Monday, September 2, 2013...Our 3rd day of cruising brought us to Port Skagway by 7:00 AM, so we were up and ready for breakfast early. Since our cruise/tour on the White Pass Scenic Railway today wasn't until noon, I headed out to explore Skagway by myself. From the dock it was a one mile enjoyable hike into town. Skagway's walkway to town has very nice public areas including beautifully landscaped gazebos and excellent restroom facilities.
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| Skagway's park-like walkway to town from the port |
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| Original White Pass Railroad Cars |
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| Snowplow railroad engine used to clear tracks |
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| White Pass Scenic Railroad Depot in Skagway |
The historic town of Skagway still has charming wooden sidewalks along the well-kept shops, restaurants, and museums. I visited the Klondike National Park Visitor Center, viewed an excellent movie about the 1898 Gold Rush Stampeders, checked out their historical displays, and got my National Park Passport stamped. I walked down the main street of town to check out some of the other shops and also "A & B Brotherhood Hall," with it's unique driftwood siding. I headed back to the ship, but stopped by the White Pass & Yukon Train depot and found a few souvenirs to buy. As I was making my way to the dock, I got a text from Kathy letting me know that the our train was in front of our ship, and that they had saved seats for Pat & me.
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A sample of the over 1,000 pounds of supplies needed
for each gold miner |
The old train cars were fitted with nicely padded seats for a comfortable and memorable ride up the mountain to Summit Lake, Canada. The scenery was amazing! As the train made it's way across bridges, hugging the side of the mountain, we could smell the fragrant pine trees and watch the rough rapids of the Skagway River far below. We also passed historic sites like a pioneer cemetery, a marker noting where over 3,000 horses, ill fit for the task of hauling all the miners' supplies, tumbled to their death, and a cross marking the spot where two miners were crushed by a massive boulder. We also saw the remains of the original wooden trestle bridge, as we neared the top of the Summit.
Kathy and I went outside, between train cars, to get some great pictures of the amazing views. Soon we saw the United States and Canadian Flags fluttering near Summit Lake, Canada. It was time to do the "Summit Shuffle" where we actually flipped the back of our seats over, and switched sides, to allow for different views on the way down to Skagway. It didn't seem to take as long to go down, as it did to climb to the top of the mountain! As we approached town we saw people reaching down in a small stream to catch salmon with their bare hands!
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| Our train as we are heading back to Skagway |
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| Entering one of tunnels on the way down |
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The narrow, single-file trail used by the Klondike Gold
Rush stampeders to get to the gold, prior to the railroad coming |
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| Wooden trestle, still in use to cross the Skagway River |
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| Skagway River |
Soon we were back to the train station and ship dock in time for a brief rest before dinner. Our dinner tonight included a BLT salad, Angus "Sliders," and yummy, yummy Drunken Kahlua Cake with ice cream! Marian told us about her adventure today...catching salmon with her bare hands! (So she was one of those people we saw at the stream!) She even had a video of her making the "catch". She was very proud of herself and couldn't wait to share the story with her father, who was a great fisherman.
We hurried to the early show featuring, Ian Finkel, xylophone player extraordinaire! He performed current musical hits, as well as an amazing Toccata by Bach, accompanied by the Radiance Orchestra. After the excellent show, we stopped by the Solarium for a tasty "Ice Blue Glacier" drink. We headed back to our state room to get a good night's rest in anticipation of OUR NEXT DAY'S BIG ADVENTURE...Ziplining at Icy Strait Point!
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