Thursday, 16 May 2019
Skagway, Alaska, USA
For reasons unknown to me, I’d assumed that the deck 9 Lido buffet restaurant was the only place to get breakfast. It’s with some glee, therefore, that I discover that the fine dining restaurant does breakfast. After all these days queuing in a noisy and overcrowded buffet, it’s rather nice to start the day with a bit of peace and quiet and a full English breakfast, served at my table, rather than having to join the morbidly obese in a scrum (I should point out that not everyone is morbidly obese on this ship).
Have to say, that I really am enjoying this cruising malarkey. So relaxing. And if you know where to go on board, rather peaceful. As a friend remarked, you won’t know there are 2,000 other people on board. She’s not wrong.
Long day ahead. Trip into the Yukon. Crossing the border back into Canada. Young female bus driver can’t quite get the gear changes smooth as she goes up the hill and we lurch forward every time. As she remarks, “Shift happens.”
Not long before we see our first wild bear by the roadside. A small cub scrambling up the verge foraging for food. Half an hour later, an adult bear is standing by the roadside. Quite a sight to see a bear in the wild. Drive straight through the US border without being stamped out. The Canadian border at Fraser consists of an Immigration officer jumping on board the bus and giving a cursory glance at our passport ID page. Lot less faff than Vancouver cruise terminal.
Short stop just after the border for a 5 minute photo opportunity. This turns into a 20 minute stop as everyone wants to use the onboard toilet on the bus. It being the only place for miles around. Or we could use the ‘lavatrees’. Get it? Made me laugh anyway.
Further hour’s drive through sensational snowy scenery. Really are in the wilds now driving along the Klondike Highway to Carcross.
This region is well known for the gold rush that started when gold was discovered in the Klondike in 1896. To reach the gold, Skagway was the main port of entry and from there it was a hike up the White Pass or Chilkoot trails to the Yukon river and onwards to the Klondike river.
The White Pass and Yukon Railway was subsequently built up the White Pass route to ferry miners from Skagway up the mountain to the Yukon River lakes at Carcross.
Lunch stop at Caribou Crossing is dreadful. Set up purely for cruise ship tourists, it’s main selling point is dog sledding. $45 for a quick dog sled ride. But here’s the thing. As you will see from the video below. You sit on a motorised buggy. With dogs ‘pulling’ said buggy. Not quite the real thing.
Pass through the Carcross desert. Glacial deposits ground down over millions of years to leave sand. Apparently the world’s smallest desert. Carcross is a one horse town. Exists on the proceeds of cruise ship tourists arriving by the coach load. Not much to see. A new ‘arts and crafts’ shopping area has been constructed to showcase local arts. The original station and railway bridge still stand from the gold rush era. This would have been a major staging post, transferring all the gear from train to the boats that would then navigate the Yukon river and lakes through to the Klondike river at Dawson City, over 500 miles away.
The oldest store in Carcross has a sign in one of the display cabinets, ‘Shoplifters will be shot. This is the law of the Yukon.’ Suspect that’s quite accurate. Really are in the wilds up here.
Return to Fraser to catch the White Pass and Yukon railway back to Skagway. 90 minutes of sensational scenery. Snow capped mountains. Frozen lakes. Two wild bears by the tracks. Original wooden trestle rickety bridges, thankfully not used now. The cloud has cleared and blue sky and sun shines down. What an amazing vista. Such is life here that the train stops on request to pick up hikers who have been walking the trails.
One of the best rail journeys I’ve done. A must for anyone visiting Skagway. I know one of you reading this is doing it in August. You will love it, my dear.
Skagway is a bit more upmarket than Juneau and Ketchikan. The whole town is a Historic Landmark and the centre has no pavements. Just raised boardwalks like it used to be. Wooden buildings and canopies line the main street.
Could almost be a film set for, say, Back to the Future III.
