The Green Family: Skagway

If Ketchikan was my favorite port. I think Skagway has to be the most fascinating. I am currently reading Klondike Fever and learning all about the Klondike Gold Rush. While in Skagway we took the White Pass Railroad and followed the path of many gold seekers. I was pretty shocked that anyone would attempt to traverse this pass in the winter- for any reason. The book is fascinating and it explains why they did and what happened along the way.

This is NOT my photo (below). Neither is the one below the book jacket. The railroad offers stunning views but it can be hard to take photos, especially through the windows. I have a lot of photos basically showing a reflection of myself taking a photo

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If you see a vague line running across the bottom third of the photo...That's the Klondike Highway that runs parallel to the railroad on the other side of the valley.

Here is an example of a hanging glacier. It just sort of sits on top of the mountain

As the train reaches the top of the pass-just before it enters Fraser BC, it enters this magical plateau that runs for miles at the top of the mountains. The landscape can be otherworldly with huge boulders tossed about by glaciers. The trees are stunted and lakes run for miles into British Columbia. Some of these lakes are milky turquoise from glacial runoff and others are crystal clear.

As lovely as it looks, the winters are harsh with 30 feet of snow and constant howling winds.

Above milky turquoise lake and below a crystal clear one.

The whole area is covered in fault lines.

Apparently this rift you see below is one. Earthquakes are common here.

This bridge is only attached on one side and technically floats on the other side because of all the seismic activity.

The pole you see here is marker for the snowplow.

After coming down from the summit we were dropped off in town. Skagway, a quaint historic town of 800, gets over 900,000 cruise visitors a year. It is the 15th most visited cruise port in the world. And that turns this darling little town into something akin to Gatlinburg. The town is full of rich history but also fudge shops and jewelry stores. And as much as I want to support the local businesses, the frivolity felt awkward. So after a lunch of crab legs and fish and chips (where we learned we don't love Rockfish) we quickly headed over to Yakutania Point to get away from the crowds.

At Yakutania point I hoped to see these guys. We did not see them but it was a lovely little walk.

Juneau and Ketchikan may be in the rainforest, Skagway is not.

After Yakutania Point we headed back to port.

This engine was designed to blow and push snow off the tracks. These days The White Pass Railroad is for tourists and hikers only. But in the past it was a true passenger line that ran year round.