Blogs from Skagway, Alaska, United States, North America - page 8

It’s my final cruise on the Spirit so today’s my last time to visit Skagway. The area around Skagway has lots of great hiking trails which I hadn’t gotten a chance to explore yet. So that was my main mission for the day. The weather had other plans. It was grey and cool and cloudy when I left the ship in the late morning. But I was determined to make the most of the time I had left. I followed the waterway and the creek from the ship to the start of the Dewey Lake trail system. Then I headed up the mountain through the forest. Only a couple minutes up the hill I came to a waterfall. It was beautiful. Meanwhile, to the other side of the path through the trees were views over the ... read more

We continued west on Alaska Hwy to Jake’s Corner, where we turned onto Hwy 8, the Tagish Road. We had some areas of gravel road on the Alaska Hwy and even more on Tagish Road. Sometimes the few other vehicles on the road were almost obliterated by the flying dust. In some places, where there were actually road crews working, they sprayed down the road with water, which helped settle the dust. But it sure made a mess on the cars and campers. We passed scenic lakes and rivers that looked like painted backdrops, seeming too beautiful to be real. At Carcross (the name is a shortened version of caribou crossing,) we turned onto Hwy 2, the Klondike Hwy, and went north a short way to Carcross Desert, an area of sand dunes. Then we turned ... read more

Last month when I was in Hawaii, I made the decision to splurge on a helicopter tour over the island of Kauai. I debated over it quite a bit, but once I went, was so glad that I did. It was a once in a lifetime experience. After that, now that I’m in Alaska and there are helicopter tours here available to me, I didn’t have much of a debate that I’m willing to spend the money on another helicopter ride here! Today we’re in Skagway and from what the shore ex department had told me, this would be the port that as a crew member I’d be most likely to get space on a helicopter ride. The company offers two different helicopter tours - one where you go dog sledding and one where you go ... read more

When Mariner docks in Skagway on a foggy morning, Alan and I wonder if we’ll be experiencing a repeat of our Juneau experience. But, the ticket says our Speedcat to Glacier Point excursion happens rain or shine. So off we go to paddle a canoe to the face of Davidson Glacier. As soon as we board the high-speed catamaran for the 1-hour ride to Glacier Point, it’s obvious that we’ve made the right decision. Our guide (whose name I forget to write down) is entertaining as well as knowledgeable. While the boat zips through the water, we watch for sea life and admire the views of hanging glaciers and waterfalls that decorate the deep fjord. Once on shore at Glacier Point, the group boards school buses for the short ride to a staging area to gear ... read more

Geo: 59.4583, -135.314For our third morning in a row, we next docked at Skagway, which was our furthest point north within the Inside Passage. Skagway is tiny – less than 700 year-round residents – and only exists because of the Klondike gold rush in the 1890's. The "city" sits at the bottom of the deep White Pass, which provided the easiest (VERY relevant term) access to the Yukon gold fields high above and north of here. A railroad was built in record time to ferry hopeful prospects up, and for a while Skagway had more than 30,000 residents. That died very quickly once the gold rush ended, and the city was all but deserted until Pearl Harbor, after which the U.S. Army arrived overnight – unannounced – seized control of the railroad (which required extensive repairs) ... read more