Carcross and Whitehorse

First, I will start by giving some information on Carcross.  Carcross is located in the Yukon territory of Canada; between Skagway, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon.  The town was originally named Caribou Crossing because herds of caribou crossed the rivers in the town.  The name was later shortened to Carcross.  Carcross is home of the world's smallest desert, Carcross Desert.  For more information about Carcoss please visit http://travelyukon.com/about-yukon/yukon-communities/carcross

Carcross was the first city in the Yukon that we visited.  When I got off the train, I thought that the Yukon was not as beautiful as Alaska.  The more we traveled the Yukon, I could tell I was right. However, the Yukon does have some beautiful parts.  Carcross is a really small town.  I only remember seeing a train station and a few shops. Our tour group stopped at the local general store to buy some ice cream; I got chocolate chip cookie dough.  After we finished our ice cream, we got on a bus to Whitehorse.  A few miles outside of the town, we stopped at Carcross Desert and Emerald Lake.  Carcoss desert, known as the world's smallest desert, is about one square mile.  The desert is not really a desert because the weather is too humid; the desert is actually large sand dunes left behind from the last ice age. The dunes are used for recreation activities such as sand boarding, hiking, all-terrain vehicles, cross-country skiing, and snowboarding. For more information on Carcross Desert visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcross_Desert.

The other site we saw outside of Carcross was Emerald Lake.  The lake is named so because the color of it is emerald. According to wikipedia, "the color derives from light reflecting off white deposits of marl, a
mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, at the bottom of the shallow waters.  The high concentration of calcium carbonate in the water here comes from limestone gravels eroded from the nearby mountains and deposited here 14,000 years ago by the glaciers of the last ice age. Glacial erosion was likewise responsible for scooping out the shallow lake bed" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_Lake_%28Yukon%29).  The back drop to Emerald Lake is a beautiful mountain and forest.  Emerald Lake is my favorite lake because it is blue with emerald swirled throughout.  After visiting the desert and lake, we got back on the bus and traveled to Whitehorse.

Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon, and my least favorite city in the Yukon.  In Whitehorse, we took a tour of the town and visited a farm where we saw bison, water buffalo, mule deer, caribou, dahl sheep, moose, and musk ox.  The bus driver/tour guide was really rude.  He did not know much about the town and he talked down to everyone on the tour.  At night, we went to a show called Frantic Follies.  The show was a musical about the Yukon. The next day we traveled to Dawson City.

 Carcoss Desert

 Emerald Lake

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White Pass

The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad (WP&YR) was build in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush.  It took 26 months and $10 million to build.  The 110 mile railroad connects Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon.  "The WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles. The steel cantilever bridge was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901."  After the mining industry collapsed in 1982, the railroad closed.  It opened later as a tourist attraction.  For more information of the White Pass and Yukon Rout Railroad visit http://www.wpyr.com/.

On our second day in Skagway, we boarded the train on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad.  The train was traveling to Carcross, Yukon.  The train had many different passenger cars, so each tour group got their own car.  The inside of our car had wooden benches and over head racks to hold bags.  The benches were not conformable.  My family and I sat in the back of the train by the tour guide.  We watched out the window as we passed many mountains coved with trees and waterfalls.  I got tired of sitting, so I went to the outside platform to get a better view of the landscape.  The train was traveling around 40 mph, so wind was cold as it touched my skin.  I stood out in the cold for an hour or more taking pictures of many waterfalls and mountains.  After I went inside, our tour guide, Adam, taught my brother and me how to play a card game.  The game helped passed the time till we stopped for lunch at Lake Bennett.   On our way to the lake, we saw the ghost bridge.  It is called ghost bridge because it appears out of no where and is surrounded by fog.  The end of the bridge can not be seen.  After we saw the bridge, we took a sharp curve.  During the curve, we could see the front of the train was headed into a tunnel.  Soon we reached Lake Bennett, and stopped for lunch.

