A day off the ship, at home with the family
We docked at Juneau a few minutes ago, right at 06:00 am. The clouds are low, the rain is coming down in buckets. I expect that a whole lot of people will be doing the same as me today – staying on board. If it was my first or second time here I’d certainly be putting on my rain gear and heading out, but my only plan here today was to go up Mt. Roberts for a hike, and that’s not likely to happen.
Yesterday was the day I’d been waiting for – Cathy took the day off work and brought Kayla and Monty down to see me.
This is one of the more distinctive peaks along Taiya Inlet, seen at 04:34, about half an hour before docking at Skagway.
The sun was trying to break through the clouds, but it wasn’t clear what the day would bring.
The tug Western Titan was backing out with an AMS barge. Note the scale – there’s a tiny Kenworth right above the pilothouse of the tug.
Another example of how tiny we are in this world. When you hear of a small aircraft going missing up here, this is what the search crews are dealing with. The Kenworth has pretty much vanished.
The Golden Princess arrived just after we docked, the Infinity, the Zuiderdam and a small Cruise West ship within the next hour or so. That’s a fairly busy day, but not the busiest.
A look at the ship signature wall – the Canadian National Steam Ship “Prince Rupert” was added on July 19, 1930.
“Soapy Smith’s Skull” was added to the wall in the early days, though nobody seems to know exactly when.
The first gangway being put in, at 05:37.
The walkway that’s been built from the Railroad Dock to town over the past few years has been beautifully executed.
Shuttle buses run constantly for those who would rather ride.
Cathy arrived at 10:30. We had an early lunch at the Bonanza Bar & Grill, then drove over to Dyea to let the fur-kids play on the beach. The wildflowers were wonderful.
This is my favourite of the handful of historic sites left at Dyea – the rotting pilings of the wharf used by stampeders 112 years ago.
The bugs were really bad on the beach so we didn’t stay as long as we had expected. There was an occasional light mist of rain, but it was barely noticeable.
Snack time for the kids.
The irises are certainly at their peak. We’re always thrilled by the richness of the coast after getting used to the dry interior forests.
There was a great deal of money being made at Dyea yesterday – buses were constantly bringing people to the dog sled and horse trail ride operation.
I hadn’t been in to the Dyea townsite for many years and Cathy had never seen the famous “false front”, so we took that short walk through the forest.
All of the buildings were bulldozed by the guy who owned the land 50+ years ago, but this one false front somehow escaped.
Back to Skagway, where we gave Monty and Kayla dinner before hiking up to Lower Reid Falls.
Lower Reid Falls.
Me with Monty and Kayla.
Devil’s Club – lovely to look at, nasty to touch. I well remember this stuff from when I was a kid living on the coast – I got nailed by it many, many times.
The fast-cat dropped its last load of passengers and headed back to Haines for the night. It’s passing a breakwater that was built last year. The Golden Princess was the first to leave. The Infinity was supposed to be next in line but was having “propulsion problems” and couldn’t move, so we left next. I hope that the problem on my favourite ship was quickly solved.
Passing the mouth of the Katzehin River, 18 miles south of Skagway, at 10:15 pm. There may some day be a highway from Juneau to this point, to make it easier for Juneauites to get Outside. All Alaska needs to do is find $400 million to make it happen – they’ve already spent $25 milliion studying it in recent years.
I slept like a log last night – 8 solid hours. That’s very unusual for me. It’s now 07:50 and it’s still raining hard, but the clouds have lifted substantially, so I’ll post this, go for breakfast and see what Mother Nature has in store for us.
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