Day 4, Thursday, July 9, Skagway, Part 1
Would've loved to linger in bed this morning. Alas, we had booked our White Pass Yukon Pass Bus & Train excursion through Chilkoot Charters, and our meet time was set for 8:15, so we needed to get ready fast.
Immediately after booking our cruise, I was all about getting our excursions from DCL, because I was do NOT want to get left behind by a non-DCL vendor in case something goes wrong. But after reading various trip reports here and elsewhere, and verifying reviews on TripAdvisor, I learned that Chilkoot Charters is a reputable vendor. They offer smaller shuttle buses so you don't have to wait for a gazillion fellow passengers to assemble before you can depart for your excursion, and the shuttles stop along the way several times so you can take photos. After discussion it with hubby, we decided to book through them. The process was very easy. I found their website online, there were a few emails back and forth and perhaps even a phone call, and we were set.
Had pastries and bananas at Triton's (Tiago was our server today; he must've been good because I wrote down his name specifically in my journal), then we walked off the gangway and headed out to a parking lot nearby, where we were told to await our contact.
There were a bunch of airport-type shuttle buses waiting in the parking lot, but we weren't sure which one was ours. Very shortly thereafter a man walked up to us from one of the buses, so we asked whether he was with Chilkoot (perhaps he had a clipboard or a sign or something). He said he was, checked our name on my print out of the email from Chilkoot, and said we were on the list. Whew! My memory is a little fuzzy at this point, but I think we boarded the shuttle, and were driven to another shuttle a few minutes away. The second shuttle was what took us up to the mountains.
We got on the shuttle bus and were pleased to find the family of our pen pals K & B. DD, K, & B haven't spent too much time together; initially they just stared at each other and smiled shyly, but they warmed up to each other after a while. I think there were 12-15 people on our shuttle altogether. Our second driver, Stanley, lives locally and was excellent, providing us with history of Skagway and local sights along the way. We felt her narratives were very informative.
One of the many waterfalls we saw along the way.
The shuttle bus was about an hour ride. We kept going up and up, and had 4 stops:
The bridge was built where two earthquake fault lines intersect. One side is stable, while the other one is more flexible (definitely not the correct technical terms). It's so that if an earthquake were to hit, there would be room for the bridge to move back and forth.
A random mountain scene.
Stanley dropped us off at the train station:
For some reason, perhaps due to the trip reports I had read, I was expecting to sit in the caboose, at the end of the train, but our compartment, which has 12 rows of seats, was the one immediately behind the engine. The Chilkoot people all boarded early and got to sit down on the right side; we were at the very front. A couple more families joined the compartment and sat on the left. We waited about 15 minutes, then the train departed the station.
A glacier atop a mountain.
Desolate, weird rock formation.
U.S. / Canada border.
A old, dilapidated steel bridge.
Coming down from the mountain. You can see the port of Skagway waaaayyyy in the distance, where there is a tiny light blue spot above the tree top on the left. That's the water.
Several people have since asked me whether I enjoyed the excursion. I'll be upfront and say my husband didn't think much of it. I, on the other hand, really enjoyed it. I thought it was a great way to see Alaska, to get a view of the different scenery--glaciers high up in the mountains, trees, lichen, fire flowers (the first weeds to sprout after forest fires), rock formations, waterfalls, where the fault lines intersect, etc. I had read all about it before and thought "So what?? A mountain is a mountain anywhere!" But to see them with my own eyes was quite a sight, I must say. It was also hear about the history of the Klondike gold rush, get a taste of the White Pass days, to imagine how these prospectors would've carried 2 tons of supplies from the American side over the Canadian border. It would've taken them 40 trips back and forth to get everything over. Incredible.
Overall I thought the Bus Up / Train Down excursion (or vice versa) is very worthwhile, because the bus guide had different stories to tell compared to the train guide (who was very good also; would've liked to give her some extra tip but didn't know how to find her, plus the kids were getting whiny during the last half hour of the train).
A few random tips here for those who plan to take this excursion:
And it was off to lunch we went. Never estimate the power of hungry, whiny kids...
Day 4 to be continued later this week...
Would've loved to linger in bed this morning. Alas, we had booked our White Pass Yukon Pass Bus & Train excursion through Chilkoot Charters, and our meet time was set for 8:15, so we needed to get ready fast.
Immediately after booking our cruise, I was all about getting our excursions from DCL, because I was do NOT want to get left behind by a non-DCL vendor in case something goes wrong. But after reading various trip reports here and elsewhere, and verifying reviews on TripAdvisor, I learned that Chilkoot Charters is a reputable vendor. They offer smaller shuttle buses so you don't have to wait for a gazillion fellow passengers to assemble before you can depart for your excursion, and the shuttles stop along the way several times so you can take photos. After discussion it with hubby, we decided to book through them. The process was very easy. I found their website online, there were a few emails back and forth and perhaps even a phone call, and we were set.
Had pastries and bananas at Triton's (Tiago was our server today; he must've been good because I wrote down his name specifically in my journal), then we walked off the gangway and headed out to a parking lot nearby, where we were told to await our contact.
There were a bunch of airport-type shuttle buses waiting in the parking lot, but we weren't sure which one was ours. Very shortly thereafter a man walked up to us from one of the buses, so we asked whether he was with Chilkoot (perhaps he had a clipboard or a sign or something). He said he was, checked our name on my print out of the email from Chilkoot, and said we were on the list. Whew! My memory is a little fuzzy at this point, but I think we boarded the shuttle, and were driven to another shuttle a few minutes away. The second shuttle was what took us up to the mountains.
