Fri 22nd and Thurs 21st May

Friday 22nd May
Nothing much to write about today as we have been at sea all day and out of sight of land for most of the time from mid morning onwards. We were sailing down Chatham Strait this morning and here is a photo I took while having breakfast:

Not a bad view to have over one’s cornflakes and morning tea!

We cruised south down the Pacific Ocean and not the Inside Passage as we did when sailing north. Again the weather has been fantastic and the sea mainly calm. The only exciting thing to report is three sightings of hump backed whales. The ‘spout’ is easily seen from a distance but each time they were too far away to photograph.

Today has been a day of welcome relaxation after the last three days when we have been on shore excursions - so we have made the most of it by lolling around either reading, eating, looking for whales and watching a film. During the morning we attended another talk by January Jones on glaciers.

Thursday 21st May
Our final port of call on this cruise was Skagway (resident population 850), 90 miles north of Juneau. We docked around 0630 and disembarked for our excursion at 0755. Today we took a ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway and then panned for gold.

The train ride was amazing. This 110 mile railway was born in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 and was considered, at the time, an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months. It rises to a maximum height of 2924ft and was built under the most difficult conditions with temperatures sometimes falling to as much as minus 70 degrees. The same narrow gauge track still exists as do most of the passenger coaches - now restored to their former glory.

Yet again we travelled through mind-blowing scenery - high snowy mountains and deep river valleys with the train track clinging on to the side of the mountains and crossing deep ravines on bridges that look like they have been built with matchsticks. We rode 20 miles as far as White Pass Summit, at the US/Canada border, a journey taking 2 hours to get there and 1 hour (downhill) return. The snow at the top of White Pass was still 6-8ft deep in places.
When the train ride finished we went to a replica gold rush area to pan for gold - and guess what - every visitor gets to find some! We were all given a pan with gravel already in it, and went to a trough of water to ‘pan’. Even though it was pretty obvious that tiny flakes of gold had been planted in every pan it was still nonetheless exciting to find it. I found 10 or 12 tiny flakes (worth just over $US12) and had them set in a little transparent pendant.

Me finding gold

We did not leave Skagway until 8.30pm so we had loads of time to wander about the small town. Terry and I both agree that this is the nicest of the three towns we have visited during this cruise. The fully restored and colourful original buildings still stand and form the main shopping area.

Some of the guides are dressed in costumes of the gold rush era. Again there were 4 cruise ships in port but the town did not feel so crowded as either Ketchikan or Juneau. The small resident population increases by quite a large number in summer months with the arrival of many students from all over the USA who come here (and to the other towns we visited) for summer work as guides, coach drivers etc.
We now have two days of relaxation ahead as we cruise back to Vancouver without any more ports of call.