Alaska Adventure, Page 6

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A Wilderness Adventure — Page 6

Skagway: Gateway to the 1890s
Klondike Gold Rush
First port of call in the Inner Passage was Skagway, the historic town which in the late 1890's serverd as the stepping off point for folks eager to make their fortunes in the Klondike

A Seattle newspaper from July 17, 1897, reported that the steamship Portland arrived from Alaska with 68 miners and a cargo of “more than a ton of solid gold” from the banks of the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory. This set off a rush to Alaska.
Does one of the lucky miners look familiar?More on the story can be found at Washington State's History Link.

Now...
Travelers seeking treasure and pleasure overrun the town of 850 people nestled on the Inner Passage at the foot of the Skayway Mountains. Luxury busses transport tourists up the White Pass and high into Canadian Yukon Territory during the green, lush summer months. Many seek gold in the Skagway jewelry stores.

Then...
In the 1890s, desperate fortune seekers endured multiple, weary treks up the trecherous mountains hauling their worldly possessions by hand and mule through the passes, and 500 miles across the Yukon to reach the gold fields near Dawson City
Run your mouse over the photo at left to see the trek of the gold miners in the 1890s

We boarded a tour bus with a red-haired lass at the wheel to drive up White Pass, across the Canadian border into British Columbia, and further on into Canada's Yukon province. The scenery was spectacular, but we learned of the hardships endured by the men and horses and mules heading up toward Yukon's Caribou Crossing, where they would board vessels on Lake Bennett that took them to the Yukon River and up the river to Dawson City

A black bear munched on the spring grasses and bushes along the side of the road. Hey, these bears look just like the wooden ones they sell in the souvenier shops.

Caribou Crossing

Speaking of souvenier shops, there isn't much left of Caribou Crossing, now called Carcross, if there ever was much there. It was the terminus of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. However, nearby Caribou Crossing Trading Post (read: tourist trap) offers visitors a glimpse of both the pioneer days and modern day dog mushing. Covered chuck wagons were available to fill our bellies with a barbeque lunch. It wasn't quite as rustic as the viddles inset implies, but at least it wasn't McDonald's either.

Mark stands near caribou antlers at Caribou Crossing. We're grateful that he didn't mount the antlers on his head for this photo, though he did later pose in a Canadian Mounties cutout. Oy veh, can't take this mid-western tourist anywhere.

Mush!
Cherie, the penultimate dog hater, took a shine to the dog-sled huskies who offered tourists a summer ride on dog sleds (how do they do that?). The dogs love humans, and some of them were as cute as the black bears with their intelligent, yet innocent faces

Cherie stroked their fur and leaned in close to whisper encouragement to the friendly dogs. But like some women, petting's okay, but kissing is strickly off limits
Run your mouse over the photo to see her reaction to "Ugh, I've been kissed by a dog!"

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

It's cold up in the Yukon. We had a nice clear summer day, but the cars belied the ideallic setting—an electric plug drips out of the grill like a tear, to keep the engine warm in winter.

World's Smallest (and Coldest?) Desert

Chuckie Cactus, left, feels right at home in this miniature desert, albeit an arctic one. A junior desert for a junior cactus.
Run your mouse over the photo at left to see Chuckie beaming in his natural habitat

I must admit that Cherie and I felt at home here too, with the sand spreading around stunted trees and mountains on the horizon, below.

Carcross, Yukon
Caribou Crossing, on Lake Bennett, was the small town where miners loaded home-made or other vessels with their provisions to begin the water journey to Dawson Creek.

Passport to Adventure
Carcross reflects its historical ties to the railroad and miners. You can get your passport stamped here in the Yukon and show all your envious friends. See?

Back to Alaska

We bear-ly left Canada before finding an Alaskan black bear by the side of the road waiting to greet us.

Looking for lunch in all the wrong places

Skagway

Skagwag has a population of 850. Until, that is, four cruise ships dock in its harbor and disgorge their ballast, er, tourists, increasing the town's population ten-fold to 8,500.
At left is a view down the main street with one of those cruise ships in the distance.

Skagway, with its boardwalks and false-front clapboard buildings, reminds us of Tombstone, another mining town dating back to the late 19th century.
We bought hunting knives in one of the ivory shops, right. Cyndi volunteered to take one of my bags before re-boarding the ship, and when the knife tripped off the x-ray alarm, the guards asked if she was bringing a knife on board. "Of course not," she averred, not knowing I had a knife in the bag. We proceeded to go through a 20-minute interrogation at the hands of ship police. That was fun.

Skagway had a few red light houses, including one that had a bakery on the ground floor and a bordello on the second. Our guide pointed out that they served hot buns day and night. Grooooooooan
The Red Onion Saloon was another such place, where ladies of the night still look out upon the street, right.
Cherie seems to take exception to being lumped into this category in the Red Onion bar. Or maybe she'd just had enough of my #?!*@ camera by this point.

Happy Anniversary!

The four of us were celebrating our May anniversaries, and the ship was kind enough to add cake after dinner that night and to hang festive balloons over our room doors to make the festivities brighter

Cherie and I make a wish for at least another 27 years of wedded bliss as we blow out the candle, left

Continue on to Juneau Or Return to Glacier Bay

OrReturn to the Family Photo Album

A Seattle newspaper from July 17, 1897, reported that the steamship Portland arrived from Alaska with 68 miners and a cargo of “more than a ton of solid gold” from the banks of the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon Territory. This set off a rush to Alaska. Does one of the lucky miners look familiar?More on the story can be found at Washington State's History Link.

Now... Travelers seeking treasure and pleasure overrun the town of 850 people nestled on the Inner Passage at the foot of the Skayway Mountains. Luxury busses transport tourists up the White Pass and high into Canadian Yukon Territory during the green, lush summer months. Many seek gold in the Skagway jewelry stores.	Then... In the 1890s, desperate fortune seekers endured multiple, weary treks up the trecherous mountains hauling their worldly possessions by hand and mule through the passes, and 500 miles across the Yukon to reach the gold fields near Dawson City Run your mouse over the photo at left to see the trek of the gold miners in the 1890s


Caribou Crossing
	Speaking of souvenier shops, there isn't much left of Caribou Crossing, now called Carcross, if there ever was much there. It was the terminus of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. However, nearby Caribou Crossing Trading Post (read: tourist trap) offers visitors a glimpse of both the pioneer days and modern day dog mushing. Covered chuck wagons were available to fill our bellies with a barbeque lunch. It wasn't quite as rustic as the viddles inset implies, but at least it wasn't McDonald's either.

Brrrrrrrrrrr!
It's cold up in the Yukon. We had a nice clear summer day, but the cars belied the ideallic setting—an electric plug drips out of the grill like a tear, to keep the engine warm in winter.

World's Smallest (and Coldest?) Desert
	Chuckie Cactus, left, feels right at home in this miniature desert, albeit an arctic one. A junior desert for a junior cactus. Run your mouse over the photo at left to see Chuckie beaming in his natural habitat I must admit that Cherie and I felt at home here too, with the sand spreading around stunted trees and mountains on the horizon, below.

Carcross, Yukon Caribou Crossing, on Lake Bennett, was the small town where miners loaded home-made or other vessels with their provisions to begin the water journey to Dawson Creek.

Back to Alaska
We bear-ly left Canada before finding an Alaskan black bear by the side of the road waiting to greet us. Looking for lunch in all the wrong places

Skagway
	Skagwag has a population of 850. Until, that is, four cruise ships dock in its harbor and disgorge their ballast, er, tourists, increasing the town's population ten-fold to 8,500. At left is a view down the main street with one of those cruise ships in the distance.