Leaving off from last post, I wanted to talk about the second part of my Alaskan Cruise. I’m going to split my cruise, from Vancouver to Anchorage, up into 3 posts to review the cities I visited and the Alaskan cruise itself. So if you’re planning to travel on an Alaskan cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage this post maybe be helpful to you! Again this is the second part of my cruise and you can read the first part here.
Day 4 – Juneau, Alaska
Juneau, the capital of Alaska, is located in the southeastern part of the state. Juneau is a strange US capital being that you can’t reach it by car. The only roads are between the city itself and the surrounding burbs. It is the most northern of all US capitals but is still very much south compared to the rest of Alaska.
Our ship arrived early in the morning, once again, and this time we had until 8:30 pm to do whatever we like. Me and Roman decided that the top activity to do while in Juneau was the Mendenhall Glacier. I had researched on yelp.com about the top activities an Alaskan cruise and this glacier was near the top. And while on a cruise it’s always important to map out some of the activities that are a must for you. Once you know these, then you can work the rest of your schedule around them. It will be the most satisfying way to plan your trip. In Ketchikan we decided there wasn’t anything at the top of the list to do and that paying any money would have been a waste and a strain on our budget. It’s also important to remember that you don’t always have to buy an excursion at every stop. Sometimes it’s simply enough to save money and make the most out of a port without a pre-planned tour.
So if you have read an early cruise post about cruise preparation, I do recommend that you weigh your options on whether to buy excursions from the cruise itself or one that is on land. Sometimes it’s very clear which is better and sometimes it’s not. For instance, in Juneau, there were companies on land that offered tours to the glacier, but they were charging about the same price as the cruise line. For me it was clear to go with the cruise line because they offer reliability and ease of mind, since they are responsible for getting you back to the cruise ship (meaning if a situation comes up and the tour is running late, the ship will know about this and wait for you).
We got up early, ate quickly, and where on the tour bus by 8:30. Our tour consisted of mostly older people, a couple of young couples and then us. The only gay couple on the tour (at least by my first judgment knowledge). But that’s okay. Nobody hassled us or gave us glances.
The tour went to 3 places; Salmon Hatchery, Glacier Gardens and Mendenhall Glacier. Actually wasn’t expecting the salmon hatchery and either were half the people on the bus. A nice surprise for us but some people were actually trying to fight that the salmon hatchery was not part of the tour. Just go with the flow and realize that maybe you didn’t read the tour description all the way through when purchasing (most people don’t read things these days, I know because I sure didn’t), and be happy that your money that you thought paid for two tours now only pays for three.
Salmon Hatchery was actually interesting. As the name suggests it’s where salmon are born, released in the wild, where they live normal salmon lives and then 5 years later they come back to the hatchery to have sex with other salmon to have more babies and then they die. This is how salmon hatchery makes it’s money. Ingenious idea because the hatchery never has to worry about not having salmon or going out to catch them. Because salmon instinctively come back to where they were born, they created an artificial stream so that the salmon jump up to the hatchery (like they would do in the wild). If you’re having trouble visualizing, I have pictures.
The hatchery also had a place to see all of the baby salmon. They will eventually be released to the open ocean where they will make the same journey as the salmon before them. We also saw some crabs and other sea animals as well as a bald eagle perched on a building close by… looking at the thousands of fish swimming below.
Next was the Glacier Gardens. What’s interesting about the Glacier Gardens is that plants and trees are able to grow on this side of the mountain in a climate that usually wouldn’t let these plants grow there. Another unusual part of the Glacier Gardens is that they have trees, that look like they are upside down, with all types of flowers growing on them. Something unique and interesting to Alaska and the rest of the United States.
We then boarded a golf cart that took us up to the top of a mountain/hill that was partly on the Glacier Gardens property and part of the National Park system. We got a great view of Juneau’s airport and of downtown Juneau itself. Other than that, there isn’t too much to “do” at Glacier Gardens but that was kind of is the point. This part of the tour was suppose to be relaxing so you could be part of nature; part of the woods and flowers. It was nice and we didn’t feel like we were on a tour that was overly rushed. Some people might have found it boring because there is no true action but there was plenty of opportunities to take pictures and to relax.
After, we finally went to the Mendenhall Glacier, about a 15 minute drive from Glacier Gardens. This was the first glacier that we saw on the trip but it would be the last nor the best (although it was spectacular and the closest we actually came to a glacier). Once again the day was perfect to view and we spent about an hour at the Mendenhall Glacier walking on a trail to get closer as well as to see a waterfall near the glacier. The glacier is actually one of the best preserved in Alaska and the rest of the world but is currently receding. View some of my pictures to get a better idea. There is a shuttle from downtown Juneau to the glacier that is cheaper than a tour. It comes around every 30 minutes.
