SIGHTS AROUND SKAGWAY

Black Lake, just a mile or so above where our motor homes are parked.

The distinctive sound of a steam engine whistle got our attention yesterday morning, as we tried to time the arrival of engine #73 on the face of the cliff above Skagway.  By the time we drove the few miles up the South Klondike Hwy,  and parked across the canyon from the tracks, the train was already farther up the hill.

Part of the morning was spent in town, before the crowds started leaving the 4 cruise ships that were in port yesterday.  The picture below, more clearly shows the Holland America Cruise Ship Amsterdam, docked at the Broadway dock.  Skagway's main street (Broadway) begins at this dock, and when the cruise ships are tied up there, it looks like they're about ready to sail right into town.

Then, we drove 9 miles out to the Dyea valley, where the famous Chilkoot Trail begins.  Taking the road up West Creek, we dead ended at the new pedestrian bridge. Patty and I had never been up this road to the end, and it was worth negotiating the pot holes, as the view of West Creek Glacier was incredible.

When we returned to the Taiya River, we stopped at the beginning of the Chilkoot Trail, where thousands of gold seekers passed by in 1897/98, on their way to a perceived fortune in Dawson City.  While we were there, we watched one of the float tours pass by under the bridge.

At the White Pass RR depot, we chatted with Margaret, while I purchased my ticket to ride the train this coming Friday.  I'll have the girls drive me up to Carcross, where I'll catch the train for the 67 mile trip back to Skagway.   When we lived here in the summers of 2004-2007,  Lake Bennett was the end of the line.  Now, the train can be ridden along the 27 mile shore of Lake Bennett, providing more spectacular scenery to the self described "scenic railway of the world"!  Yep, I'm excited!! 

 

I ended the day with a cold drink at the Bonanza Bar, where I met with two of my former co-workers, Joe & Matt.  We all drove tour buses for Skagway Tour Company, and had lots of fun times together.  I hadn't seen these guys in 6 years, and it was great to get together, and reminisce about our experiences and misadventures.  They are both still doing the same thing, and loving it!

Before driving back to the motor home, I watched the cruise ship Amsterdam pulling out of Skagway, headed back south through the longest Fijord in North America, the Lynn Canal.  90 Miles to the S/E is Juneau, the state capitol of Alaska, and most of the ships have either come to Skagway from Juneau, or leave here headed for Juneau.

Another great day in one of the most beautiful places on the planet!

Harding Glacier is the flat area above the cruise ship, and in between the two peaks.

A GIRL'S DAY

 The train will climb to the trestle and tunnel above, in a distance of about 5 miles.

Patty was in charge of the camera yesterday, as she and Nancy rode the train to the top of the White Pass, and back.  They were using the complimentary tickets given them by Margaret, who works for the White Pass RR.  It was a stunningly beautiful day, and these are a few of the pictures taken by Patty.

 In these two photos, the train is about to cross the wooden trestle, and enter the first of two tunnels.

 

 This original trestle was used up until 1969, when the White Pass started hauling heavy ore out of the Yukon.  The bridge was not strong enough for the heavy trains, so it was bypassed.

When the girls returned from their afternoon train ride, they met Lisa Hollander at the airport.  The three of them (and Rosie), hiked across the Skagway River pedestrian bridge, out to Yakatania Point, then over to Smuggler's cove where these two pictures were taken.

While the cats were away, this one mouse took advantage of some quiet time to catch up on some reading, and a few other things.  I also managed to cook up a batch of my famous stew, and did a little shopping for my Granddaughter Laila.  More beautiful weather is on the horizon for today.

 

CARCROSS, YUKON TO SKAGWAY, ALASKA

I wasn't going to post today, but some of the pictures I took yesterday, needed to be entered.  The first shot is of Bove Island, which is located in between Nares Lake & Windy Arm Lake.  During the Klondike Gold Rush, tens of thousands of gold seekers paddled their boats, rafts, or anything that would float, past the left of the island, and off into the distance toward the Yukon River.  Once they reached the river, they still had about 500 miles to go before they arrived near the goldfields at Dawson City.  Bove island is just off the South Klondike Hwy, a few miles south of Carcross.

