Day 7

After we slept in a little late and had breakfast we prepared for our ship tour of Glacier Bay. Once inside Glacier Bay National Park, we slowly crept our way up to the Margerie Glacier. The Margerie is the type of glacier that meets the water. The ship came to this location and then drifted up close to it. The glacier of 250ft tall, a mile wide, and 21 miles long. As we got close we tried to keep that in perspective. It is hard to gauge the scale of it all. We saw a bear on the shore, a little speck in the distance. Those sort of things help your perspective. One thing that the Margerie Glacier does is calve. Large chunks of ice break off of the edge and fall into the water. This is usually accompanied by a loud cracking sound. The pieces look small and them you realize that the water that shoots up when they hit the water's surface is about 100 feet high. It would have been nice to see more of it. When drifted in the area for about 1.5 hours before we started to make way. We left the Glacier Bay area about 1600Hrs. and began our trip on the outside passage to Ketchikan. We spent the rest of our evening dining in the ship's premier restaurant and then it was time for bed.

Day 6

Another early day. At approximately 0700hrs. We are docked in sausage, Alaska. 59 Deg 27.07' N 135Deg 19.40'W We were off the ship at around 0730 to met up for our trip into the Yukon. The docks for the cruise ships had a small road that led right into the center of town. If you walked on the road you would be in sausage in about 5 minutes. The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway, a narrow gauge railroad has tracks leading up to the docks as well. The railroad true to its name travels through the White Pass and into the Yukon. It is not used for mining anymore and the passengers are tourists. The other half of our party took the tour on the railroad, half rail, half motorcoach.
I, however, boarded a small bus and arrived with a group of about 20 people. Our event for the day was to board six Jeep Wrangler hardtops and head out on the Yukon highway for a tour. Every vehicle had a two way radio, bottles of water, and a pair of binoculars on board. Our guide, Stephanie, was in the lead vehicle while our group brought up the rear. Stephanie called us the "tail gunners." We set out for the 160Mile round trip and ended up on the Yukon Highway. The scenery was again amazing and on a scale that photographs have a hard time capturing. There were mountains and lakes and spectacular views at every mile. Stephanie would narrate and explain the areas we were traveling through as we went along. Eventually we crossed over the U.S./Canadian border and entered the Yukon Territory. There we found areas such as Dead Horse Gulch. It got its name because miners that were traveling through the area had to bring literally a ton of supplies to survive the winters in the wilderness. Many of the horses used to carry supplies died because they were being overworked. At least 3000 horses perished in the area, providing it with a name. And since the elements were harsh other names, such as Tormented Valley, are used. Our trip into the Canadian Yukon brought us to Carcross, a small town of about 500 people. In addition to being very small the town also had a RCMP station there. We stopped in the town and Stephanie laid out some refreshments, cheese, crackers, Reindeer sausage, and sliced granny smith apples. After the stop for food, photo ops and exploring, it was back into the Jeeps for the next phase of the trip, off-roading. I'm not a big fan of the Jeep Wrangler, for personal reasons that I won't go into, but on an unpaved road in four wheel drive they get the job done. Our half hour or so of off roading over a rocky trail really beat the jeeps up. The company doesn't get more than two years use out of a jeep before it's done for. When we got to the top of the trail we noticed that the path appeared to keep going. We were told that just a short distance down the path was nothing. It had been wiped out by an avalanche. Both on the way up the trail and on the way down we twice had to cross over areas where the trail was washed out. Once at the bottom of the trail we got back onto paved roads for the trip back into the U.S. We got back to the start of the tour and were in Skagway by about 1400Hrs. Once back in the city we took a short walk. Judging by my limited contact with the people of Skagway I believed that they were of two minds. They knew that the tourists who come off of the cruise ships, there we three docked today, are vital to their economy, but I think they would just like to be left alone. Every time these ships dock their tiny town is invaded by as much as 6000 people. Skagway has attempted to keep itself small by not allowing any buildings larger than 3 stories. But yet again you find the t-shirt and gift shops in this small town. You know that the locals aren't buying the t-shirts. Both our parties finished up their tours at approximately 1430hrs. From then on if was back to the ship to spend the rest of the day until we left port at 2100hrs. It was a long day so we turned in early and slept in late.