At Lake Bennett we got off the train and entered a small building.  The lunch we were served was beef stew.  The stew had peas in it, and I am allergic to peas.  My dad told me to try a bit of the broth to see if I would have a reaction.  After I ate a bit of the stew, my voice got horse and a lump in my throat began to form; it got harder to breath.  We talked to the cook and he made a peanut butter sandwich, but I could not finish it because it was getting harder to swallow.  We were in the middle of nowhere, miles away from a hospital, and I thought I was going to die.  My mom made me walked around to get my adrenaline pumping, hoping that it would open my throat.  As we walked around, we saw an old wooden church.  We also walked down to the lake.  It took about half an hour, but finally the lump in my throat disappeared and I could breathe better.  We got back on the train and traveled to Carcross.

 The old wooden church

 Lake Bennett

 The front of our train

Skagway

Skagway is a small city of about 968 people in the panhandle of Alaska.  The name Skagway comes from a Tlingit name "Skagua" or "Shgagwèi" which means "a windy place with white caps on the water."  In 1896, gold was found in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory.  This caused many prospectors to settle in Skagway.  The path used by prospectors to travel to Canada is called the White Pass, and it is still used today.  White Pass is one of the many attractions Skagway offers tourists.  Other attractions include Skagway Museum & Archives, Gold Rush Cemetery, Lower Reid Falls behind the Cemetery, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, the Look Out on Dyea Road, Lower Dewey Lake, AB Mountain, Yakutania Point, Molly Walsh or Pullen Creek Park.  For more history on Skagway please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skagway,_Alaska.  For more more information of visiting Skagway check out http://www.blogger.com/goog_1650671240

On the forth day of our trip, the cruise ship stopped in Skagway, Alaska.  We woke up early so we could meet our tour guide, and finish the rest of our two week stay traveling on land.  Our wonderful tour guide was named Adam.  When we got off the ship, the first thing I noticed was how beautiful the city was.  Everywhere I looked I saw white snow capped mountains; it was truly breath taking.  Our tour group soon boarded a bus, and traveled to the Gold Rush Cemetery.  We walked around the cemetery looking at the gravestones, and we even got to see the world's biggest gold nugget (which is actually a rock painted gold).  After we saw the cemetery, we hiked up the mountain to see Lower Reid Falls.  This was the first natural water fall I have seen.  We walked right along the water listening to its tranquil sound; I could have sat for hours listening to the water rush down the mountain.  My brother splashed me with water, so I had to get even.  Soon it was time to go, and we walked back down to the bus and rode to town.

When we got back into town, my family and I walked around.  We saw the shops, different restaurants, and hotels.   When we found the rail road tracks, my dad told us that he and his friends put pennies on the tracks; they would wait for trains to pass over them and then the penny would be flat.  He was amazed that my brother and I had never done that.  My dad gave us pennies and we waited for a train.  Soon a train came and flattened our pennies; I still have mine.  The tracks lead us to a little stream where we met two local men who were fishing for salmon.  We conversed about the town, fishing, and salmon.  We learned we could watch the salmon swim up stream if we walked to a bridge in the woods.  When we got to the bridge, we saw salmon fighting their way up stream.  The salmon were jumping out of the water on every stroke.  By the bridge there were traps set out by biologists; they caught salmon so they could breed them.  Soon it was dinner time, so we ate a local restaurant called the Red Onion.  The Red Onion used to be brothel back in the gold rush days, and upstairs was converted into a museum about the brothel.  We started talking to our waitress and found out that she was from Austin, Texas.  I thought it was strange to find a fellow Austinite working in a small town in the middle of nowhere Alaska.  She said when she got back home in a few months, we should visit her at the bar she worked.  After a delicious dinner, we attended a musical show about the history of Skagway.  After the show, we got to talk to some of the cast members and when we mentioned that we were from Texas they said, "You know we could cut our state in half and it would still be bigger."  We laughed.  Finally, we went back to our hotel rooms and went to sleep.      

The more time I spent in Skagway, the more I fell in love with it.  Skagway is my favorite city in Alaska even though it is very small.  What I love most about Skagway is the view.  There are mountains everywhere you look.  I also loved the slow place of the town, no one was ever in a rush, and there was no traffic.  I would love to go back and visit Skagway again.    

