Wusses we will be (and we were)

OK - so here was the plan. The ship was to arrive in Skagway at 6:00 am
( and it did). Our shore excursion was to depart at 7:30 am. With the
gym opening at 7:00 am, we would not have time for our 30 minute workout
on the machines - so - we would get up at 5:00 am (whose plan was this
anyway) and walk/jog around the track for 30 minutes. Well 5:00 am
rolled around, Bade stepped out on our balcony, deemed it too cold to
walk on the upper deck, and we went back to sleep. Yes, we are wusses.

At 7:30 our van arrived to take us to the train station. There were
four other people on this excursion with us. We were soon on the train
and departed for our trip. We were given a wonderful little
informational booklet which included a map of our trip. There were
three places we "could" disembark from the train - White Pass Summit,
Fraser, BC and Carcross, YT (Yukon Territory). Our guide from the van
had neglected to tell us which stop we would be using - HUM this could
be interesting. Fortunately, the guide on the train came on and
announced that except for a few hikers, all of us would be getting off
at Fraser. Crisis averted.

Along our 27.7 mile train trip to Fraser, we traveled over several
bridges and through two tunnels. The scenery was spectacular -
beautiful mountains, awesome water falls, and many rapidly flowing
streams. One of the most beautiful of the water falls, was Bridal Vail
Falls, which falls over 6000 feet and is fed by snow and glacier runoff.

While the scenery was breathtaking, the real stars of this railroad are
the men who built this 67.5 mile rail line in a little more than two
years, frequently blasting through solid granite to build this White
Pass and Yukon Route. The purpose of the railroad was to make it easier
for the stampeders of the Klondike Gold Rush to reach the area where
gold was being found. Many men died along the way and according to our
guide, only 13 of the 100,000 men who participated in the gold rush
actually became rich from the Klondike gold. In addition, of the
100,000 men who started the trip to Klondike, only 30,000 made it - many
perishing along the way and others turning back when the trip became too
difficult.

Before the railroad was built, there were two trails the stampeders
could take to arrive at the Klondike. One was the Chilkoot Trail, the
other was the White Pass Trail. Those selecting the Chilkoot Trail (the
shorter but much steeper), were required to carry a ton (2000 pounds) of
supplies up to the Summit of the Chilkoot Pass. At this point, the
supplies were inventoried and weighed. If the stampeder did not have
the correct inventory (less than 2000 pounds), they would not be allowed
to continue on the remaining 550 miles to the Yukon River and the gold
fields. They would have to go back and get the necessary amount to
total 2000 pounds. The reason for the 2000 pounds - the government had
decided that this was the amount of goods necessary to see the
stampeders though the 550 mile trip and the harsh weather they would
encounter during the trip. During the winter, these trails receive
approximately 50 feet of snow and the temperatures get as low as 50
degrees below zero.

This was a wonderful excursion, very informative and magnificent in its
beauty. Tomorrow is a sea day and then into Valdez where we will be
white water rafting. Yes, it will be really cold and yes we have
probably lost our minds, but at least we are not snorkeling, which was
also a choice.

That's all for me today. Bade may have some additional comments.

Carolyn

Bade here ... first of all I take exception to the notion that "I" was
the one that wussed out on the 5am outside job ... it was a mutually
agreed upon decision - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Carolyn covered the day's excursion very well. For me the "town" of
Skagway was very disappointing ... for those of you that have been to
Cozumel ... think Coz where everyone wears ski clothes ...very touristy
and clearly thriving almost solely on cruise ship traffic. One thing
that did surprise me about Skagway was the number of RV parks and "tent
city" downtown. Apparently people drive thru this city during the
summer months. After Carolyn got her fill of shopping for typical
tourist trap crap we walked back to the ship and had a light (moderately
light) lunch and promptly took a nap.

After nap both of us were feeling guilty about the whole 5am no-exercise
decision and spent our self imposed 30 minutes in the ship's fitness
center. I'd like to mention that while the ship is docked the view out
the window in front of the treadmill isn't nearly as interesting as when
we are under way ... I did see several seals swimming around during my
jog (Carolyn opined that since we were in a harbor these are clearly
"harbor seals" ... can't argue with logic like that!!

We are scheduled to leave Skagway at 8pm tonight ... our 2nd seating
dinner time ... we are now 3 hours behind central time zone so basically
we'll be eating at 11pm central ... the time zone change going back home
is going to be killer.

I'll post a few pics this evening ... and by the way for Brandi & Steven
the Rhapsody of the Seas is docked here with us.

Bade