07.21.08 - Skagway

We took an all day train ride into the Yukon Territory! It was a beautiful trip.

Yes, we actually had a stove in the train car. And yes, it was actually cool enough to use it! I might even say it was cold enough to hover over it, but the Alaskans would just laugh at me.
Another view of the cruise ships... from the train this time. (waay back there!)
Since we didn't really get to spend much time in town in Juneau, Bec and I decided to eat in town here. Of course, we had to go to the Red Onion Saloon... one of the famous stops in Skagway. Unfortunately, all we really had time to do was eat and run. It was good enough, but it would have been nice to take a tour of the place. But hey - one can only do so much without missing the boat! =)

Beer and pizza... I don't typically drink beer, but I had to have an Alaskan Summer Ale. It was tasty!

You can barely see the train track hugging the mountain in the distance... and you can't really see the bridge just left of the middle of the picture.

Yep - this bridge. We're going to cross it. In a train.

The lighter paths going down the mountain are avalance paths.

Getting ready to go over the bridge and through the tunnel!

Getting ready to go... somewhere!

Near the Alaska / Canada border

This was unlike anything I've ever seen before... small, scraggly little trees (no nutrients, little sunlight), lots of rocks and beautiful but odd colored water.

An old avalanche barrier

Frasier, British Columbia, Canada - time to check passports!

Bennett Lake, BC

Chilkoot Trail

Leftovers from the goldrushers that stayed at Bennett

Remnants of the pier

Church

Off in the distance, our destination: Carcross, Yukon, Canada

We were told that we MUST take the time to get ice cream at the Matthew Watson General Store, so we did!

The story is that this was a hotel that was located in Bennett. Supposedly, the owner moved it to Carcross during winter over the frozen lake. This was a common way to travel during winter... across frozen water... but I can't imagine moving a building like that. Who knows... but that's the story!

So, by this point, we thought we had seen most of the wildlife that we would see on this trip. We were pleasantly surprised to see a black bear - something we hadn't seen yet in Alaska - next to the railroad tracks on our bus ride back to Skagway!

International Falls

07.20.08 - Juneau

First stop - the state capital! We were there a year before Alaska celebrated 50 years as a state, but they were gearing up for it already. We were there just before Gov Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican running mate; when we saw the capitol building and the governer's mansion, I'm not even sure they mentioned her name. I'm glad we were not there among large amounts of photographers and news outfits!

Boroff Way, notice, has a street sign. That generally means it is a local or state maintained road.

This is Boroff Way. It is, indeed, a maintained... way. The steps are cleared by local or state employees, just like the roads are. There are houses at the top of these steps... and there are more steps just like them, each with houses at the top. Never seen anything like that before!
The famous Red Dog Saloon
Inside the Red Dog Saloon... the main reason we made time for our very short trip into town!

one of several eagles on our whale watching tour

I think this is Herbert Glacier

humpback whale

and tail!

neat shot of an eagle

and two more

harbor seals

a pod of humpbacks

We didn't have good weather today. Again, it didn't really matter today... but I got soaked, and had a hard time keeping the camera dry. I made the mistake of going inside the boat to warm up, and my camera lens fogged up! It also had a difficult time focusing due to all the drab colors and constant movement. Bear with me... these aren't the best pictues, but it was a great experience!

So, these whales would travel together, and then dive together. After a few minutes, they would all burst out of the water at the same time, as if they were diving out of it, mouths wide open. This is called bubble net feeding, and apparently it isn't seen very often. We saw them feed in this way several times! When they dive, they blow bubbles to push all the fish to the top, and then they rush upward with their mouths open for an easy meal. Working together in this manner really pays off for them, and makes for a magnificent sight.

Then we went to...

It was also rainy there, so we didn't stay long. Luckily, we didn't miss much because of the weather. Plus, Mendenhall doesn't calve often, so we didn't need to stare at it for long!

Next, a float plane ride! That was a new experience... I love to fly, but taking off and landing on the water was very neat!

We flew over 5 glaciers... unreal.

our plane!

our ship from the plane!

My parents went on the Mt. Roberts Tramway... here's a shot of our ship from another bird's eye view!

"downtown" Juneau

a real gold-panner on our gold panning adventure

our guide, who has panned for gold for 10 years

He says that the real value of gold is the beauty of what's around you when you. When you pan for the money, you've lost the real meaning. We did pan for gold, and we did find a few flakes! Nothing more than a momento of a good time with friends and family... which has proven to be quite valuable. =)