Arriving home (almost) by cruise ship and train
It’s a few minutes after 04:00 am, and we’re about 2½ hours away from picking up the NPS rangers at the mouth of Glacier Bay. It’s looking like a decent day, with a cloud ceiling at about 3,000 feet but no rain.
I had a ball yesterday. I think that everyone should take the time to see their home region from the eyes of a visitor every once in a while. That’s precisely what I did yesterday – my god this country is incredible! I took 284 photos 🙂
The Davidson Glacier at 03:47 am.
The peaks along Chilkoot Inlet from the Lido Deck of the Coral Princess.
The Rainbow Glacier.
A small part of one of the many waterfalls along the route.
The captain said last night that it looked like we wouldn’t need a tug to assist docking in Skagway, but with a 25-knot south wind blowing at an angle to our stern, the tug Brian T stood by just in case.
Approaching the Railroad Dock, where two strings of WP&YR cars await.
The Alaska State ferry Malaspina loads, while the Norwegian Pearl‘s passengers explore Skagway for the day.
I had decided to do one good excursion on each of these cruises. For this trip the easy choice was Chilkoot Charters’ 9-hour Carcross rail-bus combination. It’d been far too long since I’d been on the train (and I need some new photos for my RailsNorth Web site). At 07:30, Larry met me at the dock and shuttled me over to the train – within a few minutes we were on our way.
On the White Pass & Yukon Route railway – up, up we go!
One of the classic photo locations along the rail line – about to enter the first tunnel. At this spot, the view to the rear can be very impressive, but clouds were hiding the tops of the Sawtooth Range peaks from us yesterday.
I wonder how many more years the cantilever bridge will be standing?
This short part of the train ride is what puts the WP&YR at the top of Alaska cruise must-dos, in my opinion. Just south of the summit, the rail line runs right beside the Trail of ’98, where 112-year-old artfacts and even horse skulls can be seen.
Dropping down to the Thompson River, just before reaching the Canada Customs stop (which was very quick and simple).
An oil stove in each car kept things cozy.
Beaver Lake. On a warm day, the outside platforms can get busy, but that wasn’t the case yesterday. You need to be inside to hear the commentary – the bits I heard were excellent but outside is where the best shooting is. A new friend from southern California who stayed outside with me said that he’d get the photos, his wife would get the informatiion 🙂
Train guide Peter Carr watches as we approach the Bennett station.
The Bennett Eating House. I heard lots of comments about how good lunch was – thick beef stew, coleslaw, home made bread and apple pie – and done boarding house style so you can eat as much as you want.
Parks Canada rangers used to conduct the tours of Bennett but now the train guides do it themselves. The fellow we had (whose name I never did catch) did an extremely good job of it. I didn’t follow the tour group very far, instead taking my California friend to some good photo ops.
This beautifully crafted canoe was brought out of the train’s baggage car, and a young German fellow began loading it with gear. He’s paddling to the Bering Sea in it! I love an adventure, but to me, once you get past Eagle, Alaska, that trip is just week after week of relentless boredom.
Spring at Bennett.
In recent years this view of the Bennett had become blocked by trees but about 2/3 of the trees were removed last year to lessen the danger of losing it to a forest fire, so this shot is now available again to those who know where to go (there’s no trail to this spot).
The grave of NWMP Constable E. E. Pearson, who died at Bennett in 1898.
After about 2 hours at Bennett, we left for the final 2-hour leg to Carcross, running alongside Lake Bennett.
Almost home – my cabin from an angle I don’t often see it.
Larry was waiting for the train when it arrived and as soon as we were all ready, we headed back to Skagway. Along the way, photo stops are made as often as people care to make them.
One of these days one of these wobbly “cyclists” is going to get killed on this highway. Go find a bike path or back road somewhere to practice on.
In 20 years of crossing this border frequently, I’ve only seen it like this twice before. One particular officer seems to be the cause – after 20 minutes after we got in line 2 new officers came on duty and things started to move quickly.
I was back in “my office” at 8:20 for sailaway, and spent almost an hour and a half there, talking about the area and specific sights along the way.
A HAL ship was leaving Haines as we sailed by.
It’s now 05:25 – the NPS boat is alongside, and the clouds are breaking – many of the peaks are now in sunshine. Time to post this and get on deck for a Glacier Bay day!!
About The Author
