Driving to Emerald Lake

[SunShine Seekers]

Hey guys, We are driving to Emerald in Late May. We are in port from 7am to 9pm. Should we go early or in the afternoon to Emerald Lake?

I know it all depends on weather. But what do you think?

[Rosieo]

When we drove there we left as soon as we picked up the rental car. I can't remember but the rental place either opened at 8 or 9. We took a long leisurely drive to get there because we were in no hurray to get back to Skagway. We just weren't into the shopping. Emerald Lake is simply beautiful!

[tetleytea]

It's all up to personal tastes, but I like morning. Give yourself the least anxiety possible over whether you will make it back to the ship on time. We had 9 hours in port, and spent all 9 on the road. We could have gone to 14, or even overnighted in Whitehorse, very easily if it wasn't for that blam boat.

[SunShine Seekers]

I guess we will just have to wait and see what mother natures gives us that day. But thanks for replies

[jkmcmom]

We - 4 of us, myself, dh & our bfs - did the drive in May off Star Princess. We were at the car rental agency before they opened the door - but there were 4 people ahead of us - so that took some time to just get the car. We had murray's guide (that I'd read about on another thread here on CC) so we knew where to stop for all the photo ops/scenic views. It's just wild seeing the frozen lakes!

 

We went to the post office in Carcross because we'd read they'll stamp your passport, but they closed early the day we were there. Oh well.

 

We had lunch at Spirit Lodge - it was great because the day was cool & part of the lunch was homemade soup. The sandwiches are on homemade bread but the best was dessert! Pie!

 

We used Emerald Lake as our turnaround point.

 

We had all the weather the day we were there - sun, rain, snow. Plus, we saw a mini-avalanche of snow on to the hwy.

 

All in all, it was quite a pleasant drive - very relaxing. The nice part of having the rental car was no one hurrying us back on the tour bus. When we got back to Skagway, the dhs dropped us off at the pier - & the wind was bitter! It was blowing & felt as tho it would cut us! It was a pleasure to get back onboard & have something warm to drink!

 

Enjoy your drive!

[born 2 cruise]

I agree with Rosieo. We drove up in June. Go early, you will stop many times. Will be under no pressure then. It is truely awesome.

 

Vis

[CoughEQueen]

We'll be there next May as well...and I can't decide which would be best, take the 3hr narrated rail trip or go on our own/at our own pass with a car rental.

 

Anyone have experience with both? I think I'd like the narration of the train (I love learning the history of new places) but I'd like the leisure of driving through new territory as well.

 

Decisions...decisions...

[georoc01]

We took our time leaving the ship, arriving at the Avis counter and leaving Skagway about 10am. We arrived in carcross about noon, had our passports stamped and then went to the cinnamon cache for lunch. Went up to Emerald Lake for some pix and arrived in Caribou Crossing about 1pm about the time the tour busses were all leaving giving us the place to ourselves.

 

The only downside of mid day was that it was very hot up in carcross (around 88 degrees). But I think that might have been a fluke.

[catsforkids]

Can you hike around the lake? Are there other hiking trails near there? I have searched on line but can't find any info on this.

[Markanddonna]

If this is your first adventure, I would do the Chilkoot train/van experience. If you have been on many old steam trains then you might want to drive on your first time out. We did the train our first trip to Alaska and then rented a car this past year. If you have lots of people to transport and finances are tight, go for an SUV rental and skip the train. The view from the train just can't be replicated on the car drive. We rented through AVIS and like the others said, the line gets long quickly and you have to wait outside the office door. The car was just fine though. Get Murray's guide. Just $5.

 

Connie

[hawk1972]

We have a car reserved through Avis in Skagway to make the drive up to Emerald Lake. Do they ever run out of cars or are they careful not to overbook? As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them." :)

[J&KCruisers]

The round trip to Emerald Lake is about 130 miles. The speed limit on the Yukon Highway is 50 mph and they enforce it. Getting going earlier is better than later. We left at 9 and at a moderate pace, returned at 3:30.

 

Skagway is not a big deal to see. I would give it 2 hours max which can be done later in the day.

 

The Yukon is the highlight of this port and either a tour a drive is a must. There is a lot to see on the way to Carcross. I would also recommend getting Murray's Guide, $5 online for the pdf.

 

I would not short change your time on this drive. Getting back late to the ship would not be a good idea unless your next port is Juneau. Anything beyond that would be expensive.;)

[Yukon]

The round trip to Emerald Lake is about 130 miles. The speed limit on the Yukon Highway is 50 mph and they enforce it.

 

The round trip to Emerald Lake is actually 146 miles and the speed limit on the highway is 90kmh or 55 mph in the Yukon. Except right at Carcross, you're more likely to see a UFO on that road than a cop :D

[samcraig]

Not to threadjack - but YUKON - wondering if you could take a look at my post about jeep tours in skagway... thanks!

[jdbell]

:Dlol:D

[tetleytea]

We'll be there next May as well...and I can't decide which would be best, take the 3hr narrated rail trip or go on our own/at our own pass with a car rental.