 The South Klondike Hwy near the White Pass summit.

 Starting the 14 mile descent from the top of the White Pass.

The downgrade on the South Klondike Hwy into Skagway is long and steep, and requires some caution when driving large vehicles.  The grade is 8-10%, and when we started down from the top, I radioed Nancy to put the tranny in 2nd gear, and make sure the exhaust brake was on.  Even in 2nd gear, the road is steep enough to still require lots of brake applications before reaching the bottom.  For two summers, I drove buses up and down this hill, and never got tired of the absolutely incredible scenery.

When we arrived at the Corrington  property, approx. 3 miles north of town, we got the motor homes backed into our full hook up spaces, then headed out to the gold rush cemetery.  The two graves pictured are first - the notorious Soapy Smith, and second - the hero Frank Reid.  Soapy was the bad guy, and when Reid killed him in a gun fight, he became the town hero.  Unfortunately, he was also wounded in the shoot out, and died several days later.

 A short walk up the hill from the cemetery, is lower Reid Falls.

While at the cemetery, we watched a White Pass train pass by on it's return from the White Pass summit.  As I write this, Patty & Nancy are riding the train, thanks to Margaret's complimentary passes.

After finishing a great spaghetti dinner that Patty had prepared, we got a surprise visit from Sherry Corrington.  Sherry was Patty's boss for the four summers that we worked in Skagway.  Actually, Sherry was much more of a friend than a boss, and they enjoyed reminiscing about some of their experiences during those summers. 

These last two shots are looking at Harding Glacier from the cemetery.  This glacier is visible from just about anywhere in Skagway, and it's situated across the bay, almost due south of town.

 

DAY TRIP TO SKAGWAY

Not knowing exactly what our parking arrangements would be in Skagway, Patty and I decided to take the Jeep down for the day, and check out a few things.  Nancy decided to stay put, and mentally prepare herself for the drive down from the top of the very steep White Pass.

From Carcross, it's about a 60 mile drive to Skagway.  The South Klondike Hwy winds it's way past two large lakes, over the summit of the White Pass, and then descends down an 8-10% grade into Skagway.  It's a beautiful drive, and we both commented that it felt like we were returning home.

When crossing over the border, this very beautiful sign is the first thing that you see.  It's situated very near the top of the White Pass, and is a very popular stop for tourists and tour buses.  From the sign, it' downhill into Skagway.

Lots of hand made wood signs in the area.

 

This photo of Skagway was taken from the town overlook off Dyea Rd.

While we were in Skagway, we talked to Nancy Corrington, who directed us to see Mark at their property north of town.  It turned out that Mark is someone we got to know when we lived in Skagway, and we attended his wedding to Rebecca in 2007.  After we left in 07, he went to work for the Corringtons, and Patty and I did not put 2 & 2 together until we arrived on the property and realized who Mark was!  It was like a mini family reunion.  He had two spaces next to each other, and I quickly figured that the spaces were large enough for our motor homes.

Our next stop was to say hi to Lisa Hollander, who used to work for the same tour company that I did.  Lisa & Patty became good friends, and we've been in touch frequently during our 6 year absence from Skagway.  We made a few other stops in town, and by mid afternoon, started the drive back to Carcross.

At Canadian Customs (Fraser), a White Pass train is departing for the trip back to Skagway.

 

We had to pass through Canadian Customs at Fraser, reentering British Columbia for a short stretch, then back into the Yukon Territory at Carcross.  This morning, we drove the motor homes from Carcross to Skagway, and got situated on the Corrington property.  We'll be here for a week or so, not exactly sure how long.  Patty and Nancy are riding the train tomorrow, compliments of Margaret (Maggie)  Boughton,  who offered them two of her alloted complimentary passes she receives as an employee of the White Pass Railroad.  That was an unexpected surprise which was not anticipated.  Patty and Margaret were co-workers at one of the Corrington's retail stores, becoming good friends over the summers that we spent in Skagway.

