Skagway, July 7 – 10, 2012: Authentic Alaska or Disney?

This is What I Call a Gray Day
Passage to Skagway

We have finally reached the northern end of the inside passage – Skagway.  Some boaters have advised us to skip this last 100 mile leg from Icy Straits up the Lynn Canal and instead take a fast boat from Juneau to spend an afternoon here.  Others have said by-pass the whole place as it’s just one big Disneyland.  Well, if landscaped sidewalks, flowerboxes, boardwalks and an absence of muddy streets defines Disney, I’m all for it.  

 We are in love with this picturesque town nestled in the Skagway River Valley, surrounded by soaring mountains.  In the late 1890s, this was the gateway for the Klondike Gold Rush.  Then the town had over 80 saloons and a population of 20,000.  Now, there are about 800 people with a summer population twice that amount.  The claim to fame here is the history of the gold rush and they do mine it for all its tourist potential. 

Train Going Through the Mountains

It is a tidy and compact town - which appeals to my Germanic nature - although, according to a guide book, it is 453 square miles, Alaska’s largest town by land mass.   And for drop dead beauty, this is the place, even the 2-4 cruise ships arriving daily have their charm.  They disgorge thousands of passengers every day yet the streets are not cluttered with tourists and the restaurants are just pleasantly full – where the heck do all the people go?

 Well, one place is the railroad station to take the scenic White Pass Yukon Train.   This is a train ride of a lifetime – a 2,865 foot climb over rivers, through tunnels and up, up, up to White Summit Pass in Canada.  It follows the route that the gold miners forged by foot before the railroad was built.  It is not a trip for those with a fear of heights, an aversion to having the ground drop away right next to you, or general concern over the safety of winding your way through narrow passes and tunnels burrowed into rocky mountain sides.   The rail track bed is no more than 5-10 feet from a cliff on either side with a shear drop off to, well, the bottom.  I clammed my eyes shut more than a few times.

2,800 Feet High

We spotted a black bear or two, mountain goats – although I don’t count it as a real sighting since they were asleep and far up in the mountains.  We saw more breath taking scenery than is even imaginable – have I mentioned before how incredibly beautiful Alaska is?  It just keeps getting more and more spectacular.  This ride alone was worth the 200 mile round trip boat ride to Skagway.

So Cuddlly Looking

The Yukon



In the 60th Parallel

Of course another reason people are reluctant to take their boat up the Lynn Canal is that it is known for its storms – gale force winds are common and because the Canal is narrow with steep rocky shores, seas can build dramatically.  And the very next day, weather started rolling in – gale force wind warnings.  Did we make haste and leave like sensible prudent boaters - like the boat in front of us which left Monday morning at 5 AM?  No, we stayed and rented a car so we could drive to the Yukon.  We passed through mountain plains resembling the barren Afghanistan Mountains, rugged, rocky ground that looked like bombs exploded causing the ruble.  Further on a gray, sci-fi moon scape unfolded to lakes nestled in the valleys of the mountains - mountains as red as the Sonora Desert in Arizona.  And then back to snow covered mountain peaks.  

We make it all the way to the 60th Parallel in the Canadian Yukon and find not much there - except beauty.  Whitehorse, the biggest town, has a population of approximatly 27,000 and, we were told, it also has 90% of the population of that region.  I know we didn't see many people and we were happy to leave the desolation behind for  lively Skagway - suddenly 800 people looked like a booming metropolis.
Yup, bring on Disney any time.

Sunset in Disney