 

We rented a car and saw the trains along the road...took their picture...and we definitively decided that we would not take the train next time if we went back. We would sooner rent a car a second time.

[gridswaldtravlers]

The round trip to Emerald Lake is about 130 miles. The speed limit on the Yukon Highway is 50 mph and they enforce it. Getting going earlier is better than later. We left at 9 and at a moderate pace, returned at 3:30.

 

Skagway is not a big deal to see. I would give it 2 hours max which can be done later in the day.

 

The Yukon is the highlight of this port and either a tour a drive is a must. There is a lot to see on the way to Carcross. I would also recommend getting Murray's Guide, $5 online for the pdf.

 

I would not short change your time on this drive. Getting back late to the ship would not be a good idea unless your next port is Juneau. Anything beyond that would be expensive.;)

Thanks for the replies, I have already gotten Murray' Guide.( Which is great) .I think we will eat a good breakfast and head out early so we will have plenty of time for what ever else comes up. I will plan on 5 hours like you said. We tend to make a lot of stops and take pictures. But Thanks again to all that have reply.

[ranger-cruiser]

Family of 4, we will be in Skagway on 5/8/10. Looks like the Avis won't open until later in the month, White pass does not go to Yukon until later in the month. Only options seem to be the 3 hour white pass train or renting a car from sourdough. First time cruise to alaska. Any advice? is driving to emerald lake early may a bad idea?

 

Carnival Spirit 5/5/10

[Yukon]

Is driving to emerald lake early may a bad idea?

 

All the lakes including Emerald are still frozen then, so you don't see the color that makes it so special. If you want to see deep snow, we'll have that for you, though - see the photos at http://www.explorenorth.com/bc/fraser.html (showing the Canada Customs post on May 15).

[mek]

Yukon - we are sailing on the 11th and have a car reserved for Skagway - plan on driving up to Emerald lake, but my question is - if the weather is terrible in Skagway does that mean that we should scratch the drive? Not sure if weather conditions are the same in both places. I hate to get the car and only see fog the entire time. Any advice?

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi there,

 

We were in Skagway on Aug. 19. We rented a car from Avis, and yes, the line was long when we got there around 9:30. Good news: I *think* they had cars for everyone in line (at least, we got ours with no problem). Bad news: those who had reserved a specific type of vehicle (SUV, mini-van, etc.,) were not necessarily getting the vehicles they had reserved. There were a lot of upset people in line. I felt bad for the lovely Avis ladies behind the desk, because there was nothing they could do about the situation. One family in front of us had reserved 2 SUV's for a group of 12 or so, and wound up with 3 sedans. So, not a huge problem, just not what they'd planned on. Lesson learned: if you've got a really specific vehicle reserved, be there when they open. Even if it means sending 1 member of your party to the Avis office as soon as you dock, then coming back to the ship for breakfast. But for us, it was just the two of us, we had reserved a standard sedan and received a Camry. No problem, other than all of the upset people in line who were getting a little unpleasant.

 

We were on the road to Emerald Lake, with Murray's Guide in hand, by 10 or so, and back around 3:30-4:00-ish. Had a quick meal on the ship, and went out again to wander through town.

 

The post office in Carcross doesn't stamp your passport for free; they sell you a postage stamp that you paste into your passport, and they stamp/cancel it for you. There was also a litle table in front of the general store/ice cream place that had a stamp that people were using. We'd already been to the post office, so didn't investigate that.

 

I think the sail-away from Skagway was the single most beautiful site from our entire 14-day cruise-tour. The Norwegian Pearl had departed about 1/2-hour before we did, and a misty fog had come down from the mountains to settle around the harbor and swirl around the Pearl (gee, that rhymes...) as it sailed out. We sat on our balcony for close to an hour, just watching the fog, the mountains, the glacier, the Pearl... It was magical. (And then, the next day, we saw the Pearl again with a Coast Guard helicopter hovering above it to med-evac a passenger from right in front of Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay NP. But that's another story...)

 

Enjoy Skagway!

 

Mary Ellen

 

As others have recommended, I'd definitely do the drive first, so you have no worries about getting back in time for your ship.

[Yukon]

Yukon - we are sailing on the 11th and have a car reserved for Skagway - plan on driving up to Emerald lake, but my question is - if the weather is terrible in Skagway does that mean that we should scratch the drive? Not sure if weather conditions are the same in both places. I hate to get the car and only see fog the entire time. Any advice?

 

The weather is often dramatically different over the pass - Carcross gets about 1/6th the annual precipitation that Skagway gets. In the winter Carcross is MUCH colder than Skagway and in the summer it's warmer. The fog that is so often talked about here isn't that common during cruise season and usually only lasts for a few miles at the White Pass summit.

