Day 51
Thursday, July 28
Cruise to Juneau

6:30 came awful early this morning as we had to get up and around for our trip to Juneau. We ride-shared down to the small boat harbor where

we gathered waiting to load the Fjordlands for a 2 1/2 hour ride. While we were waiting, Ron called for everyone's attention and read the following announcement:

Original Proclamation

To: Gilbert Hall

As a result of floating a stop sign and the Major Intersection of 3rd and State Street in the Village of Skagway, Alaska, at the height of traffic,

And

After further review of your driver's license and a thorough background check of your past personal history, we the magistrate of the village of Skagway, Alaska, and with full cooperation of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources do hereby:

Resend and revoke your Jr. Ranger status.

All certificates, awards, trophies and cash receipts attained herby this Jr. Ranger must be returned to the Department of Natural Resources.

All said certificates, etc. shall be turned in to your wagonmaster, who in turn shall duly pass them on the the nearest sworn police officer.

By the power invested in me:

Officer Elroy P. Catchem
Alaska Police Force


How devastating!!! They wanted to take away the Jr. Ranger badge that I earned while touring the Kenai Fjords National Park. I swore that I would fight this injustice to the bitter end!!

After this horrible announcement we loaded the boat and took off for Juneau.

  The Fjordlands is a catamaran that cruises at 18 to 20 knots on the 120 mile trip to Juneau. We made a stop in Haines, Alaska to pick up two more passengers and then proceeded to Juneau. On the way the captain watched for wildlife and would stop the boat to allow us a better view. We ran into a large pod of humpback whales and watched them for several minutes.  
 
Repeatedly the would come to the surface to spout and dive back under. I was able to get a few shots of their spouting, humps, and a tail or two.   We all waited anxiously for one to really breach, but that must be something that only happens in commercials since we didn't see it.


We saw several beautiful waterfalls that came from the glaciers high above us on the mountaintops.
 
 
  The fog was so thick you could only catch fleeting glimpses of the glaciers and the beginnings of the falls.

We saw schools of dall porpoises and a few otters, stellar sea lions and lots of scenic views as we completed our run into Juneau. It was an incredibly smooth trip considering the wind was fairly stiff and the waves were a little high.

While in Juneau, we took a bus tour of downtown and had a little time to look around downtown. Three cruise ships were in port while we were

ther so it was a little crowded. We did see the state capital building. The driver proclaimed it the "ugliest state capital building in the United States." He said there were plans to build a new building shortly after statehood, but the chose to save money and not give representatives a comfortable place to be.

Following our free time in downtown we reloaded the bus and went to the Mendenhall Glacier.

 

The Mendenhall Glacier is one of 38 glaciers in the Juneau Icefield.  

It is several miles long and fronts into Mendenhall Lake. Many blue icebergs were floating in the lake. Last week a large glacial lake on the top end of the Mendenhall Glacier broke though the ice dam that held it back and brought flooding conditions to the
lake and the surrounding area. No homes were flooded, but it did raise the lake level by 5 feet. They didn't expect this to happen at were momentarily at a loss as to what was happening. It is feared that this could be a yearly problem due to global warming.

We left Juneau aroud 5:00 for our return trip to Skagway. The Fjordlands captain was diligently working on an impeller that was malfunctioning when we returned to the boat. It took him about 45 minutes to get things fixed.
 
We spent the time watching the salmon jump out of the water and the Bald Eagles and Seagulls gathering around the stream the salmon were trying to swim up.

Shortly after we started back to Skagway the captain slowed the boat and swung it around. He said he thought there was a mama grizzly and a cub fishing in a stream flowing into the fjord.

 

 

 

 Sure enough, a big mama bear scampered into the bushes and watched us approach. When she realized we weren't coming any closer she came back out, followed by her cub, and began to fish. We watched them for several minutes as they clambered around in the water catching fish. The mama would catch a fish and give it to her cub. It was fascinating to watch.

Later we circled a lighthouse in the middle of the fjord and watched otters in the water and seals on the rocks.

 

Around 8:00 we arrived back in Skagway after a fun-filled day. We saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed our time on the boat. They did serve us muffins and juice on the way and seafood chowder on the return trip.

Tomorrow is a free day, but most of us are going on the White Pass Yukon Railroad for a trip up the mountain used by miners in the 1898 rush for gold in the Yukon. I'll tell you about that tomorrow. Till then - Happy Trails!!

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.

Day 49
Tuesday, July 26
On the Road to Skagway

It rained all night last night and we awoke to fog and drizzle. Everyone was eager to get started. Art and Jill had some help from others on the caravan and got the hole in their radiator patched. The patch seemed to be holding so they left early to try to get help in Whitehorse - 150 miles away. Gene and Marge discovered that their air filter was blocked so they left with Art and Jill to pursue a new air filter. Robert and I set out about 8:00 and I stopped at the only station in town for fuel. I pumped and Jenna went inside to pay. I hollered in to and told her how much it cost - $68.21. She paid and we started down the road. As she was entering the amount in our checkbook she noticed that we'd been charged $100.01. I made a quick turn around and we went back to the station. On the way I started getting calls on the CB to come back. As it turned out the guy next to me at the station got $100.01 and the clerk mixed them up. The other guy needed a correct receipt to be reimbursed by his company so he wanted me back too. We got it all straight and we finally headed out about 8:30.

The road today was much improved over yesterday. There were only three or four red flags and they weren't even bumpy. The only problem today was the fog and rain. It rained almost the entire 260 miles! As we started out, we were following the shoreline of Kluane Lake.
 
