Sunday, October 19, 2025

A Fall stay in the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park

Fall is a beautiful season in Colorado, and every year my husband and I try to take a few days away to enjoy the scenery in a different part of the state. This year, we decided to go to Estes Park and stay in the YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park,  which is located just a few miles outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.  

We stayed once before in a cabin in the YMCA of the Rockies in 2013, which was the first year we moved to Colorado--click here-- to see that blog post. We usually drive the Peak to Peak Scenic Highway to Estes Park, which is a two-hour drive from our house, but this year we first dropped our daughter off at Denver International Airport as she had to travel for a business trip. The drive from the airport was only one and a half hours, and it also turned out to be very scenic as we got close to Estes Park.



Situated about 90 miles northwest of Denver, at 7,522 feet (2292 Meters) above sea level, Estes Park sits in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The town has majestic views spanning in every direction.



The YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park is bordered on three sides by Rocky Mountain National Park and nestled within 860 acres of towering ponderosa pines and awe-inspiring mountain vistas.



 The YMCA of the Rockies is a wonderful place for families to stay, as there are many activities as well as on-site dining options.  We like its quietness in the fall and its close proximity to the national park.


The grounds are beautiful and have wonderful hiking trails, a general store, cafes, buffet dining, sports fields, a pool, horseback riding, miniature golf, archery, fishing, crafts, and so much more!


There are many different lodges and cabins on the grounds. 
 On this visit, we stayed in the Wind River Lodge, which sleeps four, as the room had two queen-size beds. Our balcony view was of the Mummy Range



After checking into the lodge, we drove back into town. We parked at the Estes Park Visitor Center, where we took a walk along the Big Thompson River, which has its headwaters in Forest Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park.



I captured this amazing zoom view of Longs Peak from a high point in Estes Park. Longs Peak is the tallest mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, standing at an impressive 14,256 feet (4345.22 m).



One of the most exciting experiences we had during our stay at the YMCA of the Rockies was seeing a herd of wild elk grazing on the grass outside the buffet restaurant on the grounds.



The female elk cows and calves were very hungry!

 We made sure to stay a safe distance away from them, and I used my camera's zoom to take these photos.



Then our excitement rose when we saw this giant stag among the herd!

 This herd was his harem, and he was very protective of them. The elk rut in Colorado usually begins in mid-September and lasts for a month.



Although the Elk buck stopped to eat at times, he mainly pranced around his harem, telling them by his actions that he was their protector and the boss.



Meanwhile, the elk cows ignored him and kept eating!




We were excited to drive into Rocky Mountain National Park to see the beginning of the fall foliage emerging, as our visit took place in the third week of September.  I'll show some of those beautiful sights in my next blog post!

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Sunday, October 12, 2025

Skagway, Alaska


 I am continuing with our family the Alaskan cruise we took in July to celebrate our 50th wedding Anniversary. 

This was the second time my husband and I visited Skagway, Alaska. On our last trip in 2019, where we toured both land and sea, we took an 8-hour bus tour excursion from Skagway into the stunning Canadian Yukon, which you can view in this post. 


On this visit, my husband and I decided to see more of the town of Skagway by taking a Skagway Alaska Street Tour. The tour guide was a costumed conductor who drove a retrofitted yellow 1927 sightseeing bus.  As we comfortably toured through Skagway, he narrated the story behind this very historic Alaska gold rush town.


Skagway, Alaska, is located at the northernmost point of the Inside Passage in Southeast Alaska. It's home to many gold-rush-era buildings that have been preserved as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The streets are lined with wooden boardwalks and colorful, restored buildings, looking much as they did over 100 years ago. 



Our tour also drove through the residential area of Skagway, where our driver, who is a school teacher during the school year, showed us his residence and told us an amusing story about a house a lottery millionaire from the Midwest who had a beautiful house built in Skagway but only stayed in it for one year. He said life in the dark, cold, and snowy Alaska winter days is not for everyone!



The tour took us to a high overlook of Skagway, where we could view the historic and residential areas as well as the inner passage inlet, which was filled with visiting cruise ships. Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships, and the tourist trade is a big part of the town's annual business.


As the tour progressed, our tour guide passed around vintage photos and told us the history of Skagway, including the Klondike Gold Rush, which brought an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada between 1896 and 1899.  Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896; when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered what was called a stampede of prospectors.

