Skagway: White Pass & Yukon RR

 

                

We arrived in Skagway on Thursday, July 5, 2012, for our much anticipated ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad, and we certainly were not disappointed.  When we docked, we could see the train beside the Coral Princess and also the wall beside the train where ships’ crews have painted their ships’ logos. 

     

                

George had a strategy for getting on the end car of the train. When it failed and it looked like there would be no way of getting on the car, Irene saved the day by running ahead and persuading the end car attendant to let us on. Thanks, Irene!        

     

     

The White Pass and Yukon route took us up the mountain, alongside walls of stone, over trestles, through tunnels, and around horseshoe curves.  It was a fantastic train ride, and all the train buffs and photographers vied for space on the rear platform to capture the scenes.

     

                   

     

More fantastic railroad engineering came into view as we continued toward White Pass.

     

     

     

     

White Pass was marked with a large sign, national flags, and more beautiful alpine scenery.

    

     

We enjoyed riding the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, especially being able to see the sights and take photos from the rear of the train, and we had more great views on the return trip.

           

           

When the train returned to Skagway, George continued on to the cruise ship dock, and Irene got off to explore the town of Skagway.  Bye-Bye, George!

      

Cruising Glacier Bay

                                                                  

We boarded the Coral Princess around noon on Monday, July 2,2012, found our cabin, and ate lunch.  We spent most of the afternoon exploring the ship and watching trains and buses bring more passengers.  Our luggage was late arriving because we received a free cabin upgrade to a balcony.  We enjoyed the balcony but would probably use it more in a warmer climate.

     

We sailed toward Glacier Bay on Tuesday, July 3, expecting to see Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America, on Monday.  Unfortunately, between fog and icy waters, the ship was unable to continue to Hubbard. Both Hubbard’s size (76 miles long, 1200 deep, 40 stories high) and the fact that it calves (has huge chunks of ice the size of i10 story buildings breaking off) make it an outstanding sight.  It was a disappointment to miss Hubbard Glacier, but we still saw beautiful ice formations. 

     

     

     

         

    

     

Princess cruise’s Schorlarship@Sea program featured Alaskan naturalist Kathy Slamp who lived for many years in Alaska.  She gave several lectures about Alaska, growing up there, and the glaciers. She narrated as we passed through Glacier Bay.  Also, National Park Service rangers came aboard to speak about the glaciers and answer questions. 

     

     

     

Denali to Our Cruise–by Rail, of course!

 

Leaving Denali, we again boarded Alaska Rail – along with lots of others – and headed to Anchorage on Sunday, July 1, 2012.  It was another day of beautiful sights and, of course, we took lots of photos!

        

        

In the photo above, the open area above the A in Alaska is the upper level observation platform where we enjoyed the views and took photos.

         

Later in the afternoon we met up with the sister train coming from Anchorage which stopped alongside our train for the service crew to swap trains and return to their base station. 

              

              

              

Above you can see a cruise line car which has the observation deck on the lower level. After spending the night in Anchorage, we continued on Alaska Rail, heading to Whittier to board the Coral Princess.

         

         

We had a delightful morning of beautiful scenery and wonderful train photography as the RR made its way along Turnagain Arm.

         

         

   

                              

It was pretty windy in the vestibule between train cars from Anchorage to Whittier, but the views were fantastic!

          

          

          

          

The route to Whitter passed through two tunnels.  At the second one just before Whittier, the rail bed and the highway shared the tunnel – alternately - with trains having priority.

               

        

               

When we emerged from the tunnel, we were in Whittier and were soon greeted with a view of the Coral Princess.

        

         

         

The train arrived and we disembarked (Monday, July 2) to board the Coral Princess – our home for the next week as we cruised along the Alaskan coast to Vancouver.