Skagway to Emerald Lake and back in 5 Hours?

[kenmii]

Hi All-

I can kick myself for not making my train reservations for the WP&YR from Fraser to Skagway. My other option aside skipping the train all together is to take the train from Skagway to Fraser at 12:30pm. We arrive at Fraser at 2:15pm and take a private tour. The tour is going to take us to Carcross, the Yukon Suspension Bridge and to Emerald Lake and back to Skagway. The ship leaves at 8:30pm. I would have 5 hours to do all this and make it to the ship by 7:30pm.

1) is this doable?
2) Will we have time to even pee, let alone take pics?
3) We won't stop for lunch, as we may not have time and we could eat earlier, so not a problem.
4) Any suggestions on where else to stop? (In case we don't take the train)

I don't want to rent a car to drive because we have 8ppl. Any thoughts? I think everyone will enjoy the train and we may not return to AK anytime soon.

Please help.. I want to make the train reservations soon before that one fills up too!

many thanks!

[reney313]

I can't remember how long it took us to do the full tour--although we did the way up to Emerald Lake and then back on the train from Fraser. When we got back to town we had plenty of time to walk around, go to the Red Onion and then to another bar before heading back to the ship--which we boarded 30-45 minutes before the "all aboard time". It seems we had at least 3 hours in town or more so I "think" you would be fine.

Please don't take my word for it though!

Your tour guide though should be able to tell you for sure. Since they are taking you 'back', they would be the ones putting their reputation on the line to get you back to the ship in time. I wouldn't think they would book it if there wasn't enough time, would they?

[Budget Queen]

You need to look at the tour operators. Descriptions for this particular will have a time listed. But I don't know of any who have the round trip Emerald Lake, rail/bus tour that doesn't leave in the morning.

Why are you looking at 12:30Pm? Do you already have the return bus/van tour arranged?

[kenmii]

It's a private tour and I want to get an opinion outside of the tour operator. We can leave early, but the train ride is full except for the 12:30 to 2:00 pm skagway to Fraser. My other option is to skip the train entirely. We all want to do the train, but if we can't do the trip in 5 hours, then we will do the round trip van tour only and start in the morning.

Any other suggestions are welcomed!

[kenmii]

And yes.. We have the return ride arranged!

[InternetAgeTraveler]

If I read your question correctly,

- Train from Skagway to Frasier, arrive approximately 2:30
- Meet with guide, continue to suspension bridge, carcross, emerald lake
- Guide returns you to Skagway by 7:30

Things in your favor
- The trains generally run on time so your start time is pretty close
- A private tour is going to give you freedom to spend time where and how you want, so no extra stops for others
- By going in the afternoon, much of the traffic will be reduced (e.g. all of the normal bus tours will be way ahead of you)

Considerations
- It certainly seems doable, although I expect you to feel somewhat rushed (that fear of the unknown; are we going to get back on time if anything goes wrong).
- The train is a nice ride, although between Skagway and Frasier you will see similar landscape from the opposite side of the valley, it is after Frasier that the routes diverge more significantly.

These kind of decisions are always tough, because there is so much to do on an Alaska cruise that you can't do it all.

The tour operator is probably your best option since they will know what they can offer and don't want you to miss the ship, so the times they offer are safe by their standards.

[frugaltravel]

Which tour operator are you using? Do you not trust their judgment? If not, I would not use them in any case no matter what we here say.

You arrive in Fraser at 2.15pm and want to get from there to Emerald Lake and back to Skagway in 5 hours? You could almost walk it in that time (OK, not really). We went from Skagway to Emerald Lake and back with tons of stops and it was not much longer than 5 hours. I don't see your concerns.

[kenmii]

yes! you have it correct... thanks for the info on the pros and cons. I just wanted add'l info!

[kenmii]

Thanks... The tour operator has good reviews on the boards. I just wanted to make sure it is doable! Thank you for the confirmation!