Skagway and a helicopter flight to walk on a glacier

Downtown Skagway.  Population 900 (as of the 2010 census)  I'm not kidding.  However the population doubles during the summer cruise season, tourists galore require service galore.

We arrived at 7am and could get off the Celebrity Solstice by 8:00am.  Today Dan and I had a tour we reserved thru the cruise line.  Glacier Discovery by Helicopter, duration 2 hours.  We were scheduled for 9:45am.  We took our time getting off as the tour met us at the end of the pier (wasn't that long). But we had a little glitch.  Seems the upper winds made it unsafe for the helicopter to land on the glacier so they moved us back to noon.

Well we ask our tour director "what can we do for a couple hours in Skagway?"  she tells us with a grin, "take a walk it's a small town you have plenty of time."  She was right!

Look we found a hardware store..................

And look at what I found in front of a little shop.


Skagway was indeed a one horse town, one main street, a train depot (where you could take a ride) a Starbucks....yes that's right.......and a few off shoot streets complete with kids and puppies.

Our ride for the next two hours.  It was interesting the way they loaded them.   When making the reservation we had to provide our weight and we couldn't lie, there was a certain order in which we loaded and it was the exact same way we came home, same seats, same order.

In the air and on our way.....cool huh?  The pilot was really nice and kept chatting with us all the way to the glacier.  Of course most of us just sat there with our mouths open not believing the beauty we were witnessing.

My husband Dan did a great job again with the photos.  This one reminds me of the tv series "M*A*S*H"


We were the third in a series of helicopters on the way to the glacier.

Yes this is going to be our landing pad, further up of course but this shows you how diverse they can be.

Here we are all ready to explore.  It was very windy and super cold at the 'base camp' where we go on the helicopters.  But on top of the glacier it was sunny, not windy at all and I could take of my gloves every once in a while.

This is why glaciers are so dangerous to explore.  If you are not steady on your feet (they gave all of us walking sticks) or not paying attention by looking down you can step into one of these cracks and literally fall by sometimes 30 feet or more.

As beautiful as nature is she can also be so very dangerous.




Ooooh look at my glacier blue !

Sometimes the cracks can be small and sometimes they are bigger than we are.

This was cool, the rocks were setting on ice that was crystal clean and you could see the water running under neath.  Glaciers move all the time they are truly powerful.










Our guide told us that we were welcome to drink the water we found here, it is the purest cleanest water you will ever find.  So one lady in our tour bent down and took a handful....we had to chuckle when she admitted that her lips were frozen.

Unfortunately we had to leave this beautiful place but whoa...look at what we came home to.  That's our ride !  Isn't she beautiful?

Ok, so this I found to be interesting and totally cool.  For those of you who love cruising I'm sure you will agree.
When a ship sails Alaska for the first time, her crew climbs up onto the rocks in Skagway and paints the ship, registry and captain's name.  Some say the higher the rock the more loved the captain !

So yes I'm sure you are probably saying by now "that Beth has been way too quiet, not a sign of shenanigans in quite a few hours...HA!  here is my secret, I had Dan put 4 "glacier rocks" in his pocket that I picked up quietly along the way.  He teased me that he would be overweight and not allowed back on the helicopter, I told him we'd send an empty one back for him if that was the case.  I proudly display my little rock in my living room.  Right next to the rock I picked up on the top of Mt.Vesuvius in Italy.

My daughters now simply shake their head with the stuff I come home with.

Back on board there were crepe making demonstrations, hot glass shows, trivia, plenty of social hours and lots of good food to taste.  And tonite the Late Night Comedy of Sin City at Celebrity Central, Deck 4.  

 At 6:00pm we depart for a full day at Sea, then we arrive at 

Victoria B.C., Canada.................

Juneau

Coming into Juneau...Beautiful right?  As I said before there are thousands of waterfalls in Alaska, even though most of our trip consisted of rain, fog and cold the undeniable beauty of Alaska was worth it.

A little Holland America in the fog.  haha

 Fun Juneau facts:

Juneau which is larger than the state of Delaware is the capital of Alaska.

December 21st is the shortest day of the year in Juneau where the sun is up for a measly 7 hours.

There are more than 250 miles of hiking trails.

There are less than 200 miles of roads.

They encounter 220 days per year of rain.

Wet months are September and October (figures I would go then right?)

Cruise Ships bring in 900,000 passengers per year.

Eagles were everywhere (and no unfortunately for me not the Philadelphia green Eagles).

The estimate is between 15,000 and 30,000.  Compare that to the population of Juneau which is approximately 31,000.