Day 5

Our day had an early start. An 0530hrs. wake up call and then breakfast in our room. At 0700Hrs. we went out onto the bow of the ship for our entry into Tracy Arm. Tracy Arm is a Fjord 50Mi to the south of Juneau. It was carved by a glacier. There were icebergs in the water, sheer granite cliffs, tall pine trees, waterfalls, low hanging clouds, and wind, lots of wind. Actually the wind died down as we got further in because of the high cliffs. It was truly wilderness. No one could live there and no one would want to. It was spectacular in its scale. There was hot chocolate and raisin buns to keep us warm on deck.
After Tracy Arm we relaxed for a while and then had some lunch. At about 1400Hrs. we pulled into Juneau harbor and dropped anchor. Soon after that the lifeboats were lowered and they took us to shore. It was raining pretty steadily. The Juneau waterfront was somewhat disappointing. Like many towns who rely on tourists to help their economy there were literally dozens of t-shirt and gift shops, jewelry stores, and other touristy hokum for the masses to partake in. Its unfortunate that that has to creep in to the local flavor. While downtown we walked around and saw the statue of Patsy Ann, the famous dog, look it up, it takes too long to explain, the state Capitol, St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, it's tiny inside, and browsed a few of the shops. We then took lunch at The Hanger, which was near the floatplane dock in the harbor.
After that it was time for the event I had been waiting for. The Northstar Helitrek to the Mendenhall Glacier. We were picked up from downtown and driven to the airport. Once we got there, it was inside to gear up. A bag to place your shoes and anything you weren't bringing with you into. Then waterproof pants, a waterproof jacket with hood, gloves, and hard shell climbing boots. After the safety briefing, we boarded the helicopter and strapped in. Our pilot, Chad, took time to explain a few things before we left the ground. Once in the air we were set up to follow another helicopter to the landing site. What a ride? We spent about 30 breathtaking minutes circle the glacier at low altitude. The pilot pointed out areas of interest and answered questions. At times we flew so low that I was unsure how we were going to fly out of the valley we went into. The glacier, the clouds and the scenery cannot be described in words. We also saw mountain goats on our way to the landing site. Mendenhall glacier is big enough to fit the entire state of Rhode Island in its area and still have room left over. Once we landed the pilot powered down and we exited onto the ice. The best way to describe the surface of the glacier is like a very course snowcone with sections of very vivid blue ice. There was running water and many crevaces on the surface. We went over to the orange tent at the landing site and met our guides for the glacier walk. Dawn and Rachel fitted crampons over out boots. Crampons fit on like skates and have very sharp spikes so you can walk on the ice. They called it our "four wheel drive." We were also given a trekking pole, which looks like a ski pole only with a sharp point. It was a walking stick for the ice. We walked around with our guides for about and hour as they pointed out various aspects of the glacier habitat and answered questions. The ice we were standing on was approximately 1500 feet thick. They were very friendly and would take our cameras to snap pictures for us. One of the interesting facts about the Mendenhall Glacier is that it is only one of three spots in the world where you can stand on it and see the ocean and a temperate rain forest. At the start of your trip you are given a hip pack to carry you camera in. It also contains a pack of tissues, a granola bar, and a bottle of water. The glacier had streams of running water which we were told came from water that had been frozen about the time of the civil war. We dumped out our bottles and filled them with the glacier water to drink. It was good water. Our time on the glacier went all to quickly and soon it was time to head back to the helicopter. Our guides had to shoo us because we didn't want to leave. Once inside the helicopter, pilot Chad powered us up for the flight back to the airport. This time we took a more direct route and got back within a few minutes. It was all over too soon as we changed out of our gear for the trip back to downtown Juneau. After a quick trip to pickup some postcards it was onto the tender and back to the ship. We sailed out of Juneau at 2200Hrs. headed for Skagway where a 160Mi off road Jeep adventure awaits us, early in the morning.

