Skagway

day 4

Hands down, by far...my favorite stop! We didn't see the city, but we went on the most amazing excursion. Here are boat is docked and we begin our day - 7:30am.

We board a train and head up the mountain 14 miles. The train is skinnier than most, so it can handle the mountains curves. They said they built this railway in 2 years, 2 months and 2 days. Incredible! Especially in thinking they did not have the tools we do today.

Can you see the bridge (left of center)? They don't use this part of the tracks anymore (thankfully!) but it amazed me that they built it so quickly. You can tell it wraps all the way around this mountain! We only went maybe 1/2 way up (or less). I think they said it goes all the way into Canada.

On our ride we packed lunches and got ready for our adventure!

Shane and I spent most of our time on the little balcony on the train.

We're now gearing up to start our 10 mile hike through the forest and onto (and in) the glacier.

These lillies are the smallest and also the most deadly. If you ingest any of it (or use it for TP if you're camping) you will have neurological failure and die!! We quickly learned how important it is to not only be knowledgeable about wildlife encounters, but also to be resourceful on the plant life!

I was impressed with how nicely the trail was maintained. One of our 3 guides told us he weed whacked the day before so it would be well groomed for our adventure. As we were going through I realized he did it using a yard tool. No high powered, gas engined allowed. No wonder it took him all day and he was sore!

We hiked beside this amazing river most of our day. The sound of it alone was relaxing. It is gorgeous.Crazy wild mushroom
This is the world's smallest orchid. Only living in this forest.
We took a rest here and broke off into 3 groups (fast, meduim and slow) with the three guides. We chose the fast group and covered the most ground. The glacier you see in the back, we hiked towards it and had lunch about a 1 1/2 miles away from the base. When the granite remains (after the glacier goes over) it leaves the rock and ground completely barren. In order to grow plant life again, the lichens first form on the rocks (shown here) and from these very small organisms, things come to fruition. Amazing...simply mind blowing when you're standing in the midst of this vast wilderness (and forest) imagining the evolution of the trees and flowers. Amazing...and in these moments I wonder how anyone can deny there is a God?If you look behind Shane you'll see where this glacier carved...where the rock ends and plant life is lush on the mountainside. That is how 'new' this area is. Isn't that hard to wrap your head around? That there are still places on earth this fresh? and life slowly creeps in...

The ice 'opening' you see in the middle is where we are headed. A moulon.

See if you can spot the 'middle' group behind us. Look at the river (where it first becomes visible in the rocks) and then to the left. Small colorful specs. Its crazy how HUGE this place is...pictures serve no justice.We are hiking across this arched rock ridge to get to the moulon. You have to be careful of falling rocks...all the time the glacier is shifting. It was hard hiking...rock top to rock top. My ankles, knees and calves were burning by the train ride back.

So here we are getting ready to hike inside the moulon. It was FREEZING. I know you're thinking...duh! But seriously, I have never touched anything so cold in my life. Take an icecube and make it 20 times colder. The air was pure, crisp and refreshing. We filled up our water bottles with the glacier water...wish we could bottle it. I've never tasted water so pure and clean.

We had to put little 'chains' on our shoes to hike this. They were rubber 'booties' that slipped over your shoes to give you an extra grip. Shane inside

check out how blue the walls are...I cannot begin to think of the years of history in hereour group filing in and outLooking back from the moulon. Can you see the other group? They're just left of center.
Another moulon. Our guide was throwing rocks in them to see how far down they would echo. He had rescue gear but there were a few he said were too deep. In fact, I believe he used the words..."there wouldn't even be a body recovery."
Here is our guide...packing 80#'s in his pack. Our rain gear, hats, gloves, pants, burner for hot drinks with lunch, rescue gear...you name it, he had it. I was totally beat by the end of the day, don't know how he managed to make it with this monster pack.
Another moulon. This photo has a funny story. Notice I'm taking the photo from the bottom of it (bottom of the hill). The guide specifically told us not to go to the top b/c you run the risk of falling in. She is crazy!!!
lunch viewHere is a fellow hiker peeking in the super deep moulon. We all took turns on the boulder, but I couldn't get a pic while climbing...so this is the best I have!
Little streams cut through the glacier and formed these winding rifts.
Time to head back. Can you spot the waterfall on the mountainside? Top right part of the photo.

Here is the beginning of what he called an 'ant hill'. If you look at some of the photos you'll see huge lumps of dirt scattered in areas that look like ant hills. This little thing will grow that large. Hard to imagine...and how long would that take???

the sun peeked out on the top of the moutain...gorgeous!

I was wishing it were on us! I was freezing!!!

More of the river on our hike back. We were making good time, so we decided to rest a minute on the rocks.

On our way back to the ship.

Our boat was departing at 4:30 (or was supposed to). We were running a little late...thankfully we booked the excursion through the ship, so they waited for us. We didn't get to walk the town at all, but honestly...I think we got the best of Skagway.
till next time...