Cruise, Inside Passage 2015

Skagway

Please scroll down to view the photos.

After leaving Juneau we cruised all night, arriving in Skagway around 6 am the next morning.

The mountains on both sides of the passage were well covered with snow and there were many waterfalls.

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Here we are in Skagway looking up the valley towards the White Pass

We disembarked and had a look around Skagway.

The welcome sign gave an idea of some of the hardships of the past.

Here we see the column of hopeful gold prospectors heading up the snow covered hill.

Note the other path coming back down. They had to take a prescribed amunt of provisions with them before they were

allowed to enter Canada, so they had to make many trips.

Here is a map of the area. The fly is near Glacier Bay, which was our next destination.

First we had a look at the railway station

and Elisabeth enquired regarding tickets.

These were on display.

If I got this right, this was the first snow blower, possibly in the world and was used a lot in winter.

Skagway main street.

Another infamous Saloon,

still well frequented.

What act were these actresses up to.

The other type of gold digger.

Back to our ship to catch the bus to the station.  That is how it was organised.

The inflatable looks tiny against the bow of the Nordam

Touch up work.

All aboard the White Pass & Yukon Route.

An old steam locomotive complete with snow plough.

The conductor matched the interior of the carriage.

We first followed the river for some time,

then started to climb.

Looking back down on Skagway.

Here we are looking across the valley to the highway on the other side.

This was an unsuccessful attempt to make money.

He built a road to make it easier for the miners, but they walked past the gates and did not pay the toll.

He finished up selling out to the railroad.

"ON TO ALASKA WITH BUCHANAN"

Buchanan was another story. If you are interested, here is a link to further info:

http://www.skagwaystories.org/2010/03/23/on-to-alaska-with-buchanan/

This is looking across to the railway line that we will travel on shortly.

There were many difficulties to surmount to build the line.

A closer view of a viaduct.

The views to the side became more spectaclar as we climbed the pass.

Crossing a viaduct.

and the view from the viaduct. Note the line below where the earlier photo was taken looking up.

Here we look back to the inlet at Skagway, with both the railway and the road visible.

Even further up the pass.

Looking back at the mountains

and forward towards the pass.

The famous viaduct over the Gulch.

We were relieveed when we discovered that the line no longer uses the viaduct.

We continued past it and used a newer bridge and a tunnel.

Looking back from the bridge to the viaduct.

Part of the trail of 1898. Think of the poor miners traversing this.

Looking back.

The peak of the White Pass at 2888 ft. or 880 meters above sea level. Quite a hike!

The line then followed the river valley towards Fraser.

It is a narrow gauge track to enable them to make tight curves to follow the cliff faces.

This would have been easier going for the miners, but still tough.

This marker shows part of the old wagon road.

We had it much easier.

Our bus was waiting for us at Fraser to take us back to Skagway via the Klondike Highway.

There was still a lot of snow at this level.

Here we are about to cross back into Alaska.

Aparently the Canadians started building the highway but found it more difficult than expected.

The US Army came to the rescue but used enormous quantities of explosives to complete the work

The bridge in the distance here was a challange as it spans the San Andreas Fault.

Note the suspension is all from the one side and the other side is free to take up movement.

Once again we see the road on the right valley side and the railway on the left.

Railway and road again.

One of many waterfalls.

This is a map of the various routes open to the miners to get to the goldfields.

Now down at the river not far from Skagway, we are going to visit an old gold dredge.

The railway line is on the other side.

Looking across to the train on the other side of the river.

The dredge buckets.

This guy seems to have been here for a while

The control room.

A hand full of small nuggets.

We were then given a go at panning for gold and what we got was much

smaller, but we had it weighed and were allowed to keep it.

Back in Skagway

Heading back to the ship.

We had a farewell aperitif on the balcony

and this guy seemed to want some too.

Next we moved to the dining room for dinner.

Our two ladies on the promenade deck after dinner.

We were only walking!

We then travelled overnight to Glacier Bay to the next highlight.