Alaska ~ Skagway

Skagway was our port on Thursday. Mark wasn't super excited about this one during our planning and research of the cruise. I actually thought it sounded pretty quaint. We arrived in port by 8 am. Our excursion was not until later in the afternoon so we got off the ship after breakfast and explored the town.

I was right. This was my favorite town we visited. 

It was a bit like stepping back in time with its boardwalks and Gold Rush era building. 

It was also pretty quiet that time of day.

Based on a lot of reviews we had read, we had decided we didn't want to do the White Pass train ride that most of our group was doing. Actually, that's not entirely true. We had hoped to do an excursion where you rode the train to the top of the pass and then biked down.

Unfortunately, the times available did not coordinate well with our time in port [it was run by an independent outfitter not connected to the cruise]. Since we couldn't decide between a couple of options, we took our chances and waited until on the ship to decide.

old car no longer in service

Both Karen and David [and partners] had said they wanted to do the hike and float that Mark had told them about. Turns out only David & Santina really wanted to and the others just never mentioned that they were booking something else. Pretty sneaky ... and very irritating since we only chose the later time to accommodate all six of us.  No matter. We had a glorious time on the Chilkoot Trail. 

From Skagway we took a 10 mile van ride through Dyea which was a Gold Rush town, now part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The Chilkoot retraces the steps of the Gold Rushers. We were joined by a nice couple from Minnesota and a crew member from the ship who had a few hours off.

The first mile or so climbs a steep slope above the river. It then levels out pretty nicely for the last bit.  Gorgeous green everywhere!

It's good that we did this excursion with David and Santina, because we honestly did not see them much outside our nightly dinners.

After the 2 mile hike. We suited up for a float down the Taiya River.

Boater Babe

It was so quiet and peaceful. We saw several bald eagles along the way.

Nothing wild about this float. It's more about the scenery than the thrill.

Glad these two shared this experience with us. 

They thought it was one of the best outings we did in Alaska.

Hey Champ! ~ not sure how Santina and I both ended up with personalized jackets;)

The history of this Gold Rush town is pretty cool and the National Park Service has left many of the buildings in their original state. A little town with a whole lot of character.