Skagway

The old Gold Rush graveyard in the abandoned town of Dyea. Started out as an Indian fishing village until the start of the rush in 1897 when about 8,000 stampeders moved in to stage for the trek up the Chilkoot trail towards the gold fields of the Yukon. Because of its proximity to the trailhead it quickly became overrun with men anxious to get on with it. These particular graves mark about 70 men who died during an avalanche on the trail in April 1898.



Most of the town evaporated as quickly as it sprang up, but there are a few indicators of its former glory, like this storefront from an old real estate office on what used to be Main Street.



It really is a pretty little place, as this view down the valley from the old town site indicates.



The Chilkoot Trail

We were anxious to stretch our legs a bit after being cooped up on the ferry for 3 days, so we headed for the nearby trail.








This is one of the famous photos of the Chilkoot Pass during the winter of 1897-98, showing the prospectors cheek to jowl heading up the 45 degree incline to the summit...at which point they entered Canada. There were Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the top, checking that everyone had the required 2,000 pounds of food and equipment - the intention being to ensure that each man had enough to survive the first year. Took most of them between 30 and 40 trips to haul all their gear up this pass. They'd horse a load up to the top, cache it, then slide back down to the starting point on their shovels to pick up another load and do it all over again. Once at the top they made for a lake at the other end of the trail where they'd build rafts or boats (anything that would float) to get their gear down the Yukon River, past the town of Whitehorse and on to Dawson City where the Klondike gold fields were actually located.




Another look at the line going up the pass. The area at the bottom was called "The Scales", where they weighed their gear and got a receipt they had to show to the RCMP's at the top in order to receive permission to enter Canada and continue their journey.




The Chilkoot Trail actually departs from Dyea. Our hike went from the Ranger Station to Finnegan's Point.

We were hoping to be able to hike up and over the pass, but turned out that it was located 16 miles into the 33 mile hike, which was a little beyond our range...we're just day hikers after all, so we settled for just doing the first leg - to a feature called Finnegan's Point at about the 5 mile point. Made for a relatively easy 10 mile round trip, although since a lot of it was thru a swamp we were bombarded by squadrons of Alaskan mosquitoes all the way. Thank goodness for DEET otherwise we likely wouldn't have survived the experience. As it was they hovered around us in clouds...apparently waiting for the instant when the DEET wore off to swoop in. Any place that wasn't treated was immediately attacked...had several of the little SOB's actually bite thru my GLOVES until I had finally to spray them too.



Getting ready to head up the trail.



Doesn't take long to come across some of the wreckage and reminders of the old days...like this old cabin a few miles in.


Skagway

Our cabin was located about 9 miles into the back country and down a twisty gravel road. Stayed there mainly because of the close proximity to the trailhead, but was nice to be out in the countryside and away from the hordes of cruise ship passengers that descend upon the town during the season. The town really was quite nice...just wall to wall bodies on the days the boats are in.



One of the fun side trips was out to the Gold Rush cemetery where all of the old "characters" are buried. The "Unknown" in the foreground was some dude who tried to rob the local bank by shoving several sticks of dynamite into his pockets and then approached the teller to make his demand for the money. Unfortunately as he tried to pull his pistol from his belt it discharged and ignited the dynamite. Story is that there wasn't a whole lot left of him to bury. Did a nice job remodeling the bank though.



The falls just above the graveyard. Named for a gent named Frank Reid, who died in a shootout in July of 1898 with a local outlaw called Soapy Smith. Both are buried in the cemetery, although Reid's grave is in a place of honor with a big obelisk for a marker while Soapy's is located just outside the entrance.




It really was a neat place to just walk around - especially in the early evening when the cruise ship folks go back aboard for dinner.



Looking south down Broadway.

We spent most of the second day in town just wandering around. Had lunch, then decided to see the local "Days of '98" vaudeville-type show they do every night. Turned out to be a lot of fun, especially since the dance hall floozies grabbed me out of the audience and pulled me up on stage for part of the show. Not sure how much Rita enjoyed it, but I sure did.