We didn't walk the town today like we usually do in port, as our tours were Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier we arrived in Juneau  at 1:30pm our tours were at 2:45pm and lasted for 5 hours.  We had to be back on board at 9:45pm. 
Although there are so many things to do and see, from the salmon spawning streams, to a downtown historical walk, hiking and walking trails, museums, Alaska Brewing Company.  The town is tight and quaint, reminiscent of the gold rush era with pubs 'a plenty. If you wanted to skip an excursion and just putz around you certainly can.

THAR SHE BLOWS........................................................

It's what the lookout on a whaler would shout when he saw the "blow" of a humpback whale.  The whales get as large as 52' in length.  Humpback whales only feed in the summer months in arctic waters.  Then they migrate to tropical waters to mate and give birth, all the while fasting. Their gestation period is 11.5 months, and baby humpbacks nurse for up to one year.   Can you imagine the strength the mom-whales have?  Pork up in the summer swim all the way to Hawaii, give birth and feed that baby until your swim all the way to Alaska to eat.   

When they surface to get a breath they "blow" the water to make sure no water gets in their lungs, these "blows" can range from 10 to 20 feet in the air, making it very easy to spot them.

We reserved our excursion thru Shore Trips (which can be found on my website www.mycruisegirl.com under the "Travel Resources" tab then click on Shore Excursions)  First a bus met us at the dock an took us to a marina where we boarded a vessel (there were no more than 20 people on our excursion which is one reason I love Shore Trips, they have small intimate excursions)  run by Dolphin Jet Boat.  Their two naturalists Caitlin and Ali were phenomenal.  They explained in detail about humpback whales and Caitlin the boat captain was in constant contact with other boats to find whales.

Yes there were people in kayaks looking for whales.

 There's the hump......

And there's the tail.  Ali told us all to watch in different directions, and to use the clock as direction so the front of the boat was 12, back was 6, etc.  Any time someone saw a blow they would shout out the direction for the rest of us.
So this nice lady says "6 o'clock" we all run to the back....no blow.  A while later "6 o'clock".....we look again...no blow.  Finally on her third "6 o'clock" I couldn't help myself and said "in what freakin' time zone".  Everyone had a laugh, she did not find it funny.

Every time someone saw a blow the entire boat would fixate on that blow, holding their breath,  because watching the dorsal fin show and then what felt like a lifetime waiting for that elusive "tail" was a true wonder.  Eruptions of applause and oohs and aahs certainly followed.

MENDENHALL GLACIER

                                                                                                  


This famous glacier is located in the Tongass National Forest which is huge, it covers 500 miles of Southeast Alaska.  It is said that Alaska natives have inhabited this forest for the past 10,000 years.

The glacier is approximately 12 miles long. 

Our tour bus picked us up from the whale watching boat and drove us here for 45 minutes of exploration.  There is an interesting museum and so many trails.  To truly appreciate the glacier you need more time than we had.




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Nugget Falls drops 377 feet onto a sandbar in Mendenhall Lake.  Dan took this photo showing just how tiny we humans are compared to the falls.

Although our day in Juneau was wet and cold as was each other port.  I have to say that this was a great scenic cruise.  For someone living in Florida and not getting to see any mountains I certainly got the experience of getting up close and personal with them.



We missed the Cooking demonstration in the Grand Foyer, Deck 3 of the ship at 10:30am because we were too busy trying to get that "perfect shot" of Tracy Arm Fjord....which in my personal opinion hubby did a great job even though I did run him ragged from our balcony (on deck 10) to the Solstice Deck (16) and back in a very short period of time.  He didn't complain though, never does.  The Executive chef shared his expert tips on cooking the perfect steak. And by the time we got back to the Celebrity Solstice we were truly hungry.

Since it was 8pm we just decided to hit the Oceanview Cafe and check out their mexican fare.  Delicious !  Fajitas, burritos, tamales, chips and salsa in abundance. 

After dinner we went to the Molecular Bar which was one of our nightly stops. 

This was a dragonfly, very delicious and super smoky.  The Molecular Bar serves handcrafted cocktails with all fresh ingredients.  These bartenders really work hard. 

My next treat, yes we were there a while, was 'Coming up Roses' and low and behold there were actual rose petals in my drink.  Fresh and delicious containing champagne.  I had not even looked at the menu, just asked for something pretty, the Liquid Chef created perfection.  He said I looked like a 'Champs Girl'.

Dan tried the Kentucky Derby (left) our first night.

