Well the ship was supposed to arrive in Skagway at 8 AM, it actually arrived in the middle of the night at 5:43 AM, so I didn’t get a time lapse of the arrival.
I booked an early tour – Summit Scenic Drive which is not comparable to the White Pass Railway – however it does make stops along the way while the railway does not.
The tour guide gave us the 3 minute tour of the city – as you can see in the map above it’s a really, really small city.
I got a few photos of the mountains as the bus left the city.
The first stop was a small waterfall on the side of the road.
I took a picture of the earthquake proof suspension bridge – it is suspended from only one side and the other can swing free in an earthquake. This is required because it was built over a fault line. The new “bridge” behind it is a ton of earthquake resistant concrete.
The tour took us past the Canadian border (but not past Canadian border patrol). The US and Canadian border patrol are separated by about 16 miles because they didn’t want to be at the actual summit.
A quick photo stop at the ‘Welcome to Alaska’ sign.
I took couple more photos on the way down the mountain.
I got dropped off in town and explored a bit on my way back to the ship. The train was parked next to the train station.
I got back on the ship briefly to have a quick snack for lunch.
I also set up a time lapse because the mountains behind the ship were beautiful.
I had a little free time, so I got off the ship and walked along the creek where the salmon were running.
A photo of the city skyline…
Apparently this is an old ad dating back to the gold rush era.
The locals use this flower to determine when winter is coming. Apparently when it all turns to cotton it is the beginning of winter.
Local guide maps. The Skagway and Walking Tour Maps are at the top.
A couple more photos from town. Apparently this building is covered in driftwood.
I took a picture of the old 1927 dodge truck that was converted into a street car for tourists.
In the afternoon I booked another tour – in fact the same tour. Due to Norwegian’s $50 shore excursion credit per tour both of them were free, so I figured I might as well go a second time.
The tour started off with the same tour of downtown, but it was brief as you can imagine – as is the town.
The first stop was a waterfall next to the pipe that sends water from the lake at the top of the mountain to the hydroelectric power plant. As you can see there is a lot of elevation change.
Another brief stop at the waterfall I stopped at in the morning, but now the mountains on the other side of the road appeared out of the clouds.
Back past the one sided suspension bridge and the fault line.
This time when we stopped in Canada – it was breathtaking. You could see the top of the mountains with glaciers. It was well worth the time to take the tour a second time. It was like going to a completely different place.
Another stop at the ‘Welcome to Alaska’ sign. This time I took a picture.
Not the best picture, but I did see the train across the way.
I got off in town yet again. I found an old train by the Skagway city museum.
I took a few more pictures as I walked through town.
Another old locomotive and a snowblower that was used to keep the train tracks clear.
Nearby statue
This mountain top came out and looked spectacular
I tried to get a couple of artistic photos of the ship with the train tracks.
Looking back at town
While I was waiting for the stairs to be readjusted to get back on the ship a sea lion was having lunch.
I had dinner tonight at Moderno again.
I took a picture of my “salad” from the “salad bar”. Sushi, Prosciutto and mozzarella. The fried provolone was cold and nasty. Obviously the Picanha is the featured dinner item.
I did manage to try some dessert. I believe it was Mango rice pudding.
Today’s timeline (very low resolution due to battery saver):
