Alaska, An Excellent Choice ~ Day 7, Skagway

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Photos from Skagway

Now the shore excursions begin. But the rain doesn’t stop. Oh, well… We’ve covered why we say this destination was an excellent choice, but it will always bear repeating. You may also be accustomed to two things that still won’t go without saying: 1). This overcast and rainy day was not conducive to displaying the usual Alaskan beauty in photos; and 2). This will be a rather short entry since it’s supposed to be about the photos and not the great fun we had with our fellow travelers.

We were up early and had a fine breakfast at the back end of Johnny’s Cafe. Then we went back to our stateroom where we watched the dock workers set up the gangways. We also heard of Van Gogh’s life in the background on TV, which could be called a coincidence by some since I just read much about his life in a book called Powers Of Two by Joshua Wolf Shenk on the way over in the plane. To qualify as a coincidence, the next show would have been about Lennon and McCartney, followed by one about George Balanchine and Suzanne Farrel interspersed with little clips from South Park for starters.

We left, breathing warm air into frozen fingers, in a cold rain. We took a bus from the boat to a train, and again the steamy windows would not let my lens pass through. We were headed to the White Pass & Yukon Route train and started at the top, or at least the spot of the highest track, in Fraser, BC. Our bus took us through the town of Skagway, which is a small town built at the mouths of the Skagway & Taiya Rivers at the northern end of the Inside Passage. Skagway was built around 1897 primarily as a gathering, starting, and respite spot for gold rush stampeders hoping to make it rich in the Klondike. The track for the White Pass & Yukon Route train was laid between 1898 and 1900, and became the principal means for transporting prospectors who were required by law to each take 2000 pounds of provisions with them into the Yukon. Today it is primarily used to transport tourists through the beauty that was often ignored by those on a quest for the gold, and some of them still try to pack the same amount of provisions for the hour-and-a-half trainscape.

The passenger cars were high-ceilinged, open-spaced, rows of bench seats, and seemed designed to convey a sense of the way it was. They were rather cold, but had some sort of pot-bellied stove in the back next to the restroom, which almost certainly wasn’t the way it was. We were allowed to walk on the platforms in between cars, but (most likely because insurance was too high) we couldn’t leap from car to car. The platforms, although the coldest part of the train from which to experience the scenery, were still the best places from which to photograph the passing splendor. Even though it was nearing too cold for my fingers to work, I’d stay on the platform until a 3rd photographer came out looking for space. At those times I was happy for the placement of the stove.

The shots from the train take up from 3 thru 34 of the photos in the gallery. You can see –particularly in the first 3 shots taken in Fraser (photos 3, 4 & 5)– how cold and rainy can turn the beautiful into dark and dingy. We are from NEPA, you’ll remember, and were able to turn it back into simply beautiful. My gloomy examples, however, screamed out for that painterly treatment I’ve been getting used to in the digital darkroom. I obliged many of them, but kept a few as god intended –the god of realistic photos, that is. It was the only way to approximate what we were able to see through the haze. On this day of movement by many means and weather of layering requirements, I opted to bring only the SX50. So I got what I got without the expectation of getting anything good. And that’s what I got.

We must have made good time coming downhill back into Skagway because our driver said we were a little too early for our appointment in Liarsville. He brought us to a hillside overlook where we got out to take a picture of our ship in the harbor. I looked around for something more interesting to shoot, but photo 35 was the only shot, so I complied.

(It reminded me of Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon. They make a big deal about the amazing view all along the route to it. In the town of Wellsboro they have billboards with a shot overlooking the so-called canyon, and then in restaurants they use napkins with the same image. We couldn’t wait to drive up there to get other shots along the rim. Sorry folks. There’s only one shot to get in this (no so) grand canyon, and, of course, it’s the same one that’s on the napkins.)

Liarsville, Alaska, is rather unique and a pretty cool stop. It seems to be in the middle of nowhere, right next to getting-there, and its history claims its always been that way. Liarsville got its name from the photographers and reporters that were sent here to cover the Klondike Gold Rush and feed their stories to hungry newspaper subscribers back east. They would gather here before trekking up to where the prospectors were literally dying to find gold. They soon realized it was safer and a lot more fun to just hang around, listen to the stories the prospectors brought back, and send reports back home as if they were in the thick of things themselves. Their lies probably also gave them a little extra hazardous pay which they could spend on the fun stuff Liarsville had to offer. Of course there were brothels and bars, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few gift shops where they could buy little trinkets to send home, too.