We got on the shuttle bus and were pleased to find the family of our pen pals K & B. DD, K, & B haven't spent too much time together; initially they just stared at each other and smiled shyly, but they warmed up to each other after a while. I think there were 12-15 people on our shuttle altogether. Our second driver, Stanley, lives locally and was excellent, providing us with history of Skagway and local sights along the way. We felt her narratives were very informative.
One of the many waterfalls we saw along the way.
The shuttle bus was about an hour ride. We kept going up and up, and had 4 stops:
- Glacier water stream: The water is so pure you can drink it directly!
- "Welcome to Alaska" sign: Gotta get the obligatory family photo here!
- Desolate scene at the side of the road: There was a name for this place but I no longer recall what it is. This is where we were encouraged to stack rocks on top of one another due to some local custom.
- Bathroom break at Log Cabin (though this was an extra stop--the train was late so our guide took us a little further, then turned around and went back down to meet the train). Actually it was more of an outhouse as there was no plumbing. Plus there were a bunch of mosquitoes (see below)...
The bridge was built where two earthquake fault lines intersect. One side is stable, while the other one is more flexible (definitely not the correct technical terms). It's so that if an earthquake were to hit, there would be room for the bridge to move back and forth.
A random mountain scene.
Stanley dropped us off at the train station:
For some reason, perhaps due to the trip reports I had read, I was expecting to sit in the caboose, at the end of the train, but our compartment, which has 12 rows of seats, was the one immediately behind the engine. The Chilkoot people all boarded early and got to sit down on the right side; we were at the very front. A couple more families joined the compartment and sat on the left. We waited about 15 minutes, then the train departed the station.
A glacier atop a mountain.
Desolate, weird rock formation.
U.S. / Canada border.
A old, dilapidated steel bridge.
Coming down from the mountain. You can see the port of Skagway waaaayyyy in the distance, where there is a tiny light blue spot above the tree top on the left. That's the water.
Several people have since asked me whether I enjoyed the excursion. I'll be upfront and say my husband didn't think much of it. I, on the other hand, really enjoyed it. I thought it was a great way to see Alaska, to get a view of the different scenery--glaciers high up in the mountains, trees, lichen, fire flowers (the first weeds to sprout after forest fires), rock formations, waterfalls, where the fault lines intersect, etc. I had read all about it before and thought "So what?? A mountain is a mountain anywhere!" But to see them with my own eyes was quite a sight, I must say. It was also hear about the history of the Klondike gold rush, get a taste of the White Pass days, to imagine how these prospectors would've carried 2 tons of supplies from the American side over the Canadian border. It would've taken them 40 trips back and forth to get everything over. Incredible.
Overall I thought the Bus Up / Train Down excursion (or vice versa) is very worthwhile, because the bus guide had different stories to tell compared to the train guide (who was very good also; would've liked to give her some extra tip but didn't know how to find her, plus the kids were getting whiny during the last half hour of the train).
A few random tips here for those who plan to take this excursion:
- The bus travels up a two-lane (?) road, and there are hills and valleys all along the way. It stops frequently for passengers to take photos at key spots.
- If you take the bus up, sitting on the right is slightly better, but ultimately it doesn't really matter whether you ride on the left or right side because the bus is so small and you can easily look out the windows on either side.
- Now, if you take the train up, the recommendation is to go on the LEFT side, because the passengers on the right will have a cliff out their window while those on the left will see the valley outside and get a better view.
- For train down, sit on the right side.
- Even if the forecast predicts a high of 70F, bring a raincoat or at least a windbreaker anyway. It gets cold and windy up at the summit. Wish I had known that--I only had on a hoodie and long-sleeve shirt, and I was cold...
- Bring your bug spray! The day we were there, our tour guide said it was quite windy, which was good because the mosquitoes stayed away for the most part. But there were indeed droves of them when we went to an extra stop (Log Cabin), and I felt like a turtle, trying to shrink my neck into the opening of my shirt, in order to prevent them from biting me. I hurriedly returned to the shuttle but was alarmed to see a few of them followed us in there as well. I took our our insect wipes and wiped the whole family down. Even though it may have just been psychological, no one was bitten.
- In terms of cell phone coverage, we had 5 bars via AT&T on the ship while in port and in downtown Skagway, but nothing once we were a few miles out into the mountains.
- On the way down, after the second tunnel between 16-mile and 15-mile post, there were a small Mickey Mouse toy and a rattlesnke figure sitting on a random outcrop 7-8 feet away from the right side of the train! They passed by so quickly that I did not get a chance to take a photo of them.
- Chilkoot provides bottled water at the end of the compartment on the train, and there was easy bathroom access.
- The entire train ride was about 1 hour 45 minutes. DS8 and DD4 got a little whiny during the last half hour. It wasn't all from hunger because I kept giving them snack while on the train. Now that we've done this train ride we probably won't do it again in the future, but if we were to do it I would bring more activity books for the little ones.
And it was off to lunch we went. Never estimate the power of hungry, whiny kids...
Day 4 to be continued later this week...
Last edited:
The bus passed by several bald eagles, but it was raining so I couldn't get very good pictures of them. Here's one for you to see the raindrops on the window (and the eagle):