Dan tried the Mr. B. our second night, he liked that one so that's what he ordered every time.  By the 3rd night of our cruise when we would walk by the bartenders would all yell in unison "HEY there goes Mr. B !"  The entire bar would look at us and he would just wave, the staff would wave back, they knew he'd be around for his 2nd or 3rd in good time.

Funny thing while we were waiting for our luggage to come off the ship I heard a lady behind me say to her husband "look, there's that Mr. B from the ship".  I'm sure the bartenders told her it was a drink, but she said it like she though he was "Mr.B".  15 minutes of fame !

Next stop............Skagway...............

Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier

It was the morning of Day 4 - September 1, 2014.  I know it's against the 'rules' but we slept with our balcony door open every night, the sound of the ocean and the cool breeze was totally relaxing.

You are probably saying "what the heck? I thought you hated cold"....well I do, but it really wasn't cold in our room.  Every morning we would be up before the sun and look out to see how close we were to getting into port.  This morning we were pleasantly surprised to see this floating by our room.  We were headed to Sawyer Glacier that is in Tracy Arm Fjord and THIS is a calved piece off that glacier.

We jumped up, got dressed and hit the Solstice Deck (16) with hot coffee and camera in hand.

Well now we all know I am the worst at taking and uploading photos by this shot to your right don't we  hahahaha, ahhhh I can't help but laugh at myself sometimes, people look at me stupid but I do it anyway.

So this insulated coffee mug was being offered on the deck as we pulled closer to the glacier.  Beverage Packages do not include "specialty cups" like the drink of the day cup and other branded cups, but I loved it so I got it.  Not only was it filled with amazing hot coffee but the really sweet bar server added Bailey's !!! 

THANKS again Milo !

Look at what we saw !!!!!!
Truly amazing.  One thing I did before I left home (and if I have told you prior I apologize......I'm forgetful in my old age) was to ask around about digital camera's.  I had a Canon that my daughters gave me for Mother's Day a few years ago and the zoom is getting stuck.  Knowing that this was a bucket list voyage I wanted to get great shots.

I ended up with a Nikon, small enough to fit inside my purse, large enough for amazing zoom and clarity.  So check around with people before you go and ask them tons of questions, go hold, try, touch and feel cameras before you buy one to make sure!

Ok, so onto fun facts I learned from the Officer giving us narration from the Bridge.

A Fjord is a  narrow waterway surrounded by sharp cliffs, it is a "nordic" term.
The water at the end of the Fjord is about 600 feet deep, and of course everyone wants to see a piece break off and splash into the water with a thunderous sound right?  I did too, but we were able to witnessed one small calving event, it was so smooth and peaceful (remember it was amazingly quiet in here) that it made me really appreciate the power & beauty that is nature.

The ice interferes with the sonar of the whales, so it is a great place for all the mommy harbor seals to have their pups in the summer.  It is named after the Secretary of the Navy - Benjamin Franklin Tracy.  The Fjord is over 30 miles long and one/fifth of the area is covered in ice.  It is about 45 miles south of Juneau. 

Now, I think this is cool (*I borrowed the above photo from flicker.com) this shows you just how far up into the fjord our cruise ship had to go to see this amazing glacier.

 The one thing that I found a down side to was no speaker in the room.  So you couldn't hear announcements unless you were outside on deck, in a hall or in a common area. 



Love this shot  Dan got from Deck 16, we kept running back and forth from the deck to our room as the Bridge informed us that if you wanted to remain in your stateroom they were going to swing the ship around so all rooms had a view of Sawyer Glacier.



And this is a view from our stateroom just look at the color of that water !





WAIT, hold on a minute we are running back up to the deck .................

                                                        

Here you go, from the deck.............................................

The one amazing thing I found was that the color of the ice was this fantastic blue that I have never....ever....seen before.  I can not imagine it ever being reproduced.  You know they say the best things come from nature?  True to this blue.

When snow falls and doesn't melt, and then more snow falls and doesn't melt, etc. etc. etc the underlying snow forms into ice.  When the pressure from layers of snow builds up for thousands of years the air is forced out and the glacier's ice tuns blue.

Glaciers store about 75% if the world's fresh water.

Ice that calves off the glacier can be as small as your hand or as large as a 3 story building.

I wasn't teasing about that blue now was I ??

This from the top deck aft (rear) looking at from where we came.

These are chunks that fell off.

Again from our stateroom.

All bundled up with coffee in hand ready to head back up on deck.....

More ice chunks from the glacier.

I thought Dan did a great job capturing this boat that shows you just how massive the glaciers are.  The true power of nature. 











With our viewing complete we head back out towards Juneau, about 45 miles to go.....