Zipping and Sipping

Thursday June 12, 2025  Skagway

Day 4 at sea

Skagway is the northernmost point of the inside passage.  We arrived in port about 7 am. and two ships were already moored at the dock.

The morning was chilly--there wasn't much sun greeting us today.  Rather, there were quite a few clouds hanging over the mountains. But the scenery is amazing, everywhere you look.

This is the first stop where we can get off the ship. 

We took a bus inland to the Tongass forest, a temperate rain forest.  A temperate rainforest differs from a tropical rain forest in that it has four seasons.   The forest was filled with tall trees—mainly Hemlock and Sitka Spruce (the state tree of Alaska).  

Although there was a light mist falling, the canopy of trees protected us from getting wet.   The ground was moss-covered and spongy as you walked over it.   

We learned the spruce is a great source of Vitamin C.  We also learned that the bright green tips of the spruce tree are used in brewing a local beer—SpruceTip ale!  You can bet we replenished our Vitamin C before leaving Skagway!

The adventure at this stop was a trip down 14 different ziplines through the rainforest and over Grizzly Falls.  After arriving at the forest, we loaded into a “monster truck” that took us up a bumpy narrow and very steep road to the base camp where we got our gear.  

The zip lines were each named…ie “Running Man” where you ran off the platform to launch, or “Grizzly Line” where you zipped over the Grizzly Falls.  

We were challenged to spin or go upside down, but some of us were not brave enough to take it on.

The views were amazing, and the thrill of ziplining in Alaska is one to remember.

 The town of Skagway is small and quaint and usually closes during the winter months when there are no tourists to support the economy.   

The most photographed building in Skagway is built out of pieces of driftwood. 

The Red Onion Saloon is a stop we remember from our visit 12 years ago!

 After our zipline adventure, we stopped at the Spruce Tip Brewery on Mainstreet for sipping Spruce Tip Ale (for a jolt of Vitamin C) and a dinner of halibut fish and chips....yummy!