We went back to Juneau and left the tour to explore the city. The city is quite small and there isn’t much to do. They do have a couple of old saloons and a lot of gift shops with native Alaskan crafts and not so native souvenirs. We looked around to try to find some souvenirs but honestly there wasn’t much that I actually wanted to purchase. Personal preference, but I never buy a cheapy souvenir or something that I will never use. So although there are a lot of souvenirs to be found there isn’t too much that you couldn’t find in another Alaskan city or in another touristy destination for that matter. So we gave up and decided to go back to the ship for some food. At this point we had already been out for 9 hours, time to eat! And then after I decided to wind down the night with some time in the gym, sauna, cards and a movie.
Day 5 – Skagway, British Columbia, and the Yukon
Once again our cruise pulls up to port in the early hours. The sun is already up and this time our tour is an hour earlier than yesterday. Skagway is by far, the smallest town we visited but we weren’t really here to see Skagway. Today we decided to sign up for the number 1 tour on the cruise. First we were going to head up to the British Columbia border, then into the Yukon Territory and then come back on the famous White Pass train.
So our bus driver decided to give us a quick impromptu tour of Skagway. It only has a population of around 800 and the city can be passed within 5 minutes. And then it was on our way to the US and Canadian border which was only about 20 miles away from Skagway. Once you pass through the Canadian border you are at the White Pass, a strange land that kind of looks like the moon. 100 years ago, men and women passed through here, from Skagway, looking for gold up in the Yukon. They had to drudge through epic snow and howling winds and unforgivable terrain. While looking at the landscape you can only begin to imagine what that must have been like. For me I’m not sure where the appeal was, even if it was for gold. We passed through landscape that would have seemed impossible to travel on foot, especially with tons of supplies, even though the landscape is incredibly beautiful.
After passing the White Pass you enter the tiny town of Fraser, British Columbia. This is where Canadian Customs checks your passport and luggage. They can’t be right on the border because of the terrible weather that White Pass mostly has, although the day that we came it was perfect weather once again. We took some more pictures and more stops on the side of the road. We passed Tutshi Lake, a major lake that straddles the British Columbia and Yukon border. Then we cross the Yukon Territory border, which also signals that we were above 60 degrees latitude.
Once crossing into the Yukon, it’s only a short drive to Carcross, Yukon and Emerald Lake. Why is it called Emerald Lake? Because the water really does look like it’s Emerald and apparently has to do with the way the glacier deposited sediment and something with the water.We snapped some photos and then went off to Caribou Crossing, the original name of Carcross. We actually a pretty good meal: chicken, potatoes, donuts, bread, and coleslaw. We got some souvenirs for family back at home and I bought a Canadian hat, so I can wear when we have cold days in Chicago.
And then it was onto Carcross, Yukon, where you can get your passport stamped (totally did it), and walk around the tiny town. From the looks of it, Yukon still looks like a mining town. Gold miners use to cross into Carcross after making a boat on the other side of Lake Bennett and hauling all of their supplies across the lake. What is sad is that all of the miners who had come to find gold never actually did. It was all of the people who were close to Yukon when the gold was discovered that became rich , which is only like 12 people.
There was a train that was built for the gold miners and it was completed exactly 1 year after the rush really had ended. Because gold rushes are quick by nature, most of the gold discovered was snatched too quickly and none of the gold miners who traveled through this region ever got to use the train. Eventually it was used for nothing and shut down for a while until someone thought it would be a good idea to use the train for tourism. The tracks stretch all the way from Skagway to Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, but for our tour, we were only riding it from Fraser, British Columbia back to Skagway, Alaska. Here are some of the videos I took.
The train is smooth and easily has some of the best views of the areas landscape. You pass over bridges and through mountains. You can stand on the platforms between train cars and take some videos and photos. It truly is the best part of the train ride and really one of the top activities we did on our Alaskan cruise.
The train conveniently brings you back to the middle of Skagway and now we are officially done with the tour. By the time we had arrived in Skagway it was already 4:30 pm (we left at 8:30 am) and we had to go back to to the ship to get ready for dinner. We stopped at some stores to see if there were any souvenirs but still nothing that we really wanted to bring back. Oh well. We stepped on the ship and we were officially done with Skagway. Next day was the most exciting day. Seeing glaciers upfront and personal. What I didn’t realize is how close you actually get to the glaciers and how perfect our weather was going to be. Next post I head up to Glacier Bay and College Fjord. One of the best ways to end our Alaskan cruise!
images by: shawnvoyage