We're here thru tomorrow, then have a short drive up to Whitehorse - our first venture into the Yukon.

The Alaska Marine Highway

Our ferry was the MV Columbia - not the Kennicott as I mentioned in the previous blog entry. The Kennicott does the northern half of the run...from Juneau to Anchorage and back. The Columbia does the southern half...from Bellingham to Skagway and return.

Our drive up to Bellingham on the 23rd was uneventful. After getting checked in to our hotel we had a chance to explore the pretty little town of Fairhaven (where the ferry terminal is actually located) and grab some dinner before settling in for the night. Stopped by the ferry terminal just to get our bearings for the following day and were able to take care of the administrative check-in procedures while we were there - thus saving a bit of hassle the day of the sailing. That done, we were able to sleep in the next morning, then drove down to the ferry dock just before 11:00 AM to queue up for the actual boarding...which wasn't scheduled to begin until 3:00PM. So...we locked up the car and walked the couple of blocks back up into the town to do a little more exploring and (hopefully) a little walking before settling in for the 3 days of forced inactivity on the ship.. Found a nice shoreline walk that connected Fairhaven to Bellingham, and after a one hour power walk we caught the local bus back to Fairhaven in time to have a leisurely lunch before heading back to the car. As luck would have it we were the first ones loaded aboard, which meant we were able to hustle up to the Purser's Office and get the keys to our stateroom before the rush began. Worked out pretty slick... even had a chance to take a quick nap before the ship pushed off at 6:00 PM.



Although there are stateroom cabins available, those traveling on a budget have the option of just pitching a tent on deck for their 2 or 3 day trip (depending upon where they get off) . The choice spots are those under cover, but fortunately we didn't get rained on so everyone stayed pretty dry. There are recliner seats available for sleeping inside, and the public restrooms include showers and laundry facilities, so it really is a great deal, if not quite as comfortable as the cabins.

I had forgotten how time can drag aboard ship. Our mini cruise last year on the BC ferry up to Prince Rupert was only 15 hours, and all of that in daylight, so the novelty and enjoyment never had a chance to wear off. Not so this trip. The first 37 hours were all cruising...up the inside passage which was as beautiful as before, but with nothing except meals (and reading, playing with the Ipod, etc) to break up the monotony of shipboard life. Started to remind me of those long months aboard the Enterprise & Independence - especially on the days I couldn't get away for a while by going flying. Not sure if we were both a bit jaded by our previous experience on the BC ferry, but this voyage paled in comparison to that one...stateroom not quite as nice, the food not quite as good, and the ship not quite up to the Canadian standard. We did enjoy the trip but I must confess that the thought of being stuck aboard ship on longer cruises (even if they are the luxury kind) doesn't exactly pique my enthusiasm. I tend to agree with an old Samuel Johnson quote I once heard, when he supposedly opined that "life aboard a ship is exactly like being in jail... except with the added danger of drowning". I'm with you, Sam.

Skagway was the last stop on the northbound trip, as well as the end of the line for this particular cruise. Stops along the way included Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, and Haines - each time for about an hour or two- just long enough to unload those getting off (with their vehicles) and load up for the next leg. Most of the cities along the inside passage can only be accessed by ship (or air) so the only way for local Alaskans to get their cars from one town to the next is via the ferry, ie the Alaska Marine Highway.

Our first stop was in Ketchikan the morning of the 3rd day, and we were in line early to walk off and stretch our legs for a bit. Had enough time to walk into the town and grab breakfast at the Pioneer Cafe before we had to retrace our steps back to the ship. Wanted to get off in Juneau but we were only there from 0445-0645 - a little early for us - so we gave it a miss.

Our last day aboard was really very enjoyable. Didn't hurt that the sun finally appeared and made for a truly spectacular day as we sailed up thru some of the prettiest scenery of the whole trip approaching the town of Haines. It was a real pleasure to be up on deck just taking it all in. Saw whales, Orcas, and dolphins in the water, more bald eagles than we could count, and some terrific views of the surrounding mountains. Made it seem like a cruise up one of the Norwegian Fjiords. About the only thing I can equate it to is Milford Sound in New Zealand - one of the prettiest places we've seen.





