Alaska and Yukon CruiseTour 2023

  I opted for room service breakfast to have a lazy start to the day. This morning was overcast, the sea almost like glass. At 10:15 we had a sales meeting. Learned some good insider information about Holland America! I had a light lunch from the Lido, sitting on the aft deck. The sky has cleared some, but still quite a few clouds around. I then did my mile walk around the Promenade deck, checked out the shops, watched a pickle ball game, and checked out some of the areas of the ship that I  had hadn't had time to see yet. I even spent some time on the balcony. The wind kicked up again in the afternoon, and the tide was running strong. So although there was a chop on the water we had a smooth passage. I always think the last day cruising down between Vancouver Island and the coast is the prettiest part of the cruise. Our group met up in the Crow's Nest again, and enjoyed the beautiful late afternoon. Dinner was in the Main Dining Room. This was the first night there seemed to ...

  This is my 5th visit to Ketchikan, and I wanted to do something different. So I booked a Tatoosh Island Kayak tour that was recommended to me. I had a great sleep last night and woke up to a beautiful morning. Sunny and about 19C was the forecast, unusual for Ketchikan which is often wet. I went to the dining room for a hearty breakfast, as I'll be missing lunch. Then I popped in on an interesting talk about women in Alaska with non traditional careers before going up to the Crows Nest to watch the approach into Ketchikan. We are the 4th ship pulling into the downtown area, with one ship at Ford Cove so it will be busy in town! The pier was a bit of a madhouse, as there were so many tours all departing around the same time. But there were lots of people to direct where to go, and I soon joined my group for the 30 minute drive north of Ketchikan. Once we had signed the waivers and used the composting toilets we boarded 2 zodiacs for about a 20 min journey out to one of the smaller...

 My 4th time to Glacier Bay, but it's different each time and always beautiful. High overcast today and calm, about 15C. So good for viewing the mountains and glaciers. I got up early to go up to the Crows Nest to listen to the Park Rangers and get a coffee. Lots of people! I had a bit of yogurt and fruit before heading for deck 5 forward for a great view of John Hopkins glacier. I stayed out for quite a while, then came back in to warm up and have a bagel and lox. Lots of otters in the bay, usually floating on their backs. I chose a more sheltered deck for viewing Margerie and Grand Glacier. There were a few intrepid kayakers paddling by Margerie glacier. After a light lunch I went back to my cabin to catch up on some work as I watch the scenery glide by. A bit of a nap in the afternoon, as I've been a bit short of sleep on this trip. A bunch of us met up in the Crows Nest for pre-dinner drinks, then we headed up to Tamarind for dinner. I was excited to try this specialty rest...

  Today was our transition day from our tour to our cruise. Another early start, with bags out at 7am and departure at 8:30am. Luckily the air had cleared, so I took a bit of a walk around the waterfront and downtown of Whitehorse. There is a very nice bike/walk path along the Yukon river. It's quite a bit cooler today. It was about an hours drive to Carcross which is a lovely town between 2 lakes. Bennet and Nares lakes. This is where the Stampeders used to have to build their boats to go down the Yukon river to Dawson City. It's a nice little resorted touristy town, and I was glad we had a 45 min stop. After that we drove through the "Tormented Valley" so named because of the fierce winds and harsh climate. It's cold up here! Many of the trees were leaning to one side. We spotted a black bear by the side of the road. We finally passed over the border, first from Yukon to B.C. and then to Alaska. A long winding road into Skagway. We were sad to say goodbye to Jus...

  Today we had our longest day on the bus. It would be about a 6 hour drive straight through, but of course we had multiple stops so it was more like 9. Another early start, with bags out at 7am and start at 8am. The road is a bit rough in places and is constantly being worked on because of the permafrost. There were several sections that we were taken through with pilot cars. The scenery is lovely and constantly changing. Mostly boreal forest with lots of signs of wildfires old and newer. Hills with mountains in the distance, the Tintana trench which is a fault line, then lower rolling hills, lots of rivers, small and larger lakes and more mountains towards the end. A morning snack stop at Moose Creek, an eclectic campsite and store. We stopped for an included lunch at Minto which is owned by the Selkirk First Nation. It's a beautiful setting on the Yukon River, and we were able to eat on picnic tables under the trees. Potato and leek soup, bannock and salad amongst other choices....

 I had heard about the Midnight Dome look-out over Dawson City and the fantastic views of the town and the Klondike and Yukon Rivers. There are tours that drive up, but I was interested in hiking up if I could find someone to go with. Luckily a couple in our group were keen to go, so on our free day in Dawson City we met after breakfast while it was nice and cool. The Visitors bureau had given me a map, but it was not the easiest to follow. The start of the hike was easy, not too steep and through the forest. But as we climbed the slope kept getting steeper and the footing drier and more crumbly. It wasn't too bad climbing up as long as you took it slow, but I was thinking that going down was going to be tricky. We reached the top after 2 3/4 hours and were rewarded by an incredible view. We took lots of pictures, rested and had our snack.  My friends were saying that they didn't think they could make it down that steep section, and that we should maybe take a different route ...