Friday, July 24, 2009

Glaciers, Rain, Whales & more rain! (That's Alaska)

Our excitement on entering Glacier Bay was tempered by the fact that the rain had followed us from Skagway. We were excited at the prospect of seeing our first glacier from the ship but it would have been much better had the sun been out.

Our ship got a lot closer than we thought it would and we found the best viewing was from our balcony as there was no glass to hinder the photo's. The ship floated around for about 20 minutes then did a 360 degree turn so everyone could get a look before it headed back down Glacier Bay.

We kept an eye out for wildlife on the shores but didn't see anything but we managed to see whales again before we hit the main straight.
Overnight we headed back down south and tomorrow we will dock in Ketchikan for a six hour stay.

The Margerie Glacier

The ship gets pretty close to the glacier...

Our train trip up to Whites Pass at Skagway.

This train snow plough was actually used until recent years
to clear snow off the train tracks. It had a steam engine
driving the blades which spun the snow off to the side of
the tracks. It was pushed by another steam engine.

One of the old buildings in Skagway.

kerry loves her bears!

Near the Johns Hopkins Glacier (It was very cold!)

You have to wake this horse up to get a ride...

Our ship parked in town... Where is the parking meter?


Finally, a whale saying goodbye as we left Glacier Bay.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Mr & Mrs Hanley,
    yet another exciting episode in you travels,pity about the rain but at least you got close enough to top your whisky with "cold" water.The area looks very interesting and we are looking forward to an update and more pictures on your return - We have only got 7 weeks before we are off to Europe so keep up your news and pictures..

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