Skagway and Glacier Bay National Park

"The Golden Staircase" - Chilkoot Trail

Following Juneau we headed to Skagway, Alaska.  Skagway is THE picturesque Alaskan town, with the water on one side and the White Mountains on the other.  Interestingly enough Skagway is actually on the road system.  Not even our capital can boast that!  For all intensive purposes, Skagway exists today because the Klondike Gold Rush existed.  Although inhabited by the Tlingit people prior to the Gold Rush, few natives still live in the area.  Skagway sort of served as the base camp for gold rushers going to the Yukon.  Two trails worked their way through the White Mountains into Canada, the White Pass and the Chilkoot.  The White Pass became known as Dead Horse Trail as more than 3,000 horses lost their lives to the heavy loads, inexperienced travelers and rough terrain.  Today the Chilkoot trail is still actively hiked by backpackers and has definitely been added to Mark and I's bucket list!    
Skagway was the only port 
that our whole group took the same excursion.  We started out on a tour bus and drove into the mountains.  Our guide filled our heads with all kinds of facts about the gold rush and the two trails.  We made several picture stops along the way before arriving in Carcross, Yukon.  Carcross was by far the highlight of the excursion for the kids.  There was a little petting zoo and both Luke and Gianna thought the goats and puppies were there just for them.  As for me, Carcross was some of the most beautiful scenery.  The mouth of the Yukon river, the same Yukon river that runs near Bethel, begins in Carcross between two gorgeous mountains.  

The next part of our excursion was the return to Skagway trip on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad.  Although we were essentially returning the same way we came up, we were away from the road enough that we got a whole new perspective of the White Mountains.

Mouth of the Yukon River

Once back in Skagway, Mark and I enjoyed a beer at the Skagway brewing company, did a bit of shopping then returned to the ship for dinner. 
The following day was spent on the cruise ship touring Glacier Bay National Park.  Praise God the weather was beautiful!  The ship moved slowly through the park and sat for a while in front of each of the glaciers.  Park rangers boarded the ship early and were there for most of the day to answer peoples questions.  Margerie Glacier was my favorite.  Not only was it beautiful, but we got to see several small ice calves.  
At the end of our time in Glacier Bay National Park we saw more sea life than on any other part of our trip.  We saw otters, sea lions and lots and lots of whales!  We saw whales eating and even saw 2 whales breach!!  They were pretty far in the distance, but close enough to see with the naked eye that a giant animal just jumped clear out of the water.   
I loved the time we spent in Glacier Bay, but it was frustrating at the same time.  For some reason Luke and Gianna just weren't very interested in glaciers...