Day 2 Skagway - riding the rails

Skagway - May 17. The first photo was early in the morning when we first docked in Skagway. I don't really recall it being cloudy but it's clear it was, and the clouds were low on the mountain. The Crown Princess, a sister ship of the Majestic (and much smaller) was in port with us that day. Sadly, the ship was having issues with its engines and had to miss a couple of ports on its itinerary. I believe it is headed to dry dock - at least it should be. The Crown is actually my favorite ship but I'm grateful to not have been on that particular cruise.

I had picked the noon excursion for the White Pass.  Due to continued Covid restrictions the train cannot traverse the border in the Yukon just yet. There's always a reason to go back and visit again. :) Since I had time to do another wander through town, I left the ship around 10 a.m. First up was a small park I had noticed the previous visit but hadn't stopped.

The park was situated next the Pullen Creek RV Park, and the stream that runs through the park is obviously Pullen Creek. The salmon run on this creek in the fall. Did I say something about a reason to return?

What caught my attention was the sound of a small bird, perched on the rock in the first photo. I walked over the small bridge and made my way around and behind where it was dancing. It truly was, it was bobbing up and down and chirping with each bounce.

Based on my search of the internet I believe this is an American Dipper. A description I read from indicates this bird actually forages in the water for aquatic larvae on the stream bottom. The sound was unique too. I'm so glad I took the time to stop and look.

From there I wandered back to the library to check in my daughter and grandson. Though tempting, I did not stop at the Fry bread store, and one more search for the yarn store was also unsuccessful. 

By this point it was nearly 11:30 so I headed back to the dock to line-up for the train. I'm not certain how many cars were attached and when I was able to board, I think I was five cars forward from the rear of the train. I sat on the right hand side of the car, but everyone else sat on the left. Hmmm... When April Dawn, the guide who popped in and out of the car to answer questions, came through she laughed and reminded folks that though they would see more on the ride up on that side of the car, the right side would see it on the way down. A couple of people moved over. 

We were delayed while the cars filled up and got away about a half hour late. In the meantime I had time to read the pamphlet that was left on our seats. Our first view was about 2.5 miles from our starting point, of the Gold Rush Cemetery. Here many of the earliest settlers of Skagway are buried. Mark, the naturalist on board ship had told us he visits the cemetery every year to visit the grave of Ella Wilson, a 28 year old African American sex worker who was strangled in her bed, and robbed of her possessions. Her murder has never been solved.

We were still at a lower elevation when I took this photo out the window. If memory serves, this is the Skagway river. 

Soon we were beginning our climb and the side of the train I was on was up against the rock of the mountain. Frequently there were waterfalls mere inches away from the window. I had to use my cellphone to try to capture a photo as we were moving fairly quickly at this point.

Around this time, the conductor came through the car to let us know we could step out of the car to the deck area in order to take photos. You may not know this, but I am terrified of heights. I had even momentarily considered cancelling the excursion but I'm so glad I garnered up the courage to step out of the rail car. 

Here are a few of the shots I took.

We went through two tunnels, that I recall, and it was as dark as night for the few seconds we were inside the tunnel.

On the opposite side of the valley runs the highway between Skagway and Carcross, Yukon. 

Looking back towards Skagway we could see the ocean and one of the cruise ships.

A decommissioned trestle - this was one of the reasons I had considered cancelling. I was worried about olden wooden trestles.

I need not have worried - here's the new trestle we crossed.

As we got closer to the top of the mountain, the snow got much deeper. I asked one of the guides what the difference in temperature would be at the summit and indicated it would be about 12 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than Skagway. According to was 48F (9C) in Skagway that day, so it was about 36F(2C). As we climbed I moved in and out of the railcar as it did feel cool outdoors. 

At the summit we saw the lake below. I can't recall the name, but the blue you see in the ice is due to the glacier waters that flow into the lake. 

This cabin marks the Canadian customs checkpoint during the Klondike gold rush. Here it was determined if the prospectors had sufficient goods to continue their trek to the gold fields in Yukon. If not, they were turned back. John mentioned in a recent comment that the Superintendent of the Yukon NWMP, Sam Steele was responsible for the rule requiring each man to have a ton of supplies. In doing so, the Klondike gold rush was one of the most orderly of its kind in history and made the NWMP famous around the world.

I had tucked away my camera - not sure why, and have only this cellphone image of the Black Cross Rock. In 1898, during the construction of the railway, a blasting accident buried two railroad workers under a 100 ton granite rock. A black cross was erected in memory of Maurice Dunn and A. Jeneaux.

We arrived back in Skagway just around 3 in the afternoon. I disembarked at the depot and wandered through the gift shop where I picked up a t-shirt for myself as a souvenir. I'm pretty certain I spent the rest of the afternoon and part of the evening at the Wakeview bar in the aft of the ship. I was able to watch a group of seals feeding between our ship and the Crown though I couldn't take decent photos with my zoom. The water was so calm, that it was easy to spot them in the water.

One last photo of the Crown Princess sailing out of Skagway. We weren't far behind that evening.

I really enjoyed our time in Skagway. The community itself is definitely built for tourism. There a couple of different restaurants that I would like to visit, I'd like to do the walk to the Gold Rush cemetery, and I'd like to be there in fall for the salmon run and ride the railway again for the autumn colors. I bet it's spectacular.

Next port - Whittier