Alaska Adventure Part Three - On To Skagway
We hit our first real gravel road surface in a construction zone as we pulled out of the campground in Watson Lake. Not sure if it was a good thing, but the water truck had gone up the road just in front of us. No dust, but mud to deal with. Poor See-More. It has had its first initiation of road grime on from the Alcan.
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| Road Construction on the Alcan Highway |
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| See-More's New Livery |
We stopped for coffee and sweet rolls at a cafe at Rancheria (ran-chur-REE-a) that George had visited on a previous trip. New owners and no sweet rolls either. So we had little fruit bread loaves in place of them. Meh, just okay.
It was a short drive day (less than 150 miles) to Teslin, YT where we stopped for the night. More tight sites and limited wi-fi at the cafe building. The mosquitos were out in force so I opted to not feed the blood-thirsty little buggers just to have internet.
Leaving Teslin for Skagway, Alaska the next morning, I saw one bear then farther up the road, another two on the way to Carcross, YT.
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| What's that up ahead? |
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| Why, it's a black bear! |
Finally, we made it to Alaska on June 24th! Crossing into the U.S. was a breeze. From Customs, it was a 13% road grade winding down into Skagway.
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| Cool cloud formation |
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| We're here!! |
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| Waterfalls along the road |
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| Hello, Skagway! |
We stayed at an older RV park near the edge of town in Skagway. No wi-fi, unless you want to pony up $$$, but we had cell service and a few TV channels. Skagway is a real tourist trap because of the cruise ships that come into the port daily during the cruise ship season. Tons of jewelry stores on the main drag.
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| Cruise ships in port |
Saturday we went to Dyea (Die-eeee) and saw our first brown, aka grizzly, bear. We had driven out on the tidal flats and there he was, off in the distance, safely away from us.
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| One of the bays on the way to Dyea |
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| Mr. Grizzly |
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| Tidal Flats at Dyea |
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| Wild Iris at Dyea |
The highlight of our visit to Skagway was riding the narrow-gauge White Pass and Yukon railroad. It was built to make it easier for men get to get to the goldfields in the Klondike during the Gold Rush of 1898. Started in May 1898, it took two years, two months, and two days to complete the 110 miles of railroad. By then, the gold rush was over. Today it gives visitors a glimpse back in time to the turn of the 20th century.
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| Here she comes! |
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| Looking across to U. S. Customs |
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| One of two tunnels |
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| Looking back towards Skagway |
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| Inside Car #216 |
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| Doing the "Summit Shuffle" |
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| The famous gorge bridge |
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| At the summit |
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| Heading back down the mountain |
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| More downhill fun |
We finished up our train ride with a visit to the Red Onion Saloon in "downtown" Skagway where the waitstaff get into character.
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| Red Onion Saloon Hijinks |
You stayed at the same park we did in Skagway -- and our opinion of the city was exactly the same as yours -- but we loved our hike around Daya and agree the train trip was fabulous. So yeah -- keep on having fun.
ReplyDeleteNice photos! I would love to take that train ride.
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