Skagway

Alaska has always called to me, as I think it does to other travelers. When landing in Anchorage, the Chugach mountains are always bigger than I had remembered, and the greenery more lush than I had imagined. I had only been to southeast Alaska once, in high school. We spent a week in Metlakatla for a church trip. In the history of my life, I have never gotten up on purpose just to be, except for that week. The church had a large set of stairs that I sat on each morning, just taking it all in. The scenery begs to be painted, climbed, written about, and explored.

This brings us to Skagway.

Skagway was borne of the Klondike Gold Rush. We've all heard of the Chilkoot Trail, right? Skagway is home to the sister trail, the White Pass Trail. Hundreds of thousands of hopeful gold seekers started their journey in Skagway. Well, I mean, they didn't start here, but here's where the real journey began.  Men would gather supplies, and haul them up the mountain, where they would build a boat and float down the Yukon to Dawson City, where the gold was supposedly to be found. Fun fact: most of the prospectors in the Klondike Gold Rush traveled there roughly two years after gold was originally found. By the time they got there, most of the creek claims had already been taken, leaving no place for the newcomers. Not so fun fact: the alternate name for this trail is "The Dead Horse Trail". Ew.  About 3,000 horses and other pack animals died along the trail, mostly from starvation. :(  You'll be happy to know that there is not a picture for that terrible fact!

Nowadays, there's a train that goes up the mountain, parallel to the original trail. So many men, horses and wagons traveled the route, that the trail is clearly visible from the train. And it's a tiny trail. It's difficult to imagine a horse and wagon fitting on the trail, and nearly impossible to imagine two way traffic.

At the top of White Pass, it's only 3,000 feet in elevation, but it's a true alpine type ecosystem. The trees are shorter, the shrubs heartier, and there are lots of lush meadows. It's so beautiful. At the US/Canadian border, we left the train, and took a bus through the northern edge of British Columbia and into the Yukon Territory.

We doubled back on the same road and stopped at the Yukon Suspension Bridge which goes across the Tutshi Canyon.  Talk about magnificent! And a little terrifying. ;) It was extremely bouncy, and while there were tall fenced sides, there wasn't an actual handrail.  But again, it was so beautiful. T&L have been to a lot of amazing places in our lives, particularly this year. Who knew this was all but in our backyard?

On the way back, we saw people biking back down the South Klondike Highway. How much fun would that be? I'd also like to drive all the way to Whitehorse one day. And the bucket list grows.

Back at the ship, Thelma was sunburned and a little overheated, and she took a nap. Louise opted for her own adventure which included a walk around town and ice cream. Isn't vacationing grand?