Can’t believe we slept into almost 9AM this
morning. We heard water running during
the night and it was a soft rain. There
was low, misty cloud coverage over the mountains and significantly colder. We drove the short distance to Carcross so we
could see the businesses open in daylight.
Everyone was just opening for the season. The new Tlingit inspired visitor center is
really nice with all the symbols and totems.
We were surprised and privileged to see Keith Wolfe Smarch in one of the
stores. He is a renowned Tlingit
woodcarver and has a long family heritage in the Yukon. His Wolfe name is from his German father not
Tlingit mother’s clan. We stop off at the White Pass and Yukon RR Depot. There is an old iron swing bridge on the track
for this narrow gauge train. We end up getting tickets for tomorrow for the
Skagway to Fraser round trip. Even though we are driving near the same route it
will be a different experience from the train. The usual Skagway to Carcross
length of track is not yet open. This is
a favorite trip of the cruises that come into Skagway. Opting to go to Whitehorse and back via bus
and RR. The railroad used to run to Whitehorse but the track is defunct. Carcross
is a combined spelling of the old name, Caribou Crossing. The town has native and gold mining
history. It lies on the Bennet and Nares
Lakes. The Carcross Desert is here, a
remnant of old glacial lake that is studied by scientists. We see two moose in the marsh lands between
the two lakes. It is obvious that it is
snowing up in the mountain tops and that’s where we are going. We watch a convoy of at least 20 Class A and
truck/trailer combinations pull out; a US group heading for Ak. Even some of the Class A/s were pulling 18
foot trailers and or cars. We are glad
they are heading the other way because they would form at least a mile long
convoy that could not be passed. Don’t
know how they made it through the pass from Skagway. We begin our climb to
White Pass and nearby Chilkoot Summit.
We pass bus after bus of cruise people going north to Whitehorse and
Carcross from Skagway. On this day we
cross from Yukon Territory to British Columbia to Yukon then over the Canadian
Border into US border and pass into Alaska and our final time change, Alaska
Time Zone. We are in Brenna’s zone now
and 4 hours from Seth. The US border officer is from Michigan and gave us a
hard time about Michigan Wolverines versus Ohio State. She decided she would let us go but we did
need to have our fruit and veg okayed.
So the agricultural officer had to come in and look at our produce and
let us go. We are traveling in totally
snow covered terrain. We are getting
some snowflakes but nothing sticks, however there are big snow storms going on
higher up. Out of the blue a little hairy marmot pops out, s/he knows spring is
on the way. We come into a very tight
valley and we have an 11% grade sometimes straight down without curves. We can see the railroad tracks across the
valley and can’t believe we will be traveling on that rickety thing
tomorrow. We literally roll downhill
into Skagway. Chuck has downshifted and
braked for the last few miles. We’re a bit early to get into the next
campground so we take a quick detour on the Dyea Road. What were we thinking. It quickly turns bad, hugging the side of the
mountain, no guardrails, narrow for one and a half cars let alone an RV. They are doing construction so it is mud and
gravel. We are riding along the estuary
of the Tayea River. It’s still overcast
but not snowing down here and they are in real spring. It’s very scary going back the road but we
eventually get to the National Chilkoot Park.
It’s pothole heaven but at least it’s level. We walk the tidal flats where the old town of
Dyea was, the only thing left are the rotted pilings from late 1800’s to early
1900’s town that provided provisions for miner climbing the Chilkoot. We visit the cemetery of past miners and
their families. The Slide Cemetery is
commemorating those killed in a huge spring avalanche. We take a quick pic of
the Chilkoot Trailhead (the long deadly march into the gold fields). Meanwhile the sky has cleared and we have the
most incredible sunny day. The new snow
on the mountain tops is brilliant. We
catch a quick view above the town and see the whole area plus the 4 big cruise
ships docked. Two Princess and two Norwegian. We get to our campground that sits right at
the small boat harbor. The cruise ships
are out our door. The RR runs nearby, it
ends here in Skagway. There are 9 Ak RV’s
in tonight so we haven’t broken our record of seeing one every day. The town is
hopping. We were concerned Skagway had
turned into Alaska Disneyland. In some
ways it has but its okay. The scenery is
still incredible, the wilderness is steps away. The town is still recognizable
in the old pictures and the shops are interesting. It’s done well. The National Parks have taken over a good
share of the buildings, renovated and made them into museums; they’ve done a
nice job. Of course they operate the
Chilkoot Trail, about 36 miles long and hiked by many. There are several businesses
that have remained Alaska owned which is preferable. We walk over and check out the cruise
ships. Not sure how we feel about their
invasion but one can’t fail but be impressed. By 9PM tonight the last one pulled out. They were so quiet we didn’t know they’d
gone. We stop off at the Bonanza
Bar. It’s a little wild with loud music
but a tribute to the gold town days. We
have our Alaskan White and a halibut dinner.
Eventually we find Skagway Brewing Company and try a flight of their
brews. They only brew and sell draft here. They will be at the Haines Beer Festival when
we get there. The harbor seems empty
with the big ships gone but very peaceful with the little boats bobbing. When we awake, 3 more cruise ships will have
docked so their absence is only temporary.
We will board the Alaska Ferry right next to them day after
tomorrow. It’s been a good day, a little
scary at times, never boring. Nighty
night.
RV Mileage total today 85
Total RV Mileage 3543
Total road miles 4459
Hours traveled today: 9 hours with stops
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