At the end of our hike, we boarded a big raft and our tourguide paddled us down the Tayia River. We encountered this marvelous vista at the beginning of our ride. This caliber of scenery is one of the reasons why this cruise was our most enjoyable.

This is another photo from our float down the Tayia.

Here’s a sea lion poking his head above the water as our tourgroup headed back to the ship.

Once back to the ship, we had about half an hour before our next tour began. Upon Becky’s parents’ advice we boarded the White Pass and Yukon Route passenger train for an hour’s trek up the mountains. We saw so much beautiful scenery on this tour, too, but getting the photos was real work. You see, we had a choice between taking photos through the glass windows or out in the great wide open from the ends of the boxcars. So everyone with a camera headed to the ends of the boxcars. Unfortunately, there was room for just one big person or two small people in those locations. Unfortunate, too, was the fact that I was stuck on a boxcar with some folks who wanted to video the whole trainride. Practicing some recently acquired assertiveness skills helped me score a few good photos from the ride—like this shot of our train headed into the tunnel. Notice the folks crowded on the ends of the boxcars. The crowding and tension was tough at times. There could be the remains from a tourist or two under the track.

It’s a narrow-gauge track built in 1898 that our train uses to carve its way up the coastal mountainside.