Note: If you plan on going on a land adventure in Alaska and the Yukon, do not travel with Holland America.  The hotels were nice, we had a wonderful tour guide, and I had a great experience.  However, most of the people who travel with Holland America are over 60.  The tour guide, my brother and I were the youngest.

Juneau

Juneau is the capital city of Alaska, and  in 2010 it was home to 31,275 people.  Even though Juneau is the capital, the city can only be accessed by sea or air.  The economy of Juneau is run mainly by government, tourism, fishing, real estate, and skiing.  The main tourist attractions include Mendenhall Glacier, whale watching, wildlife viewing, hiking, rafting, kayaking, zip lining, and sports fishing.  For more information on Juneau please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneau,_Alaska and  http://www.juneau.org/.  Information about touring Juneau can be found at http://www.traveljuneau.com/index.php

Juneau, Alaska was the first stop our cruise ship made.  As mentioned above, the city has many wonderful attractions in which tourists can partake.  My family and I went whale watching and saw Mendenhall Glacier.  When we first got to Juneau, we boarded another boat that took us whale watching.  I had never seen a whale before our trip.  They are truly magnificent creatures.  Most of the whales we saw were humpbacks; however, there are also orca (killer) whales in Juneau.  I watched as the whales came up to the surface and then dove back down.  As they dove, they would slap their tails on the surface.  I saw a few humpbacks spray water out of their blow-holes.  I even saw a few baby whales.  On the whale watching adventure, I also saw seals resting on a buoy.  We got so close to the seals I could hear them make noise, and two even fought for a spot to sit.  After an hour or so of whale watching, we headed back to the city.

When we got back to the city, my family and I walked around town looking at the shops.  There were several shops where all of the merchandise changed color when held under light. After shopping, we walked over to Mendenhall Glacier.  This was the first glacier I had ever seen.  We were miles away, and it still looked huge.  The glacier is one of the most spectacular natural wonders I have ever seen.  On each side, the glacier was surrounded by grassy hills.  I thought it was weird seeing grass and ice so close together.  The ice of the glacier was so blue.  According the the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center, "glacial ice appears blue because it absorbs all colors of the visible light spectrum except blue, which it transmits. The transmission of this blue wavelength gives glacial ice its blue appearance. Glacier ice may also appear white because some ice is highly fractured with air pockets and indiscriminately scatters the visible light spectrum."   Mendenhall Glacier is about 12 miles long.  After we saw the glacier, we got back on the cruise ship to travel to our next destination.  
The black arches in the water are humpback whales.

This is Mendenhall Glacier

The Ryndam

The first three days of our journey started on a cruise ship called the Ryndam.  It was my first time on a cruise ship and I enjoyed it.  The Ryndam offered many features such as two pools, shuffleboard, dining, shows, cooking classes, bars, a casino, a movie theater, a spa and salon, a gym, and night clubs.  The crew conducted different activities like bingo and dance lessons.  I learned how to make animals by folding a towel.  The Ryndam had something for everyone; if you could not find something to do, you could always enjoy the view.

The first day on the ship, we had to learn the evacuation plan.  Our instructor went over where the life boats were located, how to inflate a life jacket,  and how to exit the ship during an emergency.  During the instruction I kept thinking, "This boat won't sink; why do we have to listen to this?"  After the instruction, we walked around the decks snapping pictures of the landscape and the ship.  The first day was about exploring; I was amazed how many rooms they fit on one ship. Later we played shuffleboard on the upper deck, and then we went to dinner in the dining room.  The dining room offered a variety of fine dining selections, like steak and salmon.  After dinner, we explored the ship more, then returned to our rooms to go to sleep.  In my room I found an adorable dog made out of a towel.  I loved the towel animals so much, I took a class that taught me how to make them, and bought the instruction book.  I went to sleep knowing that this would be a wonderful vacation.     

