Wayne Wendel's Photography : Alaska Princess Cruise 2006 Vancouver to Fairbanks- powered by SmugMug

Wayne Wendel's Photography

Alaska Princess Cruise 2006 Vancouver to Fairbanks Galleries

Ketchikan : Ketchikan was our first port of call and one of the most productive as far as my photography is concerned. As the ship was docking we were continually buzzed by bald eagles. I was able to photograph several of these mighty birds.

In Ketchikan we toured a portion of the Tongass National Forest which is a "rain forest". Ketchikan is famous for three things; totem poles, salmon, which are caught in great numbers by sport and commercial fisherman and rain and plenty of it. Ketchikan gets over 150 inches of rain every year. Yes, it did rain on us part of the day that we were there.

Alaska Land Tour

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad Trip : The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad was born in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. It was built as a rail route from Skagway, AK into the Yukon gold fields. Gold was discovered in 1896 in the Klondike and at the time the known route to the gold fields was through the Chilkook Pass. This was a rough and dangerous route the miners had to travel. Because of these dangers a railroad was started by some London investors. The railroad was started in 1898 and the first four miles were in use two months after construction began. Because of the steep grades and sharp turns the rails were laid three feet across and is designated a narrow gage railroad.

The journey begins at Skagway where the train is parked waiting for passengers from the cruise ship to board. The best seat on the train is in the rear coach. You can get on the rear platform and watch the engine and train meander through the mountains and tunnel. The journey is twenty-one miles from Skagway to the White Pass and the train climbs from sea level to 2865 feet. It takes about four hours. At the summit the train stops and the engines trade position the rear for the trip back down to Skagway.

The gallery is a photo journey of the trip.

If you take one of these Alaskan cruises, don't leave Skagway without taking a ride on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. This was one of the highlights of our trip.

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad Trip

Juneau : Juneau, AK was our second port of call. We toured a rain forest garden and went on a whale watching tour on a large catamaran. The whale watch was exceptional and we not only saw and photographed several pods of Humpback Whales but we also found a pod of Orca's, Killer Whales. It was raining in Juneau part of the time also but you just learn to shrug it off.

Island Princess Alaskan Cruise : Departing Vancouver, BC and sailing northward, my wife and I joined others on the Island Princess of Pricess Cruise Lines for a trip up the Inside Passage of Alaska, destination, Whittier, AK.

Island Princess Alaskan Cruise

Vancouver, BC : My wife, MA, and I traveled to Alaska in June of 2006 on a Princess cruise from Vancouver, Canada followed by a land tour from Valdez, AK to Fairbanks visiting three Princess lodges. The gallery follows our ports of call and land trip over Alaska with photo highlights of the trip.

Skagway : Skagway was our third port of call and the most interesting. We took the railroad trip from Skagway up the Chilkook Trail to White Pass and the jumping off place for the Yukon. We saw more scenery on this trip than any other. The railroad is known as the "Gold Rush Train". It was built in 1899 to transport the miners up the mountain and into the Yukon.

Our other trip was a hike up the Chilkook trail for two miles and a float trip down the Skagway River. On this trip we met Bob Fink, our guide. He was very knowledgable about the land, history and animals and fit our image of an "Alaskan guide", beard and all.

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