Skagway
The city of Skagway.
Our last Alaskan port was at Skagway. This small town was one of a few entry points miners used to penetrate the Alaskan frontier on the trail of the Klondike. The port, that at one time held four cruise ships, seemed bigger than the town itself. The city was nestled by large, green mountains that seemed to rise thousands of feet straight up. For our excursion tour, Erich and I took a ride on the White Pass Train. It is a small gadge passenger train that runs along the Skagway River canyon along the trail to the Klondike and Yukon. Our trek took us as far as the Canadian border.
A view of the train, below about 100 feet drop.
Skagway River at start of White Pass train ride.
|
The train ride gave us some amazing views along the canyon. They also gave Erich a lot of scares as some parts of the track were literally hanging on the edge of the cliffs. The slow moving Skagway River turned into a swelling river as we moved interior, at one point identified as Level 6 on the river rafting scale (impossible/potentially fatal). As we preceded further interior, the fog rolled in and the rained poured. It was some of the most breathtaking views we'd seen all trip. |
|
After we returned from our train ride, we decided to walk around the city. Out of all the cities we visited, Skagway was the least interesting. The city itself isn't much more than one long strip of tourist shops. It was about 10 blocks long, and 4 wide. But, the main street was the only place worth spending time. At least some of the stores provided some interesting, native artwork and provided everyone the first chance for Starbuck's coffee! Although at $5 for a coffee, Erich decided to decline. If I ever make it back to Skagway, the only thing I want to do is to buy that $90 ivory sea otter I found . It was only 3 inches tall, but was so adorable! It reminded me of Ling.
Downtown Skagway, the most prominent building in Skagway (middle left)
|
After our walk up the main street, we headed back to the ship. We left that evening and headed on our way, leaving Alaska. The next day, on open sea, was miserable. The large, undulating sea provided Erich some downtime to do homework, and Scott a first oppurtunity to experience sea sickness. After not being able to keep breakfast down, and not be able to touch anything for lunch, the sea finally calmed down and we could both enjoy dinner and a last night at sea. |
|