Day 4

Our day started at 0700 with our wake up call. We were only slightly dozing anyway. We knew we had breakfast coming to the room between 0800 and 0830 so it was up and out for both of us while the little one slept in. Off to deck 3 we went and circled the ship three times for a mile walk. Then back to the cabin to have breakfast. Eggs, bacon, etc. Showers and then off to face the day. About the time breakfast had come we were travelling at NW at about 24 knots. I could feel the ship slowing and shortly after that I could see a pilot ship off the port side pulling away from us. Our speed increased as the pilots left us. I remembered that the captain's bulletin said that we would be discharging our pilots when we got closer to the open ocean. A pilot is someone who has local knowledge of the waters that a ship travels in. It is the pilot's job to assist the navigator in negotiating the waterways and making the crew away of any hazards to their navigation. Frederick's nursemaid Ruth from The Pirates of Penzance was told to apprentice him to a pilot, but upon being hard of hearing and that the fact that the two words were so alike, she apprenticed him to a pirate. Later that morning we went on a tour of the galley. At first I thought, who wants to see a n industrial kitchen? But I'm glad that I went. Since they are preparing meals for huge amounts of people it was interesting to see just how amazingly big it was. By my count 284 of the 790 crew memebers are food service staff. The galley prepares 90% of the food for 1850 Guests and 790 Crew.
Daily the galley prepares about 220 loaves of bread, 4000 dinner rolls, 800 croissants, and 800 danish.Each dinner the Poissonier, that fancy french for the fish guy, prepares about 440lbs. of fresh fish. The per week average consumption of meat and meat products is about 11830lbs.
After the galley tour it was off to the Lido deck, deck 9 for some pool time for the kids. I was able to get on the internet and make another post to this blog.
After the pool it was time for lunch in the Lido dining room. A casual buffet that has a little of everything. After lunch we broke apart into groups. I went and explored more of the ship until about 1515hrs. when it was time for Dutch High Tea. I'm not much of a tea drinker but I knew that there would be finger foods and sweets.
After tea we went back to our cabin to prepare for formal night.
So on 7/30/06 at 1650Hrs. PDT 1150Hrs. UTC 1950Hrs. EDT
we have travelled 422 NM from Vancouver.
Our current location is:53Deg 27.57 N 130Deg 42.67 Won a heading of 342.9 Deg
That's East of Queen Charlotte IslandWe are scheduled to arrive in Juneau at 1400hrs. tomorrow.
Formal night went well. Afterwards we had a group meeting about our first port, Juneau. We needed to coordinate everyone's schedule. After that we spent some time going our seperate ways. My group met up around 2100Hrs. to walk around on the deck. The sun had not set yet but it was extremely windy and it made the 60 deg. temperature feel chilly. After our walk we returned to our cabin for much needed sleep. Fortunately for us we gain a hour due to switching over to Alaska time. We are set for an early wakeup to go out onto the deck as we pass Tracy Arm. We are then due to arrive in Juneau at 1400Hrs.

Day 3

The two young ones were up early and convinced one of us to take them down to the pool. You can spend thousands of dollars on the perfect vacation and when it's done you ask the kids on the trip about there best experience. What was there greatest adventure? Going in the pool. Go figure.
When they got back from the pool we looked out our window and lo, upon the waters of the harbor, silently gliding, was....the ms Zuiderdam coming in to port to discharge the guests from its previous voyage.
After we watched the ship come in for a few minutes we gathered together, went two blocks down the street and got some breakfast. Then it was back to the room to pack and get ready to board the ship.
Boarding went very smoothly and we were soon in our cabin. We are on the port side of the ship with an outside veranda. I had always heard that ship's cabins were crowded and small. I was pleasantly surprised by its size. It is by no means large but it doesn't make you feel closed in.
We said goodbye to Vancouver at 1700Hrs. Shortly thereafter at 1730Hrs. was our dinner seating. The food was pretty fancy and probably what you would find at a good restaurant. Meals are served in 5 courses.One of the more interesting things I tried tonight was chilled blueberry soup.
After dinner we wandered the ship a bit before returning to our cabin for the night. With our beds turned down, chocolates on our pillow, and a call to room service for chocolate chip cookies and milk, we retired for the night.