Itching to get off the boat during our layover in Ketchikan.


Trying to find a local cafe for breakfast before the 5 (count 'em!) cruise ships in port that day disgorged their passengers and instantly quadrupled the size of the town.

Saw several of these remote fishing lodges as we cruised north the 2nd day. Near this one I noticed what appeared to be white balls in some of the spruce trees - almost looked like someone had trimmed a Christmas tree with ornaments or something. A closer look revealed that they were actually bald eagles (at least 30 of them) perched in the nearby trees waiting for the days catch to be cleaned...and thus gaining an easy meal.



Some of the spectacular scenery on the way north.

More


And still more. You can make out one of the several glaciers we saw moving down the nearby valleys.


We finally arrived in Skagway yesterday afternoon. Staying in a cabin about 7 miles from town near the old gold rush town (now abandoned) called Dyea, which is only about a quarter of a mile from the Chilkoot trailhead. Time to dig out the hiking boots, dust off the shipboard rust, and do some exploring.

Off To Alaska

Our "Float Plan" for the voyage. For info, Prince Rupert is as far as we got last year on the BC Ferry during the Canadian trip, so we'll be repeating some of the same part of the Inside Passage we covered last year.



Well, we're finally off on the big adventure to Alaska that's been in the planning for almost a year - since we returned from the Western Canada trip last year in fact. Will be driving up to Bellingham tomorrow morning to be in place for boarding the ferry on Friday afternoon. It's about a 5 hour drive and, although we could probably have done it Friday morning, I didn't want to have to worry about possible delays on I-5 ... especially going thru Seattle...so we're leaving a day early and just spending the night up there.

The ferry takes nearly 3 days to get to Skagway - arriving there Monday afternoon the 27th. We'll be staying just out of town, in a little place called Dyea - near the Chilcoot Pass trailhead. Hope to be able to walk at least part of the route that the gold rush stampeders had to traverse back in 1898 to get to the gold fields up near Dawson City.

After that the rest of the itinerary looks like this:

1-3 July in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory (YT)

3-7 July in Dawson City, YT

7-8 July passing thru the little town of Tok

8-15 July in Anchorage. Several State Parks we want to check out for hiking opportunities.

15-20 July catching the ferry from Whittier across Prince William Sound to the small town of Cordova.

20-22 July catching another ferry over to the port of Valdez

22-26 July in and around McCarthy in Wrangell-Elias National Park. The road in used to be
a 62 mile nightmare. Still unpaved but supposedly the State actually does grade it
occasionally so it's supposed to be passable by 2WD autos. Bought a full size spare before the trip especially for this leg.

26-28 July in Glenallen

28 July - 1 Aug in Fairbanks

1-15 Aug in Denali National Park. Everything I've heard indicates that this will be a highlight,
so we're making it a point to spend plenty of time here.

15-19 Aug driving to Anchorage, then flying to Sitka. After reading the chapters in Michener's
Alaska about the old Russian fur trading town of Archangel (modern Sitka) it was a
must-see

19-22 Aug back to Anchorage and driving down to the Kenai peninsula...first stop the town of
Hope.

22-29 Aug in Homer...supposed to be an especially pretty place.

29 Aug-1 Sept back across the peninsula to Seward

1 Sept will be driving back up to Anchorage and dropping off the car for shipment back to
Seattle (Tacoma actually). The car won't be arriving there for pickup until the 8th.

2-8 Sept Flying over to Kodiak while the car works its way south

8-9 Sept Flying to Seattle, spending the night, (hopefully) collecting the car at the dock in
Tacoma, and then driving back home to Vancouver.


Don't know about cell phone connectivity outside Anchorage & Fairbanks, but we'll have them with us as we move around.

Below is a photo of our trusty ship, the MV Kennicott.




Depending upon internet connectivity along the way, and assuming that my hiking partner remembers to bring the camera, we'll be blogging as we go.