It is very weird to wake up, look out
one’s window (these are true windows and even if I have an “obstructed view”:
read – a lifeboat in front of my nose – it is a full-sized window and not just
a porthole) and see trees close enough to touch! We had arrived in Skagway,
docking before anyone was awake to see it.
We had rented a car for the day, but
the first thing we noticed on our way into town was that the busses had double
license plates: American and Canadian. They travel across the border so often
that they need to have both. The second thing were the painted and inscribed
rocks along the cliff where we were docked – we never did find out the why’s
for this, but most seemed to be dedicated to captains and perhaps it was simply
more visible this way, as well as being more durable, because although we are
enjoying a spate of good weather, this is definitely not the case normally. Another thing I finally took a picture of was of one of the numerous espresso huts. Starbucks has made its' way everywhere, but the Alaskans still have their huts around most corners: walk up, order and take away - no room for sitting.
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| Dock in Skagway |
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| double license plates |
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| rock inscriptions |
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| espresso hut - with gifts |
At the beginning we had thought that
Whitehorse was an easy destination of about 65 miles, but we found throughout
the day that nothing was as it seemed and that every bit of information gleaned
from phones, maps and road signs was conflicting! Of course the problem of
having miles on one side and kilometres on the other didn’t help, nor did the
changing from Alaska time to Pacific Standard time: another day and we would
have been so confused that we would have attempted nothing!
As it was we headed for Whitehorse over
the summit on the South Klondike Highway, stopping in every turn out existing.
The terrain was high altitude although the summit was only 2’865 feet (873 m).
The history of the building of the wagon trail, the railroad (funded by British
backers Michael Heney using 35’000 workers – finished it in 26 months!) and the
road is a saga.
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| Train tracks on the opposite side |
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| Trestle bridge for the train |
We crossed into Canada and were for a
bit in BC (British Columbia) before entering the Yukon territory: along the way
water falls too numerous to count and – for want of a better description –
alpine lakes by the hundreds of all sizes and mostly deep blue as well as
granite mountains.
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| One of hundreds of waterfalls |
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| One of hundreds of alpine lakes, each one prettier than the last |
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| Peaks playing with the clouds |
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| Lake Tutshi |
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| Windy Arm |
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| Windy arm |
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| Bove Island |
We stopped in Carcross, which was
originally called Caribou Crossing due to the immense herds of caribou: there
we visited the train station, discovered the totems of Keish – a native to
Carcross – as well as the world’s smallest “desert” an area of sand dunes
caused by the find grinding of glacial rocks then continued on to Emerald Lake
– one of the world’s most beautiful as due to silt, the sun and various other
elements it has rainbow colors that my photos couldn’t capture in their
entirety.
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| Carcross and the only caribou we saw. |
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| Train bridge at Carcross with the White Pass & Yukon train. |
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| Abandoned structures disintegrate quickly |
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| One of many Keisha Totems |
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| The world's smallest desert |
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| Emerald Lake |
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| Emerald Lake |
We traveled on to Whitehorse – a name
attributed to this city as the natives thought that the rapids just out of town
resembled a white horse’s mane: the rapids no longer exist having been turned
into a source of energy. There we had a quick lunch and picked up e-mails (I
had been off-line for 72 hours at that point – unheard of!) before heading
back.
On the way we stumbled across a bear
right at the side of the road: as he was young and intent on eating the grass
we rolled down our windows and this photo was taken about 3 feet from him!
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| about a meter (yard) from our car! |
After turning in the car we walked back
to our cruise ship and watching them cast off (a process in itself) before
leaving Skagway and returning back down the Lynn canal.
Truly a memorable drive and day: oh,
did I mention – the thermometer hit 80°F (27°C) in Whitehorse!
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| The Lynn Canal |
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| Leaving Skagway |
