Chasing Waterfalls – Day 9

This was our second port day of the cruise and the destination that day was Skagway. We have been to this port on every visit to Alaska with one exception where the port was changed on short noticed. I had booked an excursion on relatively short notice, but that was not until later in the day. Graham had no plans that day. We got up at 07:00, got ready and headed for breakfast. We were already docked at that stage.

 

Breakfast was at the buffet again. It was relatively quiet that morning. I think a lot of people had either got early excursions or decided to head of exploring as soon as they could. We had no issues getting a table. Graham had fruit, yoghurt, pastries, and oatmeal. I had congee with beef and egg plus some link sausages and breakfast potatoes.

We encountered something very unusual that day. We were the only ship in port. On every previous visit to Skagway, every usable berth had been taken. We were docked at the new Ore Dock, which is the new floating dock that caused all the issues last year as the first floating dock snapped in half in transit. It was definitely in fine working order this year. As we walked back towards the cabin, Graham spotted a whale. The whale made good use of the fact that the port was basically empty. It came really close to the ship as well. Once people realised that we had spotted something, they started to come over including some spa staff that had set up in the Lido to try to drum up some business. One of spa staff was so excited.

Once the whale decided to go exploring elsewhere, we decided it was time for some coffee. We headed up to the Crow’s Nest. Graham got an Americano, and I got a caramel latte. Once we had finished our coffee, we briefly headed back to our cabin to get our coats, and I got what I needed for the day. Then we headed out. We still had a couple of hours until I needed to check in for my excursion, which gave us enough time for a wander and a visit to a nearby park that we like to visit when we come to Skagway.

They had an eagle character out that day and I stopped for a photo. Then we headed out. It was a glorious morning with bright blue skies. This made the scenery even more stunning. I took a lot of photos. We got to the end of the dock when something caught our eye. There was a shadow darting underneath the dock and back again. Initially we thought it may be a seal or a sea lion, but it turned out to be a river otter. This was such a treat to see. I did not expect to see a river otter at the port, but apparently, they are quite common.

 

Eventually we did make it to the park. Normally this is a birdwatcher’s paradise, but there was a distinct absence of birds this time round. We sat down on a bench near the pond that is in this park to see if something would turn up. We were just about to give up when a dipper appeared. This was a sighting that Graham was hoping for, and it was a first for me. It was definitely worth sticking around for a bit. We quickly stopped at are supposed to be the nicest public bathrooms in Skagway and then we slowly headed back to the dock.

 

When it was time to check in for the tour, Graham came with me. We were met by a representative from Holland America and our tour guide, Roxanne Quartz, who was dressed in a period costume from the 1890s. Roxanne ticked my name off her list, gave me a wristband, and then directed me to a covered porch to wait. Quite a few people were already waiting. It did not take long for Roxanne to come and get us as our bus had arrived.

Our destination was Dredge Town, which is only a short drive out of Skagway. During the drive through Skagway, Roxanne pointed out various buildings and regaled us with stories from the gold rush period that involved those buildings. In 2022, we had visited the gold rush cemetery and Dredge Town is not far from this. Graham was under the impression that Dredge Town was a historical place. There may well have been a historical place by this name, but the place that we visited had nothing historical about it. It was the centre of an attraction called Alaska 360. All the activities revolve around a town, but the town is what I rather tongue in cheek refer to at Disneyland-authentic. It kind of reminded me of a set of a low budget Western. 

 

Our first stop was the Gold Rush Training Camp where we were taught how to pan for gold by one of the “residents” of Dredge Town. This was both entertaining and informative. Then it was time to put our newfound skills to the test. We were taken to a covered area with warm-water troughs. We were given a pan with dirt each and a receptacle that looked incredibly like an old-fashioned film canister. There were plenty of residents of Dredge Town around to provide guidance and a helping hand when needed. Once we had discovered our riches, we were encouraged to head for the Assayers’ Office to have our gold weighed. This was initially a very slow process as there was only one person doing this, but Roxanne came to help out. They sold a range of trinkets to put the gold it. I went for a silver locket on a chain, which was not very expensive. They also had various Christmas ornaments that included something to display the gold. 

We had some free time while everybody got their gold weighed. There was not a great deal to do. They had a gift shop and a snack bar in the same building as the Assayers’ Office. I browsed in the shop for a bit and then I found somewhere to sit. I have since found that they make their own craft sodas at Alaska 360. If I had known this at the time, I would definitely have sampled one.

