Skagway - #52-10

June 28, 2005 (Tue)
Pullen Creek RV Park #30 w/e $20.00 B (x3)

Teslin, YT to Skagway, AK (151/5212 miles) Q017526

WOW! what a place! Very touristy but exciting. Our campground is just back from the waterfront where there are 4 large cruise ships docked, as well as several private and commercial boats. We can hear the small sightseeing planes and helicopters coming and going from a small airport downtown. Several narrow gauge trains with 10 to 12 old time passenger cars pass by across the road in front of Q. The sidewalk along the road has a steady stream of people from the cruise ships coming and going. Skagway's year round population is 870. Today there are maybe 12,000 walking the streets, browsing the little shops, boarding the sight-seeing trains, busses, and airplanes, and generally having a good time.

We walked downtown but found it too crowded to be really enjoyable. Most store fronts have a late 1800's gold rush motif and the village tries to present a similar atmosphere. i.e. in second story windows of one building two "ladies of the night" sat with a black gartered legs hung over the window sill calling provocatively to passers by below.

The only road into Skagway, the Klondike Highway, was spectacular through White Pass. Even though it was a dreary day, the mountains overpowered the gloom by peaking through the mist and very low wispy clouds. They gave us the best scenery of the trip so far. We can imagine what it must be like on a clear sunny day.

We took off from Mukluk Annie's this morning at 7:30 (50°) in misty rain, glad to be on the road and away from the mosquitoes that whined in our ears all night. At Jake's Corner we turned off the Alaska Highway onto the cutoff road to the Klondike Highway. After going through U.S. customs into Alaska - the customs officer said, "Welcome home." as he waved us through - we began a long, 12 mile or so, 3000 foot descent out of the mountains. At the top, the landscape reminded us a lot of the rocky coast of Maine. But that changed drastically as we worked our way down through the rocky gorge into a living fantasy land.

Tonight we walked out to the docks and watched, close up, a couple of the cruise ships leave. Fascinating!
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June 29, 2005 (Wed)
Pullen Creek RV Park, Skagway, AK (2)

We awoke to a bright clear morning. After breakfast, we walked downtown and found the streets almost empty of people and cars. What a difference! There are 4 cruise ships in (5 due today) but the hordes haven't been released yet. With mountains so clearly visible we could see how they drop steeply all around producing the deepest fjord in North America. What a wonderful sight, looking down a seemingly 1898 vintage street and seeing a snow laced mountain in the background. The shops are typical tourist fare, but obviously cater to the rich tourist. I guess if you can afford a cruise to Alaska, you can afford some expensive jewelry (or what ever) when you get here. Interesting browsing though.

Skagway is well known as the place where hundreds of "stampeders" - wannabe gold miners - started their grueling climb into the mountains via White Pass during the late 1800s klondike gold rush. A few miles away, at the foot of the Chilkoot Pass was another village of nearly equal size vying for the honor of being THE place to start out. Dyea was established in 1897 at the site of a small Tlingit indian village, grew to a population of some 8,000 and died within a year - defeated by the dangerous Chilkoot Trail and the coming of the railroad to Skagway. Today there is nothing left of the once thriving community but a few piles of rotting lumber from its collapsed buildings. This afternoon a very vibrant and energetic young woman ranger (Molly from Monmouth County NJ) gave us a very interesting and informative tour of the site.
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June 30, 2005 (Thu)
Pullen Creek RV Park, Skagway, AK (3)

We both slept very well last night. It may be that we are finally getting used to going to bed while it's still light and light again long before we need to wake up. This morning we walked downtown again and signed up for the NPS walking tour of Skagway. As luck would have it Molly, our guide in Dyea yesterday, was our guide today too. She really is a character! We ran into her again after the tour and talked with her a bit about her job (she loves it) and living conditions (not so great). When we left, she gave us each a big hug. This tour, like the one in Dyea, is well worth taking as we learned a lot about the city, the gold rush living conditions and the National Park Service involvement in Skagway (it owns, has restored, and maintains about 13 buildings here).

This afternoon we drove out to see some gardens and a garden railroad with Ed and Kathy. The gardens were very small and getting in to see them was vastly overpriced ($8.50 ea) so we didn't go. This evening we checked out The Skagway Fish Company - the restaurant designated by the locals and semi-locals as the best in town. The fish (halibut) and chips (french fries) were good but not outstanding - the fish was heavy on the breading. The Alaskan beer was worth ordering it again sometime.
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July 1, 2005 (Fri)
Pioneer RV Park, Whitehorse, YT #5 dry $9.00d C

Skagway, AK to Whitehorse, YT (106/5318 miles) Q017632

It's Canada Day in these parts - that's Canada's version of our 4th of July - but it was plain old July 1st in Alaska U.S.A. where we started out. We got off at 7:40 (60.4°) in a light rain and soon found ourselves in the clouds as we started up the mountain. Driving 10 miles without being able to see more than a few feet in front of the motor home was bad enough but we were missing the spectacular scenery of the gorge as well! We finally broke out of the clouds at about 3100 feet and soon the sun was shining.

The customs officer at the Canadian border asked a few quick questions and sent us on our way with a friendly "Have a nice visit." Just past Carcross, YT there is a sandy patch, once the bottom of a glacial lake, that is billed as the smallest desert in the world. It really is like a desert and looks completely out of place here. We stopped and took pictures.

Whitehorse is the capitol of the Yukon Territory. After getting set up in the campground, we went with Ed and Kathy to do some shopping. Most of the stores were closed but Walmart wasn't. Nor were the grocery stores. We'll go out tomorrow to do the town. Back in the campground Joy did some laundry while Mark reconciled our bank accounts (we have free WiFi right at our site). A rain storm, with thunder and lighting, made dinner time exciting and Q a cozy little home.

Pioneer RV Park is a big campground with several sections. We are in a no-hookup area in a wooded strip next to the parkinglot-style full hookup area. On the hill above the "parking lot" is a state park type water and elec hookup area. There is also a free camping parking lot up there. It sounds like a bargain but it is a long way from any facilities.