Image 1 of 130
The weather was great as we boarded at Seattle's Pier 66
Image 2 of 130
Looking down from our balcony, the fountain's shape is apparent
Image 3 of 130
We watched them loading the blocks of clear ice used for ice carvings
Image 4 of 130
The Seattle skyline as we pulled away from the pier around 4pm
Image 5 of 130
We sailed through a school of hundreds of Pacific White-Sided Dolphin, took over 1000 pictures
Image 6 of 130
Each of those white specks in the water is a dolphin splash
Image 7 of 130
Took us about an hour to get through the whole school of dolphin
Image 8 of 130
The Canadian coast looks wild as we head north toward Ketchikan
Image 9 of 130
Room stewards usually left us towel animals when turning down the bed. Our first was this frog
Image 10 of 130
This one's a bulldog, our steward said. We especially liked the eyes.
Image 11 of 130
We also got a dinosaur one night. But no extra chocolate eyes . . .
Image 12 of 130
We went to a workshop to see how they fold towels into things like this little bird
Image 13 of 130
It's actually called terry-cloth origami. Our last towel animal - a mouse!
Image 14 of 130
We awoke at 4:30am to find our cabin flooded. Minutes later, a crew was tearing the room apart
Image 15 of 130
Seems a water pipe had broken in the hall ceiling, filling a wall with water
Image 16 of 130
Took most of two days to get it dried out again.
Image 17 of 130
For most of the rest of the cruise, they worked on those pipes in the ceiling
Image 18 of 130
It was a very dreary day in Ketchikan . . .
Image 19 of 130
We wandered a bit in the rain, tried to stay under awnings and such
Image 20 of 130
Creek Street - "Where men and salmon come to spawn". Ketchikan's former red light district is now touristy shops. The salmon are still coming
Image 21 of 130
We went to see the local lumberjack show. Lots of sawdust and fun
Image 22 of 130
These guys are mostly veterans of college lumberjacking teams from the east coast.
Image 23 of 130
We had no idea there were college lumberjacking teams - apparently a popular "sport".
Image 24 of 130
All of these guys are also veterans of lumberjack competitions, apparenly a big thing on sports channels
Image 25 of 130
We like whimsey, even on garbage trucks
Image 26 of 130
Another gray day as we near Juneau, the Alaska state capitol
Image 27 of 130
We rode the tram up to the top of Mount Roberts for some sightseeing . .
Image 28 of 130
There are totem poles everywhere, including this beautiful stylized one in the tram station
Image 29 of 130
There were five cruise ships in Juneau while we were there - and all the tour buses were busy
Image 30 of 130
The port area of Juneau is a mile or two south of the main part of the city
Image 31 of 130
Our ship is the one in the center of the picture, below(!) the clouds
Image 32 of 130
Those baskets are woven from whale baleen, and cost a couple thousand dollars each.
Image 33 of 130
Tour the smokery, eat the samples, buy the fish . . .
Image 34 of 130
The Norwegian Pearl pulled into our dock space as we pulled out. Juneau's a busy place
Image 35 of 130
Our first sighting of an "iceberg" as we entered Tracy Arm Fjord
Image 36 of 130
Icebergs are defined as chunks of ice from a glacier, and come in all sizes.
Image 37 of 130
Fjord walls are ~1500 ft high, and the water is about that deep. The walls are lined with waterfalls and cascades
Image 38 of 130
They tell us you can spot all kinds of wildlife along here, but we never did
Image 39 of 130
There are many glaciers visible from the water; most don't come down to the water
Image 40 of 130
Glacial ice is usually blue, a result of much compression over the years
Image 41 of 130
The deeper into the fjord we went, the more floating ice we saw
Image 42 of 130
Some of the icebergs were the size of large houses
Image 43 of 130
They say that only 10% of an iceberg is above water
Image 44 of 130
Even though it was late August, some sheltered show could be seen at sea level
Image 45 of 130
All of those waterfalls are fed by glacier melt - the Juneau ice field covers some 1500 square miles
Image 46 of 130
Some of the glaciers we could see from the water were a couple hundred feet thick
Image 47 of 130
Sometimes the sun would peek through and things looked brighter
Image 48 of 130
We were fascinated by that blue glacial ice - the ice at the leading edge is several hundred years old
Image 49 of 130
We saw several other ships and boats in the fjord
Image 50 of 130
We're told if we really want to see glaciers, cruise to Glacier Bay. Maybe next time . . .
Image 51 of 130
The shapes of the ice were fascinating
Image 52 of 130
And the water was a beautiful shade of green - the result of melting glacial ice
Image 53 of 130
Glacial ice melt is fresh water, making the salinity levels in the fjord much lower than sea water
Image 54 of 130
It's unfortunate that it rained most of the time we were in the fjord; even so, the views were spectacular
Image 55 of 130
It was pretty impressive that our huge ship navigated through some of these narrow spaces
Image 56 of 130
Look! Sunshine!
