Skagway

The following morning May 14th we were in Skagway where 100% of the economy is based on tourism. The normal population is about 900 in the winter but goes up to 4000 in the summer to serve the 1million tourists. This was the jump off point for the great gold rush of 1896. In fact, the gold rush did not happen in Skagway and not even in Alaska, it happened in the Dawson city in the Yukon which is a Canadian Territory. But Skagway was the the jump off point for those prospectors heading inland with their hopes and mining gear. At that time the city of Skagway grew to 10,000 people and the population of Dawson rose to 40,000. Both cities now have around 1000 persons living there year around.

We had organized to join a local travel agency tour to go from Skagway up through the White pass to the Yukon. We found our driver on the pier and loaded up with 10 others in a nice little bus. We had a great driver and guide who had been doing this tour for many years. Again, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. We drove through Skagway which is literally a one street town with a saloon, a museum brothel and a library and headed east on the White pass highway. It was a beautiful drive. This road connects Skagway Alaska and Dawson City Yukon, heart of the Klondike. Beginning at Skagway, the road climbs for 14 miles/22.5 km to the 3,292 foot/1003 m summit near the Alaska/Canada border. Between Skagway and the border the road roughly parallels the old White Pass Trail, an alternate to the Chilkoot Trail which ultimately proved more popular as it was the shorter of the two climbs. The only population center along the 114 miles/183 km of connecting routes between Skagway and Whitehorse is the small community of Carcross. The road passes the US custom house and goes through the Tormented Valley. The Canada US border is somewhere in Tormented Valley but the winters in this huge glacier formed valley of over 10 miles long is so bad that the boarder stations are actually placed at both ends of the valley. We stopped at various places to admire the scenery. There is a bridge on this road which is only attached at one end. The other end sits unattached on a platform allowing it swing with the earth movements. It is over a huge crevice so that crossing for the first time is a little tense. There are so many strong earth quakes in this area that this bridge solution allows the bridge to sway and give and has withstood the test of time. We stopped in the Carcross Desert, which is the smallest desert in the world, had lunch at some tourist camp and headed back down the road to Skagway. On the way, we saw some mountain goats and mountain sheep on the hills which were still partially snow covered.

The drive is unique and well worthwhile. One can do part of the way on a train which runs along the same route but the train does not allow as much flexibility to stop along the way.

We returned to our ship early and had a few hours to rest before heading off to our next destination, Hubbard Glacier. The trip down from Skagway was breath taking as it was at sunset and the mountains took on a pink coloring from the reflections. Alaska is uniquely beautiful and one has to be there to really get the full impression. Around about 10pm I was sitting on our balcony watching the beautiful scenery go by when I noticed that we were going around in a circle. On the public address system, they had been paging some women for over an hour. I found out the next day that the lady was elderly and had not heard the page. They found her and we continued on our way.