11th of August 2025 - White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad

Today I took a trip on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad from sea level in Skagway to the 2,865-foot summit of White Pass.

The White Pass and Yukon Route Rail is an historic narrow gauge railway built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush to connect Skagway with the Yukon interior.

Although the day was misty it was at least dry so I was able to take pictures from the platforms at each end of the garage.

During the journey I briefly crossed back into British Columbia past a border point between Canada and the U.S.

10th of August 2025 - Juneau

Today the ship docked in Juneau which is the only U.S. state capital not accessible by road; visitors arrive by plane or ferry.  Again, Juneau is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest.  We were taken by tender to the pier where the coastguard was in town preparing for a presidential visit.  And yes, it was still raining.

Our first visit of the day was to the Glacier Gardens which are a short drive outside Juneau.  One of the significant features of the Glacier Gardens are the flower towers which are upside down trees made into floral sculptures.

 

We were taken on a guided tour round the Glacier Gardens by golf cart up to a cliffside viewpoint where we could only just see Juneau through the mist.

 

The next stop was to see a view of the Mendenhall Glacier.  This thirteen mile long glacier flows from the Juneau Icefield and terminates at Mendenhall Lake.  I had hoped to go dogsledding on the Mendenhall Glacier but this trip was cancelled due to the bad weather.  At least the mist cleared enough for us to catch a glimpse of the glacier.

On our way back to the ship we saw, through the mist. a number of bald eagles perched on lampposts but did not get the chance to take a photo of them.

9th of August - Ketchikan

Our first port of call on our cruise was Ketchikan which is the oldest continuously incorporated city in Alaska and has a strong fishing heritage; it is known for a large number of salmon runs.  Ketchikan has a rich indigenous heritage and is surrounded by the Tongass National Forest.   The Tongass National Forest is the largest national forest in the U.S. and the largest temperate rainforest in the world.

Our first visit of the day was to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary at Herring Cove where we had a ninety minute guided walk through the Tongass National Forest.  At this point I must explain that the heavens had opened and the rain was absolutely bucketing it down.  Despite the rain we enjoyed our walk through the forest of Sitka spruce, hemlock and cedar with moss draped branches however the rain did have a detrimental impact on the quality of my photos.

 

The Tongass National Forest is home to black bears, brown bears, bald eagles and wolves none of which were anywhere to be seen.  We did however see markings made by a bear on a tree and some bear poo.

 

Once we left the forest we walked along the Herring Cove estuary boardwalk offering views of tidal flats and wetlands.  I did see a few salmon at the salmon run but didn’t manage to get a photo of them.

 

At last we had a chance to escape from the rain to visit the Herring Bay Lumber Company where we watched a master totem carver at work.

When we returned to Ketchikan we visited Creek Street, an historic boardwalk built over Ketchikan Creek.  This was once a red light district however is now home to many galleries and shops.

8th of August 2025 - Cruising the British Columbia Inside Passage

Today was an "at sea" day cruising up the British Columbia Inside Passage towards Alaska.  The visibility wasn't great so there was no chance for taking pictures of the scenery.  Instead we spent a lazy day on board learning about the upcoming excursions on the cruise and enjoying the facilities which the Silver Moon has to offer.

In the evening we went to the grill restaurant by the pool where we cooked our own dinner on hot lava rocks.  We started by both cooking our steaks.  I went for surf and turf by adding a couple of prawns.  We then for the protein overkill by sharing some lamb chops.

We skipped dessert and went to the panorama lounge for a couple of cocktails instead.

7th of August 2025 - Embarkation day

We started the day by wandering back down to the waterfront for coffee and a rather yummy pastry.

At lunchtime we took a taxi to Canada Place where we boarded our ship the Silver Moon.  We were welcomed with a glass of champagne while we waited for our room to become available.

The ship set sail out of Vancouver in the late afternoon.

6th of August 2025 - Vancouver

Who was to know that there were two harbourside Pinnacle hotels in Vancouver, one Pinnacle hotel is near the cruise terminal and the other Pinnacle hotel is near Vancouver port.  Our first taxi took us to the Pinnacle hotel near the cruise terminal where we were told that we were staying at the other Pinnacle hotel.  A second taxi took us there, i.e. to the Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier.  Thankfully this was serendipity as we were able to have a cocktail in our hotel before wandering down to the harbourfront where we had a delicious waterside meal.

 

We had a view of the Vancouver skyline from our restaurant.  This is where we will board our cruise ship tomorrow.

 

There was a large yacht moored close to our restaurant; I can dream. 

5th of August 2025 – Heading off to Alaska

I have been staying with my friends in Ottawa for five days enjoying their hospitality.  Ruth and I are flying to Vancouver tomorrow where we will board a cruise ship on Thursday and head off for Alaska.