Image 57 of 130
This was about as close to Sawyer Glacier as our ship got - too much floating ice, they said
Image 58 of 130
We swiped this image from the internet - it's what we would have seen if we could have gotten closer
Image 59 of 130
Our ship launched a Zodiac so the "official" photographer could take some pictures
Image 60 of 130
On the way back down the fjord, more waterfalls and cascades
Image 61 of 130
Seems strange to call a fist-size chunk of ice an "iceberg", but that's what they are
Image 62 of 130
Great colors
Image 63 of 130
The weather improved as we were leaving (naturally)
Image 64 of 130
We got to see the other side of the fjord on the return trip
Image 65 of 130
Next day in Skagway, and you just know this is going to be a fun tour
Image 66 of 130
The tour took us into the Yukon, sort of along the path of the 1898 gold seekers headed for the Klondike
Image 67 of 130
Back when, the natives built stone cairns in the passes to mark their passage; most of these were built by tourists like us
Image 68 of 130
Some of the first prospectors found gold in this valley and staked claims. Later arrivals had to go much further
Image 69 of 130
Our tour guide wanted to be called "Cupcake", but her name was really Melissa. She's a chef-in-training from Florida
Image 70 of 130
Ripley declared these few acres of sand dunes "the world's smallest desert". So we stopped and gawked
Image 71 of 130
Entering Caribou Crossing, a touristy place near Carcross in the Yukon Territories. No, they're fake . . .
Image 72 of 130
That's Yukon Jade - a 3000 pound slab cut from a 28 ton jade boulder
Image 73 of 130
That's an impressive collection of spare moose parts
Image 74 of 130
One of their main attractions was a chance to interact with sled dogs. These are youngsters begging for treats
Image 75 of 130
There were four dog teams eagerly pulling wheeled sleds full of tourists
Image 76 of 130
Their other big attraction was an extraordinary collection of stuffed and mounted animals
Image 77 of 130
Some were prehistoric, like this Wood Bison, about twice the size of the ones at Yellowstone
Image 78 of 130
We'd never seen an actual mounted wooly mammoth before
Image 79 of 130
All of the animals displayed were indigenous to the Yukon
Image 80 of 130
Two big white-haired creatures . . . .
Image 81 of 130
The sign said this is the biggest polar bear ever mounted
Image 82 of 130
The display work was excellent
Image 83 of 130
We were surprised that the Arctic Weasel is only about 8" long (plus tail)
Image 84 of 130
Panning for gold - $11 a bowl - guaranteed to find some flakes
Image 85 of 130
Our bus was the "Wrong Coach" - we liked that
Image 86 of 130
Emerald Lake is naturally colored by algae and minerals
Image 87 of 130
The small town of Carcross (which is short for Caribou Crossing) is anchored by the 100+ yr old general store.
Image 88 of 130
That's how narrow the Narrow Gauge Railroad is
Image 89 of 130
We counted about 30 buses waiting for the train at Fraser Junction
Image 90 of 130
Folks who've cruised to Alaska told us this train ride was the must-do excursion
Image 91 of 130
The White Pass & Yukon Railroad runs from Skagway to Whitehorse through spectacular scenery
Image 92 of 130
The most scenic parts are the 20 miles from Fraser downhill to Skagway
Image 93 of 130
Before the railroad, gold seekers had to walk, with pack animals, from Skagway to the Klondike gold fields. That's the actual path they used
Image 94 of 130
This spectacular trestle won't support the diesel locomotives used today (swiped from the internet)
Image 95 of 130
The downhill ride was from 3000 ft to sea level (swiped from the internet)
Image 96 of 130
The railroad pretty much follows the Skagway River
Image 97 of 130
There were about 25 cars in our train
Image 98 of 130
The white spot in the middle is the Skagway harbor, our destination. We could see our ship.
Image 99 of 130
Even though we were on a train, you still got a sense of primitive wilderness
Image 100 of 130
Our train stopped to pick up some hikers . . .
Image 101 of 130
Detroit merchant George Buchanan brought inner city kids to Alaska in the 1920's to see the wild; they painted the original sign
Image 102 of 130
The tracks hug the cliff side; Judy's acrophobia twinged more than once
Image 103 of 130
Our final stop, the main depot in Skagway. Then a short bus ride to the waiting ship
Image 104 of 130
The train was actually late - but thankfully, they held the ship for us.
Image 105 of 130
We hadn't realized there was a glacier visible from the ship's dock in Skagway
Image 106 of 130
Bet the gold prospectors would have really liked to have a forklift . . .
Image 107 of 130
Sailing south from Skagway, more spectacular scenery
Image 108 of 130
Spectacular
Image 109 of 130
Layered landscapes and scattered clouds
Image 110 of 130
A sunset we could actually see . . . . it didn't rain ALL the time
Image 111 of 130
Toward the end of the cruise, we took a tour of the galley area
Image 112 of 130
The food service people prepare and serve almost 10,000 meals a day aboard ship
Image 113 of 130
It's a very well organized operation
Image 114 of 130
One of our guides was the guy who orders all the food, and who knows where it all is
Image 115 of 130
Ahh - beef! Preparing the rib roasts
Image 116 of 130
You got to admire somebody working with sharp knives on a moving ship
Image 117 of 130
Tortes - yummy!
Image 118 of 130
Best smelling place in the whole galley was the bakery . . .
Image 119 of 130
Executive Chef Andreas Dymke was very personable and talkative
Image 120 of 130
Each of the 14 restaurants on ship has a separate dishwashing station like this one
Image 121 of 130
Viewports let us see into the bridge, and the chief navigator (he actually drives the ship) was very informative
Image 122 of 130
Our only Canadian port was Prince Rupert BC, a small friendly town
Image 123 of 130
We don't know if he's a "real" mountie, but he sure photographs well . . .
Image 124 of 130
The port area of Prince Rupert is called Cow Bay
Image 125 of 130
Lots of punny shop names in Cow Bay
Image 126 of 130
Spectacular totem pole outside the town museum
Image 127 of 130
Judy found a friend outside the camera store
Image 128 of 130
Every seaport has a lost sailor memorial
Image 129 of 130
It was a pleasant day in Prince Rupert, even if we were only there a few hours
Image 130 of 130
Finally, we're back in Seattle, dodging the raindrops, and sorry it has to end