Our ship, the Infinity, surrounded on all sides by scenic mountains. Helicopter and seaplane excursions are popular in Skagway.
With Helen
A long bridge which connects the dock to downtown Skagway.
A view of Infinity and the channel into Skagway.
A mountain.
The entrance to downtown.
Looking back to Infinity from downtown.
A historic train track snow plower from the White Pass Snow Fleet.
You can find Starbucks anywhere...
A view of downtown Skagway. It was basically a collection of tourist shops.
The Red Onion Saloon reminded us of the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau.
The White Pass Railway also passes through downtown.
Onboard the train, we begin winding our way up the scenic valley.
A short while later, we were pretty high in the mountains. Notice how far we were from Infinity (the ship on the right). Legend of the Seas had followed us from Juneau (the ship on the left).
Some raging falls on the creek.
The train makes its way around a bend.
The "U" shape of the glaciar valley is very apparent here.
The hill is step enough to merit three diesel locomotives to pull us up.
The peaks of these mountains are still enshrouded in cloud.
Looking across a pass, we can see another train making its way across the face of the mountain. Shortly, we'll be on those same tracks. A rickety trestle is barely visible on the left of the photo.
More misty mountains.
Apparently there were some hikers on a rock moonlighting the train passengers. Helen witnessed it, but I was too busy taking pictures of the train crossing the trestle and entering the tunnel.
This is the same trestle that was visible far in the distance from a previous photo.
The Dead Horse Gulch. Many horses died here during gold rush due to bad treatment and lack of food.
We were very high up now. Infinity is very tiny.
We stopped at the very top of the trail. We were technically in Canada, so not allowed to get off the train. Although this is the highest point of the railroad, there is a large lake here that surrounds the tracks.
It was the clearest lake Helen has ever seen.
The locomotives switch tracks in order to attach to the opposite side of the train for our descent.
The snowy mountain in the center easily blends in with the clouds.
Helen finally decided to step outside of the car. She got too cold and took my hat.
The lake.
Now that the locomotives had switched sides, we would go in reverse back down the same track.
Departing the White Pass.
A full view of all the passenger cars on this train.
An unused trestle that crosses the creek.
There was also a road that allowed cars to go up the White Pass.
A big mountain with a good amount of snow at the top.
Back in town, the same mountain towers over us.
Returning to the ship.
Even at the end of tourist season, there were three cruises docked at Skagway. The middle one may be a commuter's cruise that also boards cars.