A polar bear in Skagway? Not!

Trip Start May 09, 2008
1
9
Trip End May 27, 2008


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Flag of United States  , Alaska
Friday, May 16, 2008

So Bernie & I went for breakfast early to avoid the crowd at the Horizon Court; like 6am and actually we did avoid it for the most part. I also saw 2 women that had the same pink jacket that I bought in Juneau. We went off the ship and into the rain; this was becoming too usual by now, and did the White Pass Summit Excursion a 3 hour, 40 mile round trip that took us to the Canadian border. White Pass is a mountain pass that goes through the Coast Mountains and was used by prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush in1897. The railroad was built in1898. The higher we went, the more scenic it got; from green leaves to snow covering everything! An Australian lady standing up the entire time looking out the window exclaimed "There's a Polar bear, I saw a Polar Bear!" and a young Frenchman said he agreed with her! WHAT! I beg to differ; we're north but we're not THAT much north! I know about global warming & such but this is just a bit crazy! No one else saw the supposed polar bear (including us)
memorial rocks to ship captains
memorial rocks to ship captains
. Then, on the way down, she saw a brown bear which no one else saw. Wishful thinking I guess. Heck I wanted to see bears too, but I'm not going to lie about it! We did not get off the train, just stopped at the top and switched sides with the people across from us, (for a change of scenery) and flipped the seats! How cool was that! This area had about a foot of snow and flags to show it was a border crossing and we were at 2,865 foot elevation. Back down we went and the scenery went from snow to green again. This time that same lady saw a brown bear, which again no one else saw! It started raining again when we got back into Skagway, so we didn't get off in town & went back to the ship instead.

I had to try the pizza so I got the special of the day, that included tuna, bell peppers & onions and was delicious! AT 2pm, we had a Glacier Discovery by Helicopter tour, to which I was very excited about. After getting transferred to the helicopter pad, we were not allowed to take any bags on the flight itself and even cameras had to come out of their cases. I could see why after putting on the required life jacket and getting into the copter. It was a very tight fit! We also had to don "glacier boots" since we were to land and walk around a glacier for 40 minutes. We were divided into groups of 6 and Bernie & I (numbers 3 & 4) got to sit in front with the pilot! Up in the air, we saw our cruise ship below and then more fog and rain. Soon we saw the lead helicopter coming back our way, which meant he couldn't land! Then our pilot informed us we would be going back to the pad because of the decreased visibility. I was surprised we even took off because of it. We were in the air for a total of 20 minutes and because of this we were NOT charged for any portion of the flight! After hearing a woman complaining, "I'm not paying $300 for 20 minutes" the man said we would be getting a FULL refund! I couldn't believe it! We went back a little disappointed but glad we would be refunded and actually got a free helicopter ride! I suppose a little of "the best of both worlds?"

We got to go to tea time at 4pm and attended a talk called "North to Alaska". Dinner was good with me getting crab cakes for an appetizer, caribou soup and an entree of grilled halibut in lemon sauce with broccoli and rice. The blackberry sorbet desert was also tasty.
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