The second day on the ship was more eventful.  We were in the middle of the ocean with nothing surrounding us, so the waves rocked the boat more.  I could not walk in a straight line, it felt like I was dizzy and spinning; I even fell down once.  It took hours, but eventually I got used to the rocking of the ship.  After breakfast, we participated in some of the activities offered.  My mom and I played bingo; however, we never won.  We also took a ballroom dance lesson.  We explored the ship more then went to dinner.  The dining staff was really nice and accommodating to all of my food allergies.  After dinner, we headed to the theater to see a show.  Being a dancer for most of my life, it amazed me how the performers could execute high skill dance moves with the ship rocking back and forth.  I was surprised by the quality of the performance.  After the show, we went back to our rooms to find another towel animal; this time it was an elephant.

By the third day I had enough.  I was sick of constantly moving back and forth, side to side.  I just wanted to be able to stand or sit still; I wanted to be on solid ground.  Thankfully, the Ryndam was scheduled to stop in Juneau, Alaska.  When we exited the boat, I was so excited to be on ground that did not move; however, we were about to board a boat that would take us whale watching.  After we spent four hours in Juneau, we returned to the ship and set sail.  For dinner that night we went to the Lido Restaurant, one of the many restaurants on the ship.  After dinner, we went back to our rooms to find a towel turtle on the bed.  My dad set a wake up call, because we had to get up early the next morning to leave the ship.  Around 4 A.M. we heard a loud noise coming through the intercom system.  My first thought was, "Wow this is a weird wake up call."  So we started to get ready for the day.  As soon as my mom hopped in the shower, a message came over the intercom stating that there was a fire in the crew's quarters.  My first thought was, "Why didn't I pay more attention to the safety instruction?"  I got my mom out of the shower and my family entered the hallway.  We saw elderly couples trying to use the elevator to get to the deck with the life boats.  I asked my parents, "Don't they know you can't use an elevator when there is a fire?"  Soon, another announcement came on saying that the fire had been put out, and we can all go back to our rooms.  After all the excitement, I managed to fall back asleep.  We woke up two hours later to get ready to leave the ship.

 This a model of the Ryndam

 This is the towel elephant.  Yes, I did name him but I forgot the name.

 This is the outside of the Ryndam.  The orange things are the life boats.

   This is a picture of me and my family at the Lido Restaurant.  Sitting from left to right are, my Uncle Pat, my Aunt Ginnie, and my brother, James.  Standing from left to right me, Laura, my dad, Dennis, and my mom, Jennie.          

The Beginning

The day before our departure we traveled from Austin to Dallas.  We spent the night at my uncle's house so we would not miss our flight.  We woke up at 5 a.m. and went to D.F.W. Airport to board a flight to Vancouver, Canada.  We had a layover in Denver and our connecting plane was delayed.  We were watching the time, so we knew we would not make it on time to board the cruise ship before it set sail.  Thankfully, there were more than twenty people on our flight who had tickets for our cruise,  so the ship departure was delayed.  After waiting four hours, the plane finally arrived.

We hurried off the plane and ran to the bus that took us to the ship. During the bus ride, I could not stop staring at the landscape with all of its beautiful mountains.  After a few minutes, we arrived at the ship and boarded.  The ship's name was the Ryndam, owned by Holland America.  It was my first time on a cruise ship so I had no idea what to expect.

I felt the ship move as we pushed back from the dock into the ocean.  I watched from the upper deck, taking pictures with my camera, as the landscape and city passed.  I saw many mountains and a few lighthouses.  The scenery looked like something out of a movie.

The top picture is Vancouver taken from the Ryndam.  The following picture is of mountains taken from the airplane window.   

About my blog

This blog will account for the trip I took to Alaska and the Yukon with my family.  I will go into detail about the truly unique towns that I visited and the amazing sites that I saw.  I will explain the wonderful excursions I had the opportunity to take in some towns.

The trip lasted about two weeks and we traveled by plane, cruise ship, train, bus, and boat.  We started our vacation on a cruise ship, the Ryndam.  We stayed on the ship for three days and then traveled on land for the remainder of the time.  The places we got to visit were Carcoss, Dawson City, Denali, Eagle, Fairbanks, Juneau, Skagway, Prince William Sound, and Anchorage.

Even though, the trip took place during the summer the temperature never got above forty degrees so we had to wear jackets the whole time.  Visiting Alaska and the Yukon was a wonderful experience.  Alaska is by far my favorite state and one day I hope to go back.