Day 6 - Skagway

I knew this trip would include a lot of early, busy days, but also plenty of time for relaxing and napping, and I was completely right. Skagway was another early day, as we had a tour guide scheduled to meet us as soon as our ship docked. The 12 or so passenger van picked us up right at the ship, and took us into “downtown skagway” to watch a short video about the history of the gold rush. I’m not normally into history at all, but the video was interesting and it was probably good to learn a little about the area before embarking on our journey. Our tour was scheduled to take us on a 6-7 hour tour, including Carcross, Yukon and Emerald Lake. The best part about this tour was that it was a small group, and our tour guide was local and friendly. Her narration included historical tidbits, as well as local information, and gave us an idea of what it’s like to live in Skagway. There is no hospital in the town, but there is a new health center in which specialty doctors come in regularly for visits. There are local grocery stores, but the town residents have to drive a few hours north to Whitehorse (Canada) to do their big shopping trips. The winters sound very harsh, as expected. Travelling along the highway, the guide pointed out huge poles on the side of the road, that are what you use in the winter as guidelines, since the guardrails are covered by snow.

Along the route, we stopped at many of the overlooks for a quick leg-stretch or photo op. Our driver wasn’t a fan of the typical tour groups though, so we tended to avoid any stops that were crowded with the bigger buses. This was perfect for us :) We crossed into Canada and stopped at the railroad station, and then continued on the journey into Yukon territory. The views were great, and the ride was relaxing - a few passengers even fell asleep. There were lots of lakes and mountains along the roads, and even the world’s tiniest desert. At one point, we were lucky enough to spot some wildlife. There was a black bear on the side of the road, and our driver pulled over so we could get a closer look. I felt like I was in a sea of paparazzi, the way everyone on the bus huddled to the window, snapping pictures. The bear didn’t even seem to notice our van, he just went along his way, eating plants, and walking over trees. That was our closest encounter with interesting wildlife, and we were happy to be able to say “YUP!” when everyone asked “did you see any bears?!?!”



We stopped for lunch at a cute little local shop. It was small enough that none of the bigger commercial buses would fit, so it was just our group. The restaurant was run by a widowed woman, who had help from friends here and there. She served homemade soups, sandwiches, and baked goods. Delicious and (somewhat) nutritious!

We travelled as far north as the Emerald Lake, and then turned around to head back into Skagway. Another stop on the tour was Carcross. What an interesting little town. And I do mean LITTLE! I’m sure there’s some interesting history to go along with this town, but it’s basically just a tiny little town, with a general store, a post office, and a visitor center. The Yukon railway goes through the town. It was nice when we showed up - we spent a few minutes at the beach, and then went into the General store. But while we were in the store, the “others” in the big commercial buses started showing up. I got stuck in the store and couldn’t find my way out, it was so crowded! I would guess that the town population was quadrupled when the buses started showing up, and that was when I was ready to leave!





The ride back was smooth and uneventful, I probably dozed off a few times. Right before we got back into Skagway, the driver stopped off at the gold rush cemetery. This was one of the hikes that I had considered doing after the tour, so it worked out well. Actually, it worked out REALLY well because we learned it really wasn’t much of a hike after all. I always love walking through old cemeteries, so this was right up my alley. We took a short walk up to the waterfall, checked out the cemetery, and eventually took the ride back into town. Again, the downtown area wasn’t anything exciting. We went into a few buildings, saw a replica of an old saloon, and slowly made our way back to the ship.



Although we didn’t get to do any real hiking or much activity, we certainly enjoyed our last day on Alaskan land. We got a chance to sit back and relax, while also taking in quite a bit of scenery, and learning about the Alaskan life.