[slabeaume]

Hi there,

 

We were in Skagway on Aug. 19. We rented a car from Avis, and yes, the line was long when we got there around 9:30. Good news: I *think* they had cars for everyone in line (at least, we got ours with no problem). Bad news: those who had reserved a specific type of vehicle (SUV, mini-van, etc.,) were not necessarily getting the vehicles they had reserved. There were a lot of upset people in line. I felt bad for the lovely Avis ladies behind the desk, because there was nothing they could do about the situation. One family in front of us had reserved 2 SUV's for a group of 12 or so, and wound up with 3 sedans. So, not a huge problem, just not what they'd planned on. Lesson learned: if you've got a really specific vehicle reserved, be there when they open. Even if it means sending 1 member of your party to the Avis office as soon as you dock, then coming back to the ship for breakfast. But for us, it was just the two of us, we had reserved a standard sedan and received a Camry. No problem, other than all of the upset people in line who were getting a little unpleasant.

 

We were on the road to Emerald Lake, with Murray's Guide in hand, by 10 or so, and back around 3:30-4:00-ish. Had a quick meal on the ship, and went out again to wander through town.

 

The post office in Carcross doesn't stamp your passport for free; they sell you a postage stamp that you paste into your passport, and they stamp/cancel it for you. There was also a litle table in front of the general store/ice cream place that had a stamp that people were using. We'd already been to the post office, so didn't investigate that.

 

I think the sail-away from Skagway was the single most beautiful site from our entire 14-day cruise-tour. The Norwegian Pearl had departed about 1/2-hour before we did, and a misty fog had come down from the mountains to settle around the harbor and swirl around the Pearl (gee, that rhymes...) as it sailed out. We sat on our balcony for close to an hour, just watching the fog, the mountains, the glacier, the Pearl... It was magical. (And then, the next day, we saw the Pearl again with a Coast Guard helicopter hovering above it to med-evac a passenger from right in front of Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay NP. But that's another story...)

 

Enjoy Skagway!

 

Mary Ellen

 

As others have recommended, I'd definitely do the drive first, so you have no worries about getting back in time for your ship.

 

We were also at Avis on Aug. 19th before 9 and I can positively tell you that they were turning away people with reservations! Especially if you were later then 1 hour of your reserved pick up time. As mentioned, there will most likely be a long line. We were still well within 1 hour of our pickup time and they denied us a car. We had a SUV reserved, but they would NOT even substitute any other car (not even 1 car) to us---we had 6 people in our party, but would have taken 2 cars or one of us would have stayed back. They were not even apologetic. They wanted to use the "you're over an hour past your pick up time", but after they all looked at the clock, they just said, "the people who have your vehicle didn't return it". I practically begged for another car since I had made these reservations back in Jan. and had actually planned this cruise around this activity! I even asked them to call the other car rental place, but they said all they had left were trucks. Maybe you can see why some people were upset! It wasn't our fault and there were plenty of cars on the lot. We did finally leave the office, but noticed 3 or 4 SUVs in the parking lot. So we went back in and inquired about them. We were told they all had mechanical problems and they didn't have a mechanic! My husband had been a mechanic, so inquired on the problems and they offered to rent us the one with a tire warning light on. We took it. I will admit the 2 ladies actually working the counter couldn't do anything, but the manager was manning the phone behind them and she was very rude---even yelling at the 2 gals working the counter. I know there was another group after us who had an SUV reserved, too, so maybe they were the ones who got the 3 sedans, but if that were so, why did they tell us they wouldn't rent us 2 or even 1 sedan?! I've never had this problem before and we rent cars alot. So, yes, there is a chance that they won't have a vehicle for you. Best bet is to arrive before they open at 8, by 9 it could be too late.

[Mary Ellen1]

Sue, that's horrible!!! I hadn't realized they were actually turning people away. But now that you mention it, I do remember people talking about missing their 1-hour reservation window (and apparently being turned away...). After much worry while waiting in line, we got our car with no problems & were on our way.

 

After experiencing that situation, DH & I vowed that we would always make a point of being at the rental office when they open, first thing in the morning. We had a similar experience in St. Thomas, where we got the last rental car, and every customer who was in line behind us, with confirmed reservations, got turned away. All of these cruising destinations are so remote, they have a limited supply of cars, and there's little they can do if they run out of cars. It's not like you can try any of 6 other car rental counters in major airports... :(

 

Sorry you had that situation, but I'm glad you got a car!!! I'd be so MAD if that had happened to me!

 

Mary Ellen

[crjack]

We were also at the Avis office on the same day in Skagway and I think if you had been there a little earlier you would have seen more people turned away.

 

I actually met Sue in the parking lot as we were going to our car. I felt very fortunate that there weren't any issues with our reservation but that was not the case for the family in front of us and I felt terrible for them. I also didn't see the office staff being very helpful but it was mostly DH in line because the office is very small.

 

While I dont think that is the norm I also wouldn't assume that a car would be available for afternoon pick-up. Perhaps renting a car is becoming a more popular idea for Skagway visits.

 

We really enjoyed our drive to Emerald Lake and loved the flexibility of being able to stop at our leisure.