Once everybody had their haul weighed, Roxanne asked us to follow her. Our next destination was why I had booked this excursion. Apart from Dredge Town, Alaska 360 is home to Gold Rush Dog Tours. This is run by Peter and Therese Bartlett. Peter has competed in the Iditarod race multiple times and Therese worked for the first female winner of the Iditarod when she first came to Alaska. Therese was our host that day. We started with a presentation about everything to do with the Iditarod ranging from the equipment including two different types of sleigh, the route and Therese also addressed some common misconceptions that people have about the sport. We also got to meet a dog that had competed in the Iditarod multiple times, but had now retired. After this, we headed for the kennels. We were introduced to some of the active sled dogs. We were standing behind a wooden barrier and the dogs jumped up behind it to be petted. Therese introduced each of the dogs and explained what position they had in the team. After a while, they were hooked up to the training sled. It was amazing to see how excited the dogs got. There was a huge field behind the kennels, and it is amazing how quickly the dogs got around the perimeter of this.

After this, it was time to meet the puppies. The puppies were about 5 weeks old at the time, and I had the chance to meet two of them. They were absolutely precious. It was amazing to see how big their paws are. Half of the puppy seemed to be paws. Unfortunately, all too soon, it was time to say goodbye to the puppies.

Roxanne collected us and took us to a building where they had a list of the ton of goods that was required to head to the gold fields of the Yukon. She also showed us some photos of the two main routes into the Yukon. One was longer, but was suitable for pack animals and the second one was shorter, but very steep.

The last part of the excursion was the dredge tour. We learned about the history of gold mining from the gold rush all the way to the modern day. We also got to see an authentic gold dredge used for placer gold mining in the Yukon. This particular dredge was still in use until the late 1950s. After this, it was time to return to the coach.

 

Is Alaska 360 a bit of a tourist trap? Absolutely! However, as someone with a longstanding passion for history, I found it very interesting, and I definitely felt like I learned something. I am not sure why the people behind Alaska 360 thought it was a good fit to shoehorn a sled dog kennel and a presentation about the Iditarod race into what is essentially an attraction bringing the gold rush to life. Both thematically and in terms of timeline, they have nothing in common. I did however enjoy the experience and again, I felt that I had learned a lot. 

On the way back to the port, Roxanne broke character. Roxanne is really Grace. However, like her character, Grace does indeed come from Colorado. She definitely brought the whole experience alive for us. We had the option to get off at a stop in town and two thirds of the people on the excursion did just this. I decided to head back to the port.

 Once I was back on the ship, I quickly headed back to the cabin and then I went to the buffet to get some lunch. I had some pasta in a cream sauce and a salad with egg, chicken and ranch dressing. On the way out, I stopped for some soft serve ice cream, which was again raspberry that day.

 

I bumped into Graham as I was leaving the buffet. We headed down to Billboard on Board together for team trivia. I decided to try their own sparkling wine. This was a mistake. I do not have high expectations for sparkling wine on cruise ships. On one of our longer cruises, the activities manager kept making jokes about the house sparkling wine that Royal Caribbean serves and called it Chateau de Gangway. It is nothing special and will not win any prices, but it is entirely drinkable. The sparkling wine that Holland America serves was however to abrasive for my liking. Graham had played it safe and had some Sauvignon Blanc. I followed the sparkling wine with a Lemon Drop Martini, which was gorgeous. The team trivia that day was quite difficulty. We scored only 10 out of 19, but as the winning score was 12, I did not feel too bad about this.

After team trivia, we took a lap around the promenade deck. Then we decided to check out the sun deck at the top of the ship. By then, it was quite blustery, and we did not stay long. Instead, we relaxed for a bit on the upper deck of the lido before we headed back to the cabin to get showered and changed.

We went back to the buffet for dinner. Graham had some fish and chips. I had chicken tenders and chips followed by some kind of stir fry with rice. After dinner we went back to the Panorama Bar. Graham had a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, and I had a couple of melon margaritas. 

We decided to get a reasonably early night as the next day was the highlight of the cruise and the reason why we had picked this particular cruise. We got ready for bed. I read a few pages, but soon my eyes grew heavy, and I fell asleep.