Day 17 – June 22, 2008
Sunday, we did the total tourist thing. No motorcycle riding. After a quick breakfast we beat feet down to the “Fast Ferry” dock in the harbor and boarded the 0900 hour ferry to Skagway, $60.00 each please, round trip. The ferry ride took about thirty minutes across the fjord to Skagway.
Skagway is a quaint little town. One of their claims to fame is the narrow gauge Whitehorse & Yukon Railroad hauling passenger cars with old steam or diesel-electric locomotives chugging up the famous Chilcoot Trail from Skagway, AK, to Whitehorse, YK. The steam locomotive is particularly impressive as it belches clouds of white steam from its stack into the cold damp air while its whistle resonates through the town announcing its departure.
We elected to do a walking tour of Skagway, a town with a rich gold prospecting history dating back to the 1890’s. Interestingly, the Canadian government required all of the “Stampeders” (gold prospectors) to bring one year’s worth of supplies from Skagway when entering the Yukon Territory via the Chilcoot Trail to seek their fortunes. It’s reported that the Chilcoot Trail became littered with the remains of dead horses, mules, Stampeders, and their abandoned goods during the harsh winter months. While some prospectors did strike it rich, most did not. The real money was made by those selling goods and services to the Stampeders, including intimate companionship, if you know what I mean.
Today, the streets of Skagway are still lined with gold in a sense; the number of jewelry stores is only exceeded by the number of T-shirt stores along Broadway, the main drag. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common theme for most cruise ship ports these days, worldwide.
Skagway is a good shopping opportunity for souvenirs of Alaska, other than just T-shirts, including jewelry and hand-carved and painted native artifacts of the region. We were drawn to the local Harley-Davidson T-shirt store in town like moths to a flame, where we once again felt compelled to purchase T-shirts. It really is a sickness.
One of Skagway’s must-see attractions is the Gold Rush Cemetery, a short 1 1/2 mile hike from the town center. It’s located in a thick rain forest environment. The headstones are a stark reminder of just how harsh and short life was in the pioneering days of early Alaska settlements. It was rare to find a headstone where the interned was over forty years of age. We only found one that exceeded seventy years. There were many young children buried there, mostly the victims of diseases long since eliminated by modern vaccinations.
Following a tree and fern lined trail through the cemetery, one comes upon the Reid Waterfall cascading down the mountainside, long heard before it can be seen. At the base of the waterfall, a couple from northern California was scooping up the sand swirling at their feet. “Look at the gold flakes in this sand,” the husband said to his wife, as he filled a small container. I told him that he was collecting worthless iron pyrite flakes, otherwise known as “fool’s gold,” but he seemed undeterred. Must be gold fever, hope it’s not contagious.
After returning to Haines on the afternoon ferry, we still had the time and the daylight (there is no end of the summer daylight here) to finally turn the hose on our bikes. We set up a production line and gave our four bikes a well-deserved bath. It made us fell better, and I’m sure the bikes appreciated it, as well.
That evening, we walked down to the small boat harbor and had supper at the Lighthouse restaurant. It was a little short on ambiance, but the food was good. Later, we killed our third bottle of Jack Daniels Old No. 7 since leaving Santa Clarita.
Before retiring, my travel companions presented me with a bottle of Jack Daniels, Single Barrel Whiskey, and a rare commodity in Alaska, for my planning, navigation, and Alaska guide services. Thank you very much my friends. It’s much appreciated. All in all, it was a very good day.
Sunday, we did the total tourist thing. No motorcycle riding. After a quick breakfast we beat feet down to the “Fast Ferry” dock in the harbor and boarded the 0900 hour ferry to Skagway, $60.00 each please, round trip. The ferry ride took about thirty minutes across the fjord to Skagway.
Skagway is a quaint little town. One of their claims to fame is the narrow gauge Whitehorse & Yukon Railroad hauling passenger cars with old steam or diesel-electric locomotives chugging up the famous Chilcoot Trail from Skagway, AK, to Whitehorse, YK. The steam locomotive is particularly impressive as it belches clouds of white steam from its stack into the cold damp air while its whistle resonates through the town announcing its departure.
We elected to do a walking tour of Skagway, a town with a rich gold prospecting history dating back to the 1890’s. Interestingly, the Canadian government required all of the “Stampeders” (gold prospectors) to bring one year’s worth of supplies from Skagway when entering the Yukon Territory via the Chilcoot Trail to seek their fortunes. It’s reported that the Chilcoot Trail became littered with the remains of dead horses, mules, Stampeders, and their abandoned goods during the harsh winter months. While some prospectors did strike it rich, most did not. The real money was made by those selling goods and services to the Stampeders, including intimate companionship, if you know what I mean.
Today, the streets of Skagway are still lined with gold in a sense; the number of jewelry stores is only exceeded by the number of T-shirt stores along Broadway, the main drag. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common theme for most cruise ship ports these days, worldwide.
Skagway is a good shopping opportunity for souvenirs of Alaska, other than just T-shirts, including jewelry and hand-carved and painted native artifacts of the region. We were drawn to the local Harley-Davidson T-shirt store in town like moths to a flame, where we once again felt compelled to purchase T-shirts. It really is a sickness.
One of Skagway’s must-see attractions is the Gold Rush Cemetery, a short 1 1/2 mile hike from the town center. It’s located in a thick rain forest environment. The headstones are a stark reminder of just how harsh and short life was in the pioneering days of early Alaska settlements. It was rare to find a headstone where the interned was over forty years of age. We only found one that exceeded seventy years. There were many young children buried there, mostly the victims of diseases long since eliminated by modern vaccinations.
Following a tree and fern lined trail through the cemetery, one comes upon the Reid Waterfall cascading down the mountainside, long heard before it can be seen. At the base of the waterfall, a couple from northern California was scooping up the sand swirling at their feet. “Look at the gold flakes in this sand,” the husband said to his wife, as he filled a small container. I told him that he was collecting worthless iron pyrite flakes, otherwise known as “fool’s gold,” but he seemed undeterred. Must be gold fever, hope it’s not contagious.
After returning to Haines on the afternoon ferry, we still had the time and the daylight (there is no end of the summer daylight here) to finally turn the hose on our bikes. We set up a production line and gave our four bikes a well-deserved bath. It made us fell better, and I’m sure the bikes appreciated it, as well.
That evening, we walked down to the small boat harbor and had supper at the Lighthouse restaurant. It was a little short on ambiance, but the food was good. Later, we killed our third bottle of Jack Daniels Old No. 7 since leaving Santa Clarita.
Before retiring, my travel companions presented me with a bottle of Jack Daniels, Single Barrel Whiskey, and a rare commodity in Alaska, for my planning, navigation, and Alaska guide services. Thank you very much my friends. It’s much appreciated. All in all, it was a very good day.
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