only other way to get to Juneau is by plane.

 

This was not our ship.

 

We booked a trip to Mendenhall Glacier directly with the tour company. We also had Mt. Robert’s Tramway tickets. Therefore, we were not in a rush to get started. As we ate breakfast, we arrived in Juneau.

 

We went back to the cabin to get ready, so I stepped onto the balcony to get a few pictures. There were several things flying around this morning, there were sea-planes, terns, and low flying eagles!

 

Where Eagles Fly

 

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

The Other Mode of Transportation to Juneau

 

 

 

 

[NWACruiser]

DCF, DC, and us were going to Mendenhall Glacier together today. SIL was doing a salmon bake. We met up with them and headed out. We needed to get our tickets at the base of the Mt. Robert’s Tramway. The tour was self-guided. The bus picked up at the base of the tramway on the hour and at the glacier on the half-hour. You were on your own otherwise.

 

 

 

 

The USS Juneau was sunk in the battle of Guadalcanal. All but 10 crew members passed away.

 

 

[NWACruiser]

Along the way to the glacier, we saw so many eagles in the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge waiting for salmon to come up the river. Unfortunately, we did not stop there to get photos.

 

Finally, we made it to Mendenhall Glacier. The four of us set a time to meet up so we can head back. We thought about walking out to the waterfall, but it was a long trip. Given the time we had there, we walked out to an observation area that was a little closer. It gave us a great view of the glacier. The waterfall was large enough to be seen also.

 

 

 

 

Mendenhall Glacier

 

 

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It is a rather large waterfall, by the way.

 

 

 

 

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The four of us met up at the set time so we could head back to the tramway. We passed by all the eagles waiting for lunch at the reserve. It was disappointing to see all birds in one spot and not be able to shoot some with my 250mm Canon.

[NWACruiser]

We were dropped off at the base of the tramway.

 

We headed up to the top of the mountain. We stopped for a few photos from the top of the tramway.

 

There we saw our ship.

 

 

We also spotted a bald eagle.

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DW and I took a walk on the mountain before heading back down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another eagle joined the one we saw earlier.

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Back at the base, I went into town to pick up some supplies and take photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We met at the shop at the pier to buy some trinkets. Then we went back to the ship. SIL met us and headed to the sports deck, aft, to search for the coin.

 

 

 

We found it!

 

We stayed up there while the ship departed set sail to Ketchikan.

 

 

[NWACruiser]