It is a short 113 miles from Whitehorse Yukon to
Skagway Alaska, 66 of which have to be one of the most spectacular and scenic
roads we have ever been on containing some very unique landscapes.
The drive from Whitehorse to Carcross was
somewhat uneventful, there is one nice scenic pullout overlooking Emerald Lake.
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Emerald Lake just north of Carcross |
The town of Carcross is cute and a nice place to
stop and explore on your way through the area. We stopped at got a scone at the
bakery. A scone the size of a small child that Barb and I split and then her
and Daisy split the next morning. I swear the thing weighed 5#’s!
But it was the drive between Carcross and
Skagway that left us absolutely speechless. The South Klondike Highway follows a water system for
many miles with a backdrop of snowcapped mountains. You could actually sense
the history here as you pass some of the abandoned mines.
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Which one do you like better......color.... |
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....or B&W? |
Along the way we saw a black bear with a brown
coat as well as some mountain goats. The bear was feeding along the road and
when I pulled up and started giving it my imitation black bear noises it
actually walked up to the truck and put his front paws on our rear bumper
sniffing around! We tried to get a picture of it but the angle was wrong.
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You talk'in to me? |
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Here I come! |
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These mountain goats were wayyyyy up the mountain |
As you reach higher elevations that landscape
becomes very rocky with hundreds if not thousands of pools of water surrounded
by snow and stunted windblown pines. It is really hard to describe but it is
like nothing we have ever seen before. I don’t know if it was the time of the
year with the snow mottled landscape or if it is just as beautiful in the
summer or fall when the snow has melted.
Crossing over the U.S. border was very smooth
with the usual questions. He did ask to see Daisy’s rabies papers stating that
Alaska is rabies free and they are pretty strict about that. After crossing the
border you start a long decent down the mountain with several waterfalls along
the roadway.
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The landscape is vast and goes on forever.....see that tiny waterfall in the bottom left? |
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It is not really that tiny.... |
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But it gets lost in the vast landscape |
Arriving in Skagway we took a quick drive around
town before heading to our campsite at
Klondike Gold Rush Dyea Campground. We intentionally arrived on Friday
hoping to avoid what might be a busy weekend given it was Victoria Day in Canada (like our Memorial Day). The campground was only about 1/3 full
and we found a spot quickly. The unexpected bonus was that it was free! They
don’t start charging until May 27
th.
Immediately upon parking I hadn’t taken two
steps out of the truck when I was approached by a woman who said she was from
Whitehorse and was here for the long weekend. She said we were lucky to get a
site as everyone from Whitehorse comes to this area on the long weekend. Over
the course of the next 20 minutes she proceeded to tell me about the history of
the area, the Chilkoot trail, Carcross, Whitehorse and the town of Dyea which
used to be right in this area. Barb finally came and rescued me and we got the
campsite all set up.
After dinner that evening we went for a drive to
explore some of the surrounding area. There is nothing really to see of the old
town site, it has been over 100 years and the trees have pretty much taken over
the area.
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We would have never fit our big rig under this bridge |
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Or across this one |
The following morning a Skagway police car
pulled up to us and informed us that there was a burning ban until further
notice; no wood or propane fires. Our plan for the day was to go explore the
town and maybe do a little hiking. Today, Skagway is pretty much a tourist town
depicting the times of the gold rush era. Cruise ships stop by almost daily. In
fact you need to watch the cruise ship schedule, as many as 4-5 cruise ships
could be in port at one time filling the town with up to 20,000 tourists. Today
there was only 2 and it was not too bad. We did a little geocaching in the
hills surrounding the city, then we went down into the city itself and walked
many of the shops.
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Only two cruise ships in today |
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This guy was posing to well for us to pass up |
We toured the town, looked at all the old shops, the trains, had a couple of pints at the
Skagway Brewing Company and had lunch at the
Red Onion, the location of a
former brothel that is entertaining and offers a tour for $10.
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The nose of this train was used to get through snow up to 12' deep |
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They brew it right above the bar, they only sell it in their bar |
We did not get any fishing in or any serious hikes other than finding a few geocaches. We are saving our fishing time for our next stop which starts tomorrow when we take the ferry over to Haines!
Looking at you bridge photos...how much does your rig weigh, Jim?
ReplyDeleteFabulous landscape!
You know I don't know exactly but the bridge had a 14 ton limit so I knew we were good.
DeleteLooking forward to getting up there, beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteYou will love it! We still struggle to capture on camera what we are seeing with our eyes but they still turn out beautiful.
DeleteI am just so enjoying your trip and you have me seriously thinking we need to figure out how we are going visit Alaska. We won't be taking our MH. I love all the snow covered mountains. They do so much to the photos. I must say I do like the color photo better, but the B&W seems appropriate for the old mine. The lakes are spectacular:) Oh, and that bear is so cool. Those paws are huge!! Great close up!
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely start planning it now, you will not regret it. There is plenty of hiking, so far we have not hiked a lot opting to go fishing instead.
DeleteYou probably already know this by now - but you will love Haines! We stayed at the Oceanview - pricey - but the views! Wow! The ride in/out is amazing! Probably similar to Skagway (actually want to hear if/how different it is!). Let us know when you are arriving in Seward and/or if you need a place to stay - we know a place right on a lake!
ReplyDeleteWe are leaving Haines today and heading to Haines Junction. We ended up staying at a state park right next to the area we were fishing so it worked out well. You are right though, spectacular views everywhere!
DeleteA $10.00 brothel? That sounds like a great deal. Things look too cold for Lisa. I will never get her up there. Love the pictures though.
ReplyDeleteYou did not see what your $10 got you however.... but if you did spend the $10, you got to keep the garter!
DeleteLoving your trip. I really, really want to go now! I like the color photo best.
ReplyDeleteDo it!
DeleteI agree with Pam, kinda like the color shot better. Sounds like so much fun so far. So would you say you've boondocked more or stayed at payed campgrounds more? We haven't had much luck fishing in SW Colorado yet. Steve caught a couple small rainbows.
ReplyDeleteWe have definitely boondocked more, I think we have only spent 6 or so days in campgrounds that have been charging and maybe 2 of those were full hook up sites.
DeleteThat train nose was really cool. Can't wait to see you guys !!
ReplyDeleteJim ... we are arriving in Skagway on a cruise ship at 7:oo am, and departing at 9:00 pm. We have rented a car will drive to Whitehorse and back that day. In Whitehorse having lunch with my brother - am I pushing the timeline too much.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog!!!