Fourth Day of the Cruise

What a wonderful day we have had today.  Last night our ship went back up the Gastineau Channel and headed north along Lynn Canal to Skagway.  The Lynn Canel is a glacier carved fjord and is one of the longest in the world.  It has 21 foot tides. Skagway is protected from the Arctic weather by the 7,000 foot Coastal Mountains along the Canadian border 20 miles away and the Chilkoot mountains along the fjord.

Skagway is small village and has 800 inhabitants during the winter and about 2000 residents during the tourist season.  It was established in 1896, when it was used as the main arrival port for gold prospectors who were part of the Klondike gold rush.  During its height of popularity the town was home to 10,000 people.  The community has successfully maintained its gold rush architecture.  A lot of the buildings have been restored and the sidewalks are wooden boardwalks.

The White Pass railroad is still operating along the same route used by these prospectors and goes right to the Canadian border where you see the  RCMP outpost.  Joan and Rocky took that tour and just loved it, although the height of the trestle bridge scared Joan.  John and Ellen went on a river rafting expedition.

Wendy has been acting like a real cougar.  She has fallen madly in love with two of the shuttle bus drivers.  This morning we found a man’s coat in her room.  She claims it was mistakenly delivered by the laundry.

In the afternoon Marg and myself went on an excursion called “Mushers Camp” in the old ghost town of Dyea. This is a training camp for Alaskan Huskies that are used in the Iditarod dogsled race, held in Alaska each year.  The race course actually goes through this camp.  The Iditarod is over 1000 miles long and this team completed the course last year in 12 days.  The winner was able to do it just over 9 days.  The dogs run for 6 hours and then rest for 6 hours.  The musher and the dogs sleep in the open during the race. The musher that took our team around the course stated that the dogs actually look better and stronger at the end of the race, it is the human that can’t continue.

We traversed up the mountain in a 24 person ATV known as a Unimog.  As soon as we arrived at the camp, the dogs starting going crazy because they wanted to run and pull the sleds.  The team of 16 dogs pulled a six person golf cart at speeds up to 15 mph. After they had completed their training run, we were allowed to pet the dogs.  They were very gentle and loved having their ears scratched, but then what dog doesn’t like that.

Later we went down to the education centre where we got to hold 2 week old husky puppies.  They were so cute that I’m sure they could convince our grandson, Liam, to become a dog person.  Their puppy whimpers just melt your heart.  Unfortunately Marg wouldn’t let me take a puppy home. Many thanks to Marg’s nursing friends in St. Thomas who recommended this excursion.  It will be an experience we won’t soon forget.

The landscape around Dyea where the camp in located is spectacular.  Our guide told us that valley at the bottom of the camp is still rising at a rate of a foot a year as it recovers from the weight of the glacier 20,000 years ago.

At dinner Wendy received her lesson in Aussie lingo.  John explained the term “budgie smuggler” to her.  For an explanation, do a goggle image search.  He also told Rocky, how as young boy while leaving India on a boat for his new home in Australia, he meet the Bee Gees and taught them how to sing.  The reason they sing in such a high voice was because they copied him and he was only 3 at the time.  I think Rocky was falling for it until Ellen told him to consider the source.

After dinner we all went to the theater to see the dance and music special.  It wasn’t terrible but both John and Ellen fell asleep, Rocky dosed off and I think both Marg and myself were close to dreamland.