Yukon Pass

This morning is going to transport us from Alaska to the Yukon via train. What a ride we have!











Our new little travel group boards a car for the passage. We leave the precious little town of Skagway and head even further north. The views afforded from our train car are amazing and we're offered quite a bit of history from our guide.


We start to meet some of our fellow travelers today along this 6-hour journey. Celeste, of course, bonds with a couple of the most avid photographers as they jockey for positioning on the outside rail, with the attempts to produce the most advantageous records of this stunning scenery. It is a rocky drive but oh, if possible, the views reach new levels of beauty.

A stop for a lunch of stew, biscuits and homemade pie helps refuel and we stretch our legs for a bit with a little exploration of an old ghost town here in the middle of the Yukon. It's cold!!! But, the hike warms and as we load ourselves back on the train for the continuing trek, we are presented with a little Robert Service poetry....The Cremation of Sam Magee...we're in the Yukon now!




Twists and turns, mountain vistas, gorges and lakes - all in a day's climb high into Canada's Yukon - rivaling most everything we've seen so far in our cross country tour of America.


Our rail brings us to a stop in Carcross, where our Tour Guide, Matthew, dutifully awaits our arrival. The full day of visual majesty has caused us to grab a much needed ice cream at this crossroad before boarding our motor coach, our new best friend for the next week. Lisa, our driver, welcomes and perkily describes what we're to expect in our near future.




Today's drive with her will take us into Whitehorse, our stop for the next few days. After our 6-hour tour, this next couple of hours will complete our transportation needs for now!

Skagway

After a good night's rest following our very full day yesterday, we disembark the Volendam early this morning in preparation for our 10-day land tour of the Yukon and Alaska. A whole new journey lies ahead and we are very excited!


The ship has docked in Skagway early and it is this quaint little village where we will spend our first evening. We join 25 other guests for this portion of our trip which begins with a quick "city" tour. Our driver drives us through the 6-block downtown area before heading for an overview lookout spot of the "entire" area and then allows for a quick stop at the historical cemetery. A charming spot and a good sense of the region we're about to embark upon.














































The morning is cloudy and misty, but we're in a rain forest area, so quite appropriate. We take a little walking tour of the little town on our own, stopping for a quick bite at a local eatery, peek in a couple of shops, including an Outdoor Emporium where Celeste can make a much needed purchase of a cover for her camera. The clerks are more than helpful and we find the darling town just charming.



Our room won't be ready until mid-afternoon, and we're scheduled for a little excursion over in Haines before that. We continue our explore for a bit, bundling as the rain intensifies and the cool air turns fairly cold. It's July! For these Florida girls, we're pretty amazed still.


Gathering our needed rain gear, we head back to the docks to meet our guide for our afternoon adventure on 4x4 mules in the mountains - hopefully, the rain will clear. Otherwise, we're ready for a slushy journey!!