The "Klondikers" could follow either the Chilkoot or White Pass trail to the Yukon River and sail down to the Klondike. The Canadian authorities required each person to bring a year's supply of food in order to prevent starvation. In all, the Klondikers' equipment weighed close to a ton, which most carried themselves in stages. Performing this task and contending with the mountainous terrain and cold climate meant that most of those who persisted did not arrive until the summer of 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed.



We visited a gold rush era cemetery, located high above town. Observing the ages on the gravestones, it was easy to see the hard and short lives many Skagway gold rush residents endured during that era.


Our tour guide told us the tale about a gold rush era swindler and scammer, Jefferson Randolph Smith, who went by the nickname "Soapy Smith." Smith gained notoriety through his "prize soap racket," in which he would sell bars of soap with prize money hidden in some of the bars' packaging in order to increase sales. However, through sleight of hand, he ensured that only members of his gang purchased "prize" soap. The racket led to his title of "Soapy."

Our guide explained that on the evening of July 8, a vigilance committee organized a meeting on the Juneau Wharf in Skagway. With a rifle draped over his shoulder, Smith began an argument with Frank H. Reid, one of four guards blocking his way to the wharf. A gunfight followed, and both men were fatally wounded. They are both buried in this city cemetery, although Soapy's grave was deliberately located on the unconsecrated land a few yards off to the side.




Our tour ended back in the town, and my husband and I had time to walk around to visit some of the exhibits. I made sure to visit the Arctic Brotherhood Building to take a close-up. During the gold rush era, Charles O. Walker gathered over 8,800 driftwood sticks on the shores of Skagway Bay and nailed them to the front wall of the hall!




We visited a replica of a gold rush era saloon and ...


...and the exhibits about one of the engineering marvels of the world, the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad! Built in 1898, the scenic railroad travels up the Coastal Mountains’ White Pass, into the wilderness of Canada’s British Columbia & the Yukon Territory.



Both of our children and families took a long railroad ride on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, and they all marveled at the beautiful sights they saw along the way and back!




Alongside the Railroad Dock in Skagway is an impressive wall of solid granite that is home to one of the most unique art collections in Alaska. Since 1928, the crews of ships have been "autographing" this wall to commemorate their first voyage to Skagway.


We were soon back at the Skagway port, where we boarded our Princess Discovery cruise ship again.


That evening, we enjoyed listening to "Puppies on the Plaza" as our cruise director, Jayson, and his assistant, interviewed an Alaskan Iditarod race winner who told us about his race win and showed the new Alaska Sled Dog puppies he was raising to run in the race in the future.

Our ship was headed back to Seattle the next day, after a brief late afternoon stop in Victoria, Canada. It was a wonderful cruise, and sharing all the fun with our children and grandchildren made our special anniversary very memorable! 

Thanks for coming along on my blog!


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Sunday, September 28, 2025

Alaska Cruise in Juneau, sightseeing Glacier Gardens, Nugget Falls and the Mendenhall Glacier



 This was my husband's and my second visit to Juneau, Alaska. We took an Alaskan Land and Sea Cruise of Alaska in 2019 and visited the city then — click here --- to read that post. On that trip, we visited the Mendenhall Glacier  Visitor Center and enjoyed a delicious outdoor Salmon Bake lunch afterward.

On this visit with our family, we again all took different excursions. My husband and I chose a two-part tour beginning in the beautiful Glacier Gardens in Juneau, Alaska.


Glacier Gardens is full of unique Flower Towers — stunning upside-down trees adorned with vibrant flower baskets, created from storm-felled trees by founder Steve Bowhay.

The Bowhay family has welcomed visitors since 1998 to explore the lush surroundings of their botanical paradise and the Tongass National Forest. Their tours offer an unforgettable journey through 50 acres of natural wonder, blending manicured gardens, old-growth forest, and sweeping mountain views, from the comfort of their guided, covered golf carts.


Our tour guide told us that in 1984, heavy rain and snow deposits caused a landslide that demolished much of Thunder Mountain, uprooting nearly everything and destroying one of the main streams. In 1985, Steve and Cindy Bowhay bought up nearly 50 acres of the destroyed land to reclaim it. As part of a "happy accident," Steve took downed trees and buried the tops in the ground, which placed their roots up in the air to form a basket to cradle colorful, trailing flowers.
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Among the other flowers that flourish in this unique botanical garden are rhododendrons, azaleas, Japanese maples, devil’s club, elderberry shrubs, and Alaska's flower, the blue Forget-Me-Not.


