The Deaners: Alaska/Yukon trip June 23-July 5, 2023

June 23, 2023

This picture is significant because of all it took to get it!

Mike and Amanda had an issue with their cabin, and Dean wanted to go help. He got a flight to Michigan, leaving SLC on June 18, and returning June 22, in time for us to fly to Juneau on June 23. Well, the June 22 flight got cancelled! Trying to find a last minute flight, that landed in Salt Lake in time for the Alaska flight proved to be a little expensive and difficult! He left Michigan (Eastern time zone) landed in Texas (Central time zone), made it to Utah (Mountain time zone) in time to catch the flight to Seattle, (Pacific time zone), and end up in Alaska(Alaskan time zone). All in one very long day! He also got to see all three kids, Amanda dropped him off at the Detroit airport. He brought a saw blade to Braden and handed it off curbside at the SLC airport (....how he got it through security I'll never know! Also, he didn't have time to leave the airport before our flight to Alaska, that's how close he cut it!) Caitlyn picked us up at the Juneau airport.

Caitlyn and James' view from their house is amazing! This is looking over the Gastineau Channel into downtown Juneau.

One of my favorite things to do in Juneau is the hike to Nugget Falls. I do it every time I go there. We had the place to ourselves.

June 24

We didn't see any bears, but we did see this porcupine!

Caitlyn and James planned an amazing road trip for all 4 of us to Skagway, Whitehorse, and Dawson City in the Yukon, Canada. There is no darkness there now, so we got use these eye masks so hopefully we will get some sleep on this trip!

Let the adventure begin!

June 25

I took this picture is at 4:40 a.m. to show how light it is in Juneau. And no, I am not a morning person!

We had to get up this early to catch the ferry to Skagway.

Get comfortable, it's about a 5 hour ferry ride.

Dean takes his coloring seriously!

Welcome to Skagway, Alaska

Dyea, Alaska

Looking over the city of Skagway

From Skagway, we drove to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

June 26

We stopped and hiked Miles Canyon on our way into Whitehorse.

We stayed at an AirB&B that had an amazing view of the Yukon River.

(Yes, we all dressed in orange accidentally)

June 27, 2023

We got to canoe down the Yukon River! This is another section of the goldminers route. Several years ago Caitlyn and I, and some of her friends hiked the trail from Skagway to Lake Bennett. James also has done the hike, so it was fun to continue on the route. Also, it was beautiful!

These guys were hanging out in the lot next to where we rented canoes.

Next stop

Dawson City, Yukon, Canada

June 28

We stayed at the Bunk House in Dawson City. I felt like we stepped back in time about 100 years. Our rooms all had outside entrances to a common deck, and all of us on the same floor shared the bathrooms.

Because of Permafrost, many of the buildings in Dawson City are sinking where heat from the building has warmed the permafrost. This is called the "kissing buildings".

This old church has a similar problem. I cant believe its still standing!

Wandering around town, we found this beauty!

There is a tradition in Dawson City. It's called the "sourtoe".Its and actual human toe that has been preserved and used to garnish your drink of choice. You have to kiss the toe, which means you have to let the toe touch your lips. If you do, you get an official certificate.

Yep, that is a human toe right there!

...and there is the official kiss!

We went to the show at Diamond Tooth Gerties.

We drove up to the Midnight Dome, which is a lookout over all of Dawson. Amazing views all around! Off in the distance is Bonanza Creek, where the gold was found. We will visit that tomorrow.

Dean and I set our alarms for 2:30 a.m.. This is the darkest part of the night, yeah, still not dark!

June 29

We rode the George Black Ferry across the Yukon River.

Hiked to Paddlewheel Graveyard. On the way out, we were getting eaten alive by bugs, so Dean asked a random camper if we could use his bug spray! We all sprayed up, and went on our way.

We checked out the Robert Service (famous poet) cabin, and the Jack London Museum.

Bonanza Creek, where the gold rush started.

Enjoying Dawson City!

June 30,

back to Whitehorse

Five fingers Rapids

Happy Canada Day!

July 1

So fun to be in Canada on Canada Day!

(back in Whitehorse)

Waiting in the rain for the parade to start.

James

Dean

On the road again....

when we to to Carcross, the train was there, so Dean and I jumped on the train and rode it to Skagway.

This is the end of the Chilkoot trail! It was a 5 day backpacking trip I took with Caitlyn and her friends 5 years earlier.

Back to Skagway

Hiked to Reid Falls

then out to Yakutania point

Short stopover in Skagway, now on a ferry back to Juneau.

We got back to Juneau late in the evening of July 2.

July 3

Caitlyn and James surprised us with a helicopter excursion!

It was amazing! We flew over the Herbert Glacier, and landed on the Mendenhall Glacier.

The helicopter company puts your name on your bag, and at the end of the flight, you are invited to add your name to the tape ball.

The evening of July 3 is a big deal in Juneau. They do their celebrations the night of the 3rd, because they have to wait for it to get dark enough, and that is after midnight. They don't want everyone to stay up late, and then have to go to work the next morning. Such a great idea!

There is a traditional bonfire on Douglas Island. This year, it was a llama made out of wooden pallets.

The heat off of this was amazing!

For reference, this photo of Dean and I was taken at 10:30 at night.

Mount Juneau and Mount Roberts are dark so the fire and fireworks look cool against the mountain backdrop, even though the sky is still light.

Next up are the fireworks put on by the City of Juneau

The City and Borough of Juneau have the fireworks set up on barge out in the Gastineau Channel. Both sides of the channel have a great view of the fireworks. Lots of people out on beaches, balconies, and boats enjoy the show! These pictures I took are from Caitlyn and James' front porch.

There was an explosion on the barge! The fireworks stopped, and we waited on word as to if anyone was hurt.

(photo from Mariah Adventures video)

Shortly after James and Caitlyn go word from friends that nobody on the barge was injured, they finished the fireworks display!

The celebrations continue the next day....

4th of July

We went over the bridge to Juneau to watch the parade. There were so many people there, and this is before ships came in. These are locals! You could tell James and Caitlyn were really proud of their community, it almost brought Caitlyn to tears....but she is pregnant, so lots of things bring her to tears!

After this parade, the participants all head over to Douglas Island, and are in that parade a couple hours later! It felt like all the people from the parade route in Juneau also made their way over to Douglas Island! (Including us! Caitlyn lives on Douglas Island, so we were withing walking distance to both the Juneau celebrations and the Douglas Island celebrations!)

Such a fun atmosphere!

Walking back to Caitlyn house. It's the blue one Dean is pointing at.

You may not be able to tell, but Caitlyn and James are on the bridge, right by the whale's nose. I insisted on walking to the whale statue on our way home.

Douglas Island

Maybe one of our favorite events was the box car race!