No blog post tomorrow, as I've already described most of our activities for today.  

Carcross RV Park (2 days)  $52.40  Cumulative - $480.33
Miles traveled (Watson Lake - Carcross - 259  Cumulative - 3,774
Miles traveled (Carcross - Skagway)  - 65  Cumulative - 3,839

WATSON LAKE, YUKON TO CARCROSS, YUKON

The drive from Watson Lake to Carcross was about 250 miles, and the farther north we get, the better the scenery gets.  I decided to stop in Carcross, which is about 60 miles from Skagway, because I needed to check out our options for parking the motor homes, once we get to our old summer hometown.  The RV park in Carcross is in need of some serious work, no TV, no Internet, but at least we had a 30 amp outlet to plug into.
 
We drove the Jeep into Skagway this morning, and said hi to several old friends.  We also found that our old employer,  Nancy & Dennis Corrington had followed through with arrangements for us to park our motor homes on their property, where we'll have full hookups.

I'm posting this from the Skagway Library, and am running short of time, so.......take a look at the pictures from yesterday, and more tomorrow.

 Teslin Lake bridge, the longest on the Alaska Highway.

 This black bear was on the Tagish/Carcross road between Jakes Corner & Carcross.

 A few pictures from Carcross.

LIARD HOT SPRINGS, BC TO WATSON LAKE, YUKON

The first picture is representative of the Alaska Hwy from Liard Hot Springs to Watson Lake.  It's an excellent road with green belts on both sides, and the scenery, well........it's the Alaska Hwy!  We saw Black Bears in 3 or 4 different locations, and for the first time on this trip, some wild horses.  Most folks don't normally think of wild horses existing this far north, but they are here, and I took some photos to prove it. 

 

We had a short run yesterday, so we weren't in any big hurry to leave the hot springs.  I thought about another dip in the warm water, but decided that the two soaks the day before were enough.  

 This small group of wild horses looked like they needed some nutrition after a long, cold winter.

Just before getting to Watson Lake, we crossed into the Yukon Territory, and had to stop for a picture at the sign.  The entire population of the Yukon is under 40,000 people, and almost 30,000 live in the capitol city of Whitehorse.  The population of  Watson Lake is around 2,000.

 

 They have pretty signs up here.

The Downtown RV Park is exactly that.  It's centrally located, where you can walk to several attractions in Watson Lake, and the grocery store is right across the street.  The park is really nothing more than a large gravel parking lot with hookups, and the spaces are tight, but it's location is convenient.

We walked over to the sign post forest, Watson Lakes most well known attraction.  Started during WWII, during the construction of the Alaska Hwy, a lonely GI put up a sign that had the mileage back to his hometown in Illinois.  The number of signs now number around 75,000, and growing daily.  We first checked out the visitors center next to the sign post forest, and watched a short video on the building of the Alaska Hwy.  Then, we walked into the forest, looking for familiar names and places.

I had to take a picture of the Los Banos, CA sign, a place where Patty and I first met, and a Central CA town where we lived for several years.  Right above was a Tucson, AZ sign which is our current residence.

The girls walked over to the grocery store, while I caught up on the blog.  The WiFi here at the Downtown RV Park is OK, but it's not setting any world records for speed.  We're still contemplating another night here, or more probably moving on up the road.  We have a tentative arrival of this Saturday in Skagway, and we'll be there for about a week.

Liard Hot Springs - $21.00
Downtown RV Park Watson Lake - $39.50  Cumulative - $427.93
Diesel Petro Watson Lake - 263.6 liters @ $1.45 per liter = $5.48 per gallon = $371.88
Cumulative - $2,022.61
MPG - 8.0  Cumulative Average - 7.9
Miles driven - 130  Cumulative - 3,515