The large covered golf cart took our tour group up a total of 600 feet to the top of Thunder Mountain through a section of the Tongass National Forest of majestic Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce trees.


It was fascinating to view the plant growth in this forest of skunk cabbage, lichen, moss, ferns, and other forest floor growth. Our expert tour guide also shared fascinating stories about the history, ecology, and wildlife of the area.


 When we reached the top of the mountain, we were able to get out of the golf cart and walk over to a viewing platform overlooking a part of Juneau. The weather was foggy, so visibility wasn't the best.


At the end of the tour, we visited the Glacial Gardens Visitor and Event Center. It was full of the most gorgeous and colorful hanging baskets and flower sculptures.

We really enjoyed our tour of Glacier Gardens and highly recommend it if you visit Juneau during the summer.


The next part of our excursion was a visit to the Mendenhall Glacier. 

The glacier is a 13-mile ribbon of ice that flows from the Juneau Ice Field. which is a 1,500 square mile frozen plateau that feeds a total of 38 major glaciers. The Juneau Ice Field is the fifth-largest ice field in North America and is a leftover from the last ice age. Mendenhall Glacier has been in a period of retreat. In fact, there were various markers that were placed on the lakeshore, and in the visitor center, that showed how the glacier at one time covered those areas in as little as 60 - 90 years ago!



Since we spent a lot of time at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on our last visit, this time we decided to take the two-mile round-trip hike to see the nearby spectacular Nugget Falls!

This spectacular waterfall plunges about 377 feet down the rugged mountainside into Mendenhall Lake, about three-quarters of a mile south of the active face of Mendenhall Glacier. Powered by meltwater runoff from the hanging Nugget Glacier




A short video of the powerful Nugget Falls!



Our son and family also visited the Mendenhall Glacier area and some of the town, while our daughter and family took a helicopter tour, which landed on top of Mendenhall Glacier for a thrilling close-up of the glacier!


Our last view of Juneau, Alaska, where we all had a wonderful time!

We would enjoy another day at sea, and our cruise's last town to visit is Sagway, Alaska--my next post. 



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Monday, September 22, 2025

Alaska Cruise of Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier



 
On the third day of our Princess Discovery Alaska Cruise, my husband and I woke up very early as we knew the ship was scheduled to sail down scenic Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier. 

Endicott Arm is a 30-mile-long fjord in southeastern Alaska, located about 50 miles south of Juneau. It is part of the larger Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, a protected area within the Tongass National Forest. This untouched region boasts rugged coastlines, deep blue waters, and sheer cliffs rising thousands of feet into the sky. The fjord culminates at Dawes Glacier, one of Alaska's most active tidewater glaciers.

At first, we watched from our balcony, but soon went up to the ship's upper deck to get a 360-degree view.


The sun rose higher in the sky...



...as the ship sailed closer to the glacier



It was a beautiful sight!



Close-up photos of Dawes Glacier.

I found this definition as to why glacier ice appears blue on this link: 

"Water and its frozen form, ice, have a similar effect on light, in that they trap long wavelengths of light, such as red and green, while allowing the shorter wavelengths, like blue, to pass through the ice and reach our eyes. That’s why the blue colour is most visible in shaded areas, not in direct sunlight. The light passing through the ice appears blue, but the directly reflected light off the air bubbles in the ice appear white in colour."


There were many pieces of the glacier ice floating in the surrounding water.



As daylight illuminated Endicott Arm, the views were so beautiful!



There were many, many waterfalls all around the surrounding shorelines as we sailed back out of the Fjord.



A short video of an Endicott Arm waterfall.



We passed Harbor Island as we re-entered Holkum Bay and continued to sail towards Juneau, which would be our next stop the following day.



After being up since 4:30 AM, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at the ship's buffet. 




Later in the day, we attended an interesting lecture by a naturalist, journalist, and book author on board, Michael Modzelewski. 



He gave an interesting and informative lecture every day in the ship's theater about the Alaska Inside Passage and his experiences living in the Alaska frontier. 


On a past Alaska Cruise, we visited Hubbard Glacier -- click here to see that blog post, and we sailed down Glacier Bay National Park-- click here to read that post, and on this cruise, it was wonderful to see Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier, both of which are magnificent parts of Alaska! 

Next stop is Juneau, Alaska. I hope you will join me back here to see our adventures there!

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