Day50
Wednesday, July 27
A Free Day in Skagway

Skagway is known for it's rainy foggy weather, and today started out just that way. It looked as if our free day might be a rainy day. But as time went by, the rain stopped, the fog lifted and we ended up with a pretty good day weatherwise.

Many from our group took advantage of the stores on tourist trap row in downtown Skagway to make a few souvenir purchases.  Christmas shopping or just getting something to remember our trip by was what many chose to do. Kris and Karl found bargains on jackets as they braved the crowds from the four cruise ships that were in port today.
 

We were able to find a lot of "Alaska made" gifts in the locally owned stores.

Optional activities were a part of today's agenda for many. Roni, Bruce, Chris, Mary, Ron and Jackie all went to the Musher's Camp to learn about dog-sledding. the camp, located near Dyea was up on a high hill.  

A large pen of puppies attracted a lot of attention from everyone. After a briefing on mushing, everyone loaded a converted Mercedes truck for long ride up the mountain to the track. All six of our hearty companions climbed into a sled to take a turn around the track with the sleddogs leading the way. After the ride everyone had the opportunity to pet and play with the puppies and the other dogs.

In the afternoon 15 brave souls challenged the Alaskan Zipline. 

The whole zipline course was set high on the side of a mountain. We were required to ride 800' up extremely steep roads in the same converted Mercedes truck to reach the staging camp.

 

 

 

 

 

After gearing up, which took quite a while and inspired lots of laughs, we practiced on a short "bunny" run just to get the feel of the ride. The 2nd run required you to run about 20 feet and jump off a cliff; the 3rd run found us on a platform 75' above the ground. The only way down was to step off the edge and slide down the cable. It took a little talking by Ronie and Cindy to get Jenna to take that step. The fourth run was a long 753' run through the trees about 50' off the ground. All of the other runs were short but fast. This whole venue was just built this past winter.  
 
 
 
 
 

They cut the roads, milled timbers from the trees they cut down, and built suspension bridges, walkways and platforms all over the side of the mountain. A swift moving mountain stream tumbled over huge boulders throughout the course. It was an amazingly beautiful site and a somewhat frightening course to zip - probably more frightening to some than others. Ken laid back and took in the sites while zipping. Chris on the other hand snapped photos in flight. Janice amazed us all with her five=pointed star flight. Marge was apprehensive at the beginning, but she took to zipping lke a bird to flight. While most enjoyed the whole activity, others were more than happy to see the final line.

After returning to Skagway Ron, Cindy, Bruce, Roni, Carl, Chris, Jenna and I went to the Red Onion for dinner. Steve "the 'stache" and Christian, our guides on the zipline joined us for dinner and drinks. It was "the 'stache's" birthday so we had a good time reliving our time on the zipline and hearing the boy's tales. After dinner we went to the Bonanza Bar and Grill for a Kareoke (sp) night. None of us perfomed, but we had fun listening.

Free days are also days to catch up on sleep, get the laundry done, clean house or just relax with a good book. I'm sure everyone enjoyed his free day whether they shopped, mushed, zipped or just relaxed.

Tomorrow, its off to Juneau. Till then - Happy trails.