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Published: August 27th 2015
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River Boat
during our Wilderness Adventure This morning we had our 3
rdexcursion day in a row – Skagway Alaska. However today is different in that the Sieberts are going on a bus/train tour into the Yukon and we are heading the opposite direction for a Wilderness Adventure.
Our group did not need to assemble on the dock until 9:30, so we were able to sleep in for a while before going up to get breakfast. We had another big buffet breakfast and still had plenty of time before our excursion. We decided to go to town to look at some of the stores so we left the ship about 8:45. It turns out that the stores are not as near the pier as we thought they were. Apparently the pier has moved since we were last here eleven years ago.
The first step in our day’s adventure was a 45 minute ferry ride to Haines Alaska. This is a regular ferry service back and forth, with about 5 different tour groups headed to Haines for various activities. Considering that there are 4 cruise ships in Skagway, our Princess tour was just one of half a dozen going
to Haines. The alternative to taking the ferry would be to drive all the way to Whitehorse Canada and back to Haines (about a 7 hour drive).
We were met and directed to a bus where our driver (Mark) was waiting for us. We were driven another 45 minutes into the interior of Alaska while Mark gave us information about the area. Mark drove us through downtown Haines complete with it’s one set of 4-way stop signs (he says the nearest traffic light is about 250 miles away in Whitehorse. Anyway, we got to the Wilderness Adventure location about 11:30 and we were served a small lunch. It was hot dogs, vegetarian chili, chips, and brownies. This was one of the smallest lunches we’ve had since we started the vacation, but it was actually pretty tasty. Anyway, when we got on the river we weren’t hungry and were pretty excited to get started.
Before leaving camp we went through Gear Tent #1, where we were provided with another waterproof coat, gloves, ear muffs, and lap blankets. You see the river were will be exploring is strictly glacier water and therefore
Two Glaciers
over looking the Chilkat River is about 35 degrees. And wind blowing over this water gets pretty cool. The good news is that today was just as bright and sunny as yesterday, so we did not have any bad weather to complicate our trip. Actually we have been complimented for having such good luck as to have 2 consecutive good days of weather – last week there were several bad days and numerous excursions had to be cancelled. But we were fully outfitted and ready to go find some wildlife.
Our mode of transportation was a shallow-draft jet boat which can hold 24 people, but there were only about 18 of us today (we didn’t get too crowded together). The boat does not have a propeller because the average depth of the Chilkat River is about 12 inches. Therefore we had water jets for pushing us along the river, but it was able to go from hovering against the current, to about 35 mph when going with the current. We were all loaded aboard and we were off for our trip. There was potential to see Brown Bears or Moose, but unfortunately we did not see any of either. However
there were numerous bald eagles, some hawks, and a couple of trumpeter swans. We were actually in the heart of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, which has about 200 eagles in permanent residence, but at certain times of the year there are thousands. We also were able to see some salmon trying to swim up a small stream to spawn. So our wildlife wasn’t everything we hoped for, but it was really interesting anyway.
However the really best part of the trip was the incredible scenery of the interior of Alaska. We went places where no one else can get to except by shallow boat and the only other one was the sister boat from the camp. It’s not possible to adequately describe the river with thick tree growth in some area and large plains of marsh grass with only a couple of inches of water. We had beautiful views of the mountainsides and glaciers in the near distance. There was absolute silence when the motor was shut down and we drifted across a lake. Elsewhere there was the rush of river water when the channel changed from wide to narrow. There was NO liter
or trash, NO noise which was other than ourselves and nature, and NO smells except fresh air. It really was spectacular.
We eventually had to return to the main camp site. We turned in our gear and boarded the bus again. We were driven back to the ferry location in Haines, and we eventually returned to Skagway about 4:00. Janet went back to the cabin to rest while David wandered around Skagway to look for souvenirs. On the way back to the ship, Janet waved a blue bag over the side of the balcony so David could pinpoint the location of our cabin in a picture.
Meanwhile Jim and Kathy had taken a train into the Yukon Territory. This was the White Pass Railway which has a historic past derived from the Klondike Gold Rush period. They had a BBQ chicken lunch and got to visit a taxidermy museum as well as a Jade Gift Shop. There was also a dogsled demonstration. They boarded to bus to drive back to Skagway, but with a stop in Caribou Crossing Canada where they got their passports stamped. Then it was back to
town. They also had terrific weather and got to see spectacular scenery. This was the tour we had taken 11 years ago and had recommended for them to take – happily we can report that they really enjoyed the day too.
We had a short time for a glass of wine before dinner. This evening we again had some delicious appetizers, soups, and pastas as well as main entrees. Janet had Crab Legs for her dinner. David and Jim each had the Surf & Turf. Kathy had a Seafood Medley, and she also split a Crab Leg dinner with Jim. It was all excellent and we had delicious desserts afterwards. This time David could not make up his mind between two choices, so he got both.
We went to the Internet Café to check/send some quick e-mail and then went to the Princess Theater for the evening show. Tonight was a comedian who told a series of funny jokes. He thinks we all should buy lottery tickets when we get back because we have had 2 sunny days in Alaska. Mostly they were about people being married and raising children,
but also about traveling of cruise ships, so it was all things we could relate to and found to be funny. All in all, we had another very good day!
9 pictures today
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