Strange Things Done.....: South to Alaska

In spite of the "minimalness" of our room at the Continental Divide Motel, it was still warm and dry, as opposed to the outside temp of 2degrees C., and rain. When we got up in the morning, the surrounding hills/mountains were covered in fresh snow. With little to keep us here, we got an early start and headed westbound on the Alaska Highway by 7 AM. The road takes a deke south for a short while, back into BC, before returning to the Yukon Territory. By 9 AM we were in Teslin, YT, and able to fill up with gas and coffee. They have an interpretive centre here, but the people must be like me - NOT morning people, so the centre wasn't open, and we just pushed on. About 50 km. east of Whitehorse, we turned south for Carcross., with a few historical and viewpoint stops along the way. One of our stops was at Robinson Flag Station and Roadhouse....the ruins of an old stop for the narrow gauge railway which used to run north from Skagway through Carcross and into Whitehorse. The Gold Rush and the building of the Alaska Highway were the two major historically significant events in the territory, and everything we see is related to this, or to the natural history and ruggedness of the country. We reached Carcross by 12:30, and visited the Tourist Bureau, where the staff were very helpful. Their internet was slow, but they helped us check the ferry schedules and to book a ferry from Skagway to Haines (Monday evening only one that works....otherwise we'd have to go 100 miles south to Juneau, and then back to Haines, to arrive only a few hours earlier than the one we got). They also helped us book accommodation in Carcross (rain mostly stopped, but now it was extremely windy and cold, with more rain in the forecast for later - so still not great for our mythical tent). Also accommodation in Skagway and Haines. We had a nice lunch and walk around town, watched the White Pass Railway pull out for it's trip over the White Pass to Skagway. Carcross started out as Cariboo Crossing, but the only cariboo we saw this time was a metal sculpture at the entrance to town. The town itself was a hub of activity during the Klondike days as it's the first place after the Chilkoot Pass and the White Pass for the people arriving for the Klondike. The railway added to the importance of the village. We had dinner at the bistro in town, with some Yukon-brewed beer, and then it was an early night for us.

White Pass & Yukon Narrow Gauge Railway

A Carcross Caribou

The next morning, Sunday June 5, we awoke to cold rain showers. The cabin we stayed in had a coffee maker, so with coffee and peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, we were ready to continue on. We continued south on the highway, again leaving Yukon for BC before crossing into Alaska. We only saw one bear on this leg of the trip, and stopped to view an old log cabin on the Chilkoot Trail. We climbed toward White Pass and the Canada/US border, through a tormented landscape of stunted trees, numerous small lakes, and snow patches all around us.


A Tormented Valley Landscape

Approaching White Pass

Then we crossed into the US and Alaska, and started down the pass toward Skagway. Just a few km short of Skagway, we detoured off to visit the former village of Dyea. A narrow, winding road followed an arm of water off the Lynn Canal to an area of tidal flats where the native population had originally had a village at the trailhead to the Chilkoot Pass, and where many of the Goldrush people started their inland trek. Now it is a National Park Service Site, with a nice self-guided walk through the area. We then wound our way back, and entered Skagway. There was only one cruise ship in town this day. Yesterday there were 7,000 visitors from Cruise Ships, wandering this town with a resident population of about 700. The town has retained its Goldrush look to it, with the shops all made up to look like it would have in around 1890's. We visited the old cemetery and walked the town, then checked into our room at Sgt. Preston's Lodge. Apparently his wonder dog King no longer resides here, but we met his replacement, the wonder dog Raven. Again, a motel would serve to replace the mythical tent, as it was steadily raining, and quite cool. We found a pub for a bit of supper, and returned to our room for a bit of tv and catching up on internet/blogging. The internet speeds are dismally slow here, and it took me most of 3 hours to upload and post the last blog entry. We'll see how this one does. We have a full day here on Monday before catching the ferry to go 25 miles south and across the canal, to Haines. Then we'll have a morning there before we drive north again, out of Alaska and back into the Yukon.