Day 88, 21 August 2015
Sitka to Juneau (by ferry Chenega)
Another nice day. Before hopping on the ferry, we had brunch
at the Larkspur Café in town, then explored the other side of the island and
took a walk around the “old Sitka Historical Park.” We like the ferry Chenega.
It’s a larger boat, and it has more tables with electrical outlets for charging
our phones. Good view of the hills and islands. And I like the way they display
the chart plotter on monitors, so you can see where we are and where we’re
headed. As we turned the corner around the peninsula, we could see the
glaciated peaks of the Wrangell Mountains. Got a nice view of the Mendenhall Glacier
on the way into Auke Bay. Met some locals who were kayaking in Sitka, and they
suggested some restaurants in Juneau. Tried The Hangar, and it was OK. Wandered
through town after dinner, but it was dead. Even the Red Dog Saloon was empty.
No cruise ships, no customers, nobody was open. We went to our hotel…
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| Rocky beach in old Sitka |
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| Russian cross in Sitka Historical Park |
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| Ferry ramp |
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| On our way to Juneau - great views |
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| Island in the Clarchait Strait |
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| A couple of glaciers |
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| Chart plotter on monitor shows us where we are |
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| View of Mendenhall Glacier from the ferry |
All lit up, but nobody there
Day 89, 22 August 2015
Juneau to Haines to Skagway (by ferry LeConte)
Long story short, our ferry tickets were first changed to tomorrow,
due to mechanical problems, then changed back to today, due to repairs made.
The good news is that we got to sleep in, since the rescheduled trip was three
hours later than the original. This ferry stops in Haines for an hour before
heading to Skagway. Since we left Rocky in Haines, we made arrangements for the
Jeep to be loaded on last in Juneau, so we could be first off the ferry in
Haines to go get Rocky and bring him and the Jeep back to the ferry terminal in
time to make the trip to Skagway. We booked the Garden City RV Park in Skagway
which, fortunately, had lots of room, since a caravan was leaving today. Lots
of rain was predicted for today and tomorrow, but the light drizzle in Juneau
fizzled out in Auke Bay, and the sun sneaked out for quite a while. When the
captain spotted some whales, we saw some fins, so they may have been orcas. We
did see a sea lion pop out and go under. Wasn’t fast enough with the camera to
get pictures. But the scenery was very nice all along the way. When we arrived
at Haines, it was drizzling again, but our plan for getting Rocky on board the
ferry worked, although it was a tight fit with all the vehicles on board. It’s
just an hour ferry ride to Skagway from Haines, coming out of the Lutak Inlet,
around the Halulu Ridge, then down the Taiya inlet nearly to the end. Same
weather – drizzle. But after setting up camp, we took a walk down Broadway
(main street with all the tourist attractions) and went to the Skagway Brewery
for dinner – great salmon sandwich, and the beer was tasty. Caught “The Lazy
Days of 1898” show commemorating the life and times of Skagway con artist Soapy
Smith. The show has been running since 1923 when passenger steamships starting
bringing tourists to Skagway, in an effort by the Elks to raise money for the
local hockey team.
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| About to board the Laconte, headed for Haines |
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| Boats stopped to watch whale frenzy |
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| Time for some impromptu mandolin picking |
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| Approaching Haines |
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| Rocky was really crammed in with the other vehicles on the way |
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| The Jeep, last to be loaded, had to be secured |
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| Coming out of the Lutak Inlet |
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| Coming around the Hululu Ridge |
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| Going into Taiya inlet towards Skagway |
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| Skagway |
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| Lonely cruise ship in Skagway |
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| Broadway St in downtown Skagway |
Skagway Brewing Company
Day 90, 23 August 2015
Skagway
The rain was intermittent enough to be able to walk around
without getting too wet. We discovered Bites on Broadway, a little hole in the
wall started by two Mississippi guys four years ago - neat little take out
place for breakfast and/or lunch. We also discovered the Klondike Gold Rush
National Historical Park, dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of
the gold rush in 1896-98. We joined a ranger who led us through park-restored
buildings of bars, brothels, and homes rich with Klondike gold rush history,
learning about the 100,000 who tried to climb the Chilkoot Trail with their
gear toward Dawson City YT, the 30,000 who made it, the 10,000 that stayed, and
the 100 that got rich. Skagway is a cruise ship servant - totally dedicated to
the cruising tourist. Shops are geared to capturing as much money from ship
passengers as possible in the short time between the time they disembark to the
time they board again for dinner. Luckily, it was a one-boat day, so we had
some elbow room. The Red Onion Saloon was interesting, since it was also a
brothel (the sign in the window said “end of season sale” – what’s that
about?).
Also discovered that one of our
favorite brews was Rogue Dead Guy, which is brewed in Portland, Oregon. Looking
forward to going there on our way home. We enjoyed a great Thai dinner at Star
Fire – the favorite restaurant in town.
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| Park Ranger giving presentation about the Klondike Gold Rush |
Did not do the brothel tour, but beer was good
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| Artist at work- mural in progress |
Happy 90th Day!!!!
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