Liarsville today keeps the masquerade strong with actors, fake gold, and of course gift shops. After the bus maneuvered along a potholed dirt road that seemed to lead nowhere and did, and after we expected to find a cast of characters from Deliveranceand were not totally disappointed, we pulled into a small clearing in the woods where we could see a few hastily raised buildings scattered about with little design for future expansion. We had to remain on the bus until the head character came aboard to tell us what to expect and where to spend our money. He was a guy that went by the name Cool-Hand Bob or something Bob (see photo 39), and looked like a rockin’ roller from Colorado.

The first order of business was to fill our bellies with salmon and other camp fire delicacies, then stroll on over to “town” (on the other side of the woods) where we found real bathrooms, fake brothels, a fake barber shop, a fake sweet shop, a fake saloon, a fake smithy, and real actors from New York – oh, and, yes, a real gift shop. One of those actors also serenaded our dining with a cello, photo 36. After we all had a chance to use the bathrooms and gift shop, we were escorted to the community tent where we heard some history presented by the players in a very amusing skit. Afterward we were invited to pan for gold in the rain out back, and were told to make sure we visit the gift shop on our way back to the bus. Our group of 6 passed on both, and instead sat around the campfire, photo 41, and listened to two of the real people behind the masquerade. They had fascinating stories of their lives meeting in acting school in New York. They were both wonderful actors. He was also a good muscian, and we heard him play cello, violin and guitar; she was a singer with a masters in opera. They talked and played for us, and we couldn’t help realizing how we truly found the real gold in Liarsville.

Our next stop was back in town at the Red Onion Saloon, once the classiest bordello in Skagway. Classy bordello may sound like an oxymoron to some, but it’s certain that the “classy” adjective was describing the building and its interior decore, and not the working girls. From the looks of what we saw in old photos, we could easily deduce how the town got the name SKAGway. The Red Onion was still one of the town’s biggest attractions. It now attracts tourists where it once attracted stampeders. Back in the old days at least they gave you something for your money; now they just show you where they did, and expect more for the showing than was once expected for the doing. We were herded through the Red Onion rather quickly to make room for the next group, and we were deposited (you guessed it) in the gift shop in front of the bar. Here at least they gave you something in exchange for your money, although the worth was no greater than the undrinkable wine they earlier gave you for free to promote the feeling of getting something in addition to the ability to see their peeling wallpaper. I got nothing; Barb got a t-shirt.

It was still raining outside when we came out of the saloon. We missed the bus back to the ship because we were on a mission. Last night we were shopping in the camera shop on the ship, and I came away determined to buy a GoPro. They only had the Hero 4 Silver, but through online investigation I figured I’d prefer the Hero 4 Black. We asked and learned they sell them in Skagway at the Radio Shack on 3rd Street. Barb stuck her head in the jewelry store next to the Red Onion to ask the girl where the Radio Shack was, and was told it was on 5th Street. This girl overheard Maureen say she needed some batteries, and told us to try the camera store next store to Radio Shack. She told us her husband Jose runs the shop and would be thrilled for the business. Since his name wasn’t Tandy and he wasn’t a corporation we were thrilled to give him the business instead.

Barb & I told Phil & Maureen (Joe & Mary Ann made the bus) that we’d pick up the batteries for them and meet them aboard the ship. We walked as close as we could to the line of buildings on the wooden sidewalks to get Barb under the scanty overhangs, and out of the target of the falling rain. The rain was now more damp and annoying than drenching, and we were on our way to buy a camera, so I didn’t seem to mind it. Jose was happy to see us, and he lit up when we told him his wife sent us. He told us how the two of them with their 3 kids come to Skagway every year to work for the Summer, and they love it. He told us it was the end of the season and the inventory was getting pretty low. He still had both the Silver and Black models, but eventually talked me out of the more expensive one. I ultimately bought the same one I could have bought on the ship. I’m sure the Radio Shack employee had an equally interesting story, but we were happy to meet Jose. On the way back to the ship we stopped to tell his wife, Elaine (I think), that Jose thanks her and said he loves her. He didn’t really say that, but we knew he meant it.

We got back to our stateroom and changed for diner with the life of Picasso being broadcast from the TV in the background. We had the most fun of the day yakking it up with our family and friends while being entertained by Johnny and the card sharp -😉. After enjoying a meal of two Excellent Choices and a Healthy Choice, we found some entertainment before retiring.

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Comments

[Fred Perry]

What a sad and mojurnful place!
But you've made it come to life, in spite of Mother Nature's having conspired against you. It's good to see what the countryside can look like when it's not drizzling and freezing. I like your "painterly" shots too.