This is the lake that the construction camp blew into back in 1942. This lake is the 2nd largest lake in Canada. It has two arms that come off the main body of the lake. One arm stretches 50 miles north while the other goes over 25 miles east. The main body of the lake goes 25 miles west of Destruction Bay. It is one huge lake!! Anyway, we followed the shoreline east for 25 miles and then circled around and went back west for 10 or more miles before circling back to the east. We had to go around some mighty tall mountains on the way. We couldn't even see the tops of the mountains because of the fog and low hanging clouds. 

We finally got to Whitehorse about noon and headed down to the Klondike Highway. Beautiful Emerald Lake was the first stopping point on the Klondike Highway. 
It is a small lake set down in a valley - very pretty. It was another 100 miles to Skagway. This road is a scenic highway and I'm sure it would have been, but again the fog and rain kept us from too many good views. We did see the world's smallest desert outside Carcross.   It encompasses about 1 square mile. I was able to see some awesome rock formations and two spectacular lakes surrounded by soaring mountains, but they would be so much better in full sunlight.

 
 The last 11 miles coming into Skagway is an 11% grade downhill - very steep - and totally schrouded with fog. Made for a scary drive - Could only go 15-20 mph.
 
 

Thanks to the Allison transmission in my truck we made it down with no problems. I'm sure we would have seen some spectacular sites. Fortunately we will be going back 1/2 way to Whitehorse when we leave here Saturday, so maybe the weather will cooperate.

Tomorrow is a free day! YEA!!! I hope I can sleep a little later than normal. I'd like to go to Dyea, a ghost town where the Chilkoot Trail began. When prospectors came in search of gold in the 1890's, many came to Skagway. One way to the Klondike was to go on the Chilkoot Trail. The Canadian government required that all prospectors come adequately supplied to last them 1 year. In all each prospector had to transport of 2000 lbs of goods up the Chilkoot Trail, an almost vertical path, up the mountains in into the Yukon Territory. they were denied entrance if the failed to bring the correct supplies. Pictures show a whole line of men packing goods up the mountain. I want to go take a few steps up the trail. Tomorrow is also the day that Jenna and I go ziplining - that should be a blast!! I'll be sure to blog some pictures.

Of course Skagway is a haven for cruise ships. There were four in port today, so the whole town was crawling with people from the ships. Tomorrow will be the same way.

We have lots planned for our 4 days in Skagway. Keep reading the blog to see what we are up to. Till then - Happy trails!!


Note: Today;s pics are a little fuzzy due to fog and rain. Maybe tomorrow's will be better.

Day 48
Monday, July 25
On the Road to Destruction Bay

Destruction Bay?

 
Who ever heard of a town named Destruction Bay? Well, there is such a town (pop. 38) in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The story goes that when they were building the Alaska Highway, one of the construction camps was located at this point on the road. A freak high wind from the west blew in one night and blew the camp across the road and into a large lake. The entire camp was wiped out and totally destroyed, hence, the name: Destruction Bay. Now the lake across the road is not part of the ocean, nor is it a bay, but that doesn't seem to matter.

Our drive today was not as bad as it had been made out to be. From what we had been told the entire road was nothing but frost heaves and washboarded surfaces. In truth, only about 40 miles of the road was that way.  

But on that 40 miles there was red flag after red flag warning of frost heaves. The vast majority alternated between good highway and long stretces of graveled surfaces. Our Wagonmaster and Tailgunner both insist that it is highly improved over the road conditions of last year. I really thought that, except for that forty miles, the road yesterday was worse that today's road.    However, when we stopped for lunch we found that two cabinet doors had come open. Lots of stuff was all over the floor.Luckily none of it was breakable.

These roads with lots of construction sure make for dirty vehicles. The truck and trailer have never been this dirty.
 













We stopped at the Kluane Museum about 10 miles from Destruction Bay for a tour. It mainly consisted of dioramas of animals found in the Yukon Territory. Each area had information about that particular animal. I did learn that grizzly bear cubs stay with their mother for about 1 1/2 years. Then she pushes them out because she is about to have a new cub or two. The young grizzlies are often eaten by older males who don't want them around during mating season. In the center of the museum they had a mountain diorama built and I found some old goats wearing Adventure Caravan jackets.
 

 















Upon our arrival in Destruction Bay we found out that problems were occurring for some on our caravan.
 
Art & Jill had a hole in their radiator, Gen and Marge thought their turbo-booster had burned out, but it turned out to be a stopped up oil filter, Ron and Jackie had a flat tire on their tow vehicle, Leslie and Janice had a hole in their windshield from a rock, and we got dinged in the windshield too. I put scotch tape over the hole hoping that it won't spread.   Maybe I can find a repair place in Skagway.

At 5:30 we met for a travel briefing and at 6:00 the owner of the RV Park had our entire caravan in for dinner. He had prepared green salad, smoke baked potato salad, baked beans, bar-b-qued roast, sourdough rolls, and apple crisp with whipped cream. What a feast!! That makes 3 nights in a row we haven't had to cook dinner. YEA!!

We are going back to the lodge where we had dinner in a few minutes for entertainment. The RV park owner will sing, tell stories, etc. We'll see if his entertaining is as good as his cooking.

Tomorrow we go to Skagway, Alaska. Back in the U.S. for 4 more days. Then we'll be back in Canada for the duration of the trip. I'll let you know what we find on the way to Skagway in tomorrow's blog. Till then - Happy Trails!!