Waking early in historic Skagway. Ocean fog blanket waiting to be burned off. Charming old inn room but twin beds in small room not very comfy. Seems Dottie, the harlot with a heart, had to entertain standing up a lot. LOL. But we wanted ensuite bathroom so it worked for that. There is an old-time phone in the room that actually works to call front desk. Cold during the night but not enough for frost. There is little fall foliage change here near the ocean. The Inn has an organic garden that has many veg and some apple trees. Apparently, there are no moose in the area but bears are prevalent. Mid Oct. the town cleans out all their garden veg and fruit to remove temptation. The Breakfast in the Inn is a good selection but not large quantity. And given their reputation as restaurateurs it is edible but not notable. But the ambience is fun. We take in a couple more shops and get the hat Pat needs for the trip to keep warm. Two new cruise ships have come in so soon the streets will be full again. There are seasonal sales as they prepare to shut down in October/ the last cruise ships are mid-October. The Inn owner tells us about 500 people stay in Skagway year-round and they have about 100 children in their schools. Salmon do not run here like Haines, it’s Dolly Varden and hooligan. There is no fishing/crabbing fleet like Haines. Skagway sits up the Taku Canal, a fiord directly off the Lynn Canal. It is deep and steep; it’s no wonder the mountainside has slid. The top soil is negligible and the trees and foliage that grow on it with shallow roots, once failed, the slides will happen. There are signs of it in multiple places around the town. Given the number of these kinds of slides happening all over Ak, we believe climate change is affecting the soil.
We drive out
to the old mining town of Dyea and start of the historic Chilkoot gold mining
trail, originally a Tlingit trading route. Skagway is really about gold mining
history with a mention of the native forebears. It’s a tricky road with potholes and
washboard, we are hugging the mountainside rocks with steep drop offs on the
other. We don’t doubt there will be
slides on this road as well and it will effectively cut off any residents and
visitors who happen to be there when it happens. Lots of tsunami warnings and evacuation
routes. We don’t go the whole way but
enough to see the gold mining town of Dyea now mostly a ghost town and which is
now in a National Park.
We say our
goodbyes and head up the White Pass, 3200+ feet. A heavy ocean fog is covering our ascent, at
times not seeing further than 20 feet in front of us. Sometimes the white lines disappear. We
know the steepness of the road but can’t see it, white oblivion. As we climb over the pass sunshine greets
us. We pass through Canadian Customs, no
problem. The agent says the winters are
brutal at this location; requires high roadside markers for snow pack and
avalanche. The area of the Pass looks
unearthly like we have landed on a distant planet. Locals call it moon scape. We are paralleled by the White Pass Railroad
which we have taken in the past, starts in Skagway and it turns around at
Carcross Canada and a hairy ride for sure.
Out of the fog we descend into a valley of a huge lake that runs for
miles and it is windy. Fall colors are
apparent, similar to Denali. We have
been driving the South Klondike Road; crossing from Ak to British Columbia and
back to the Yukon Territory; each with their own times zones. We come to the end of the Klondike Hwy and
reenter the AlCan Highway for a short distance until we join up with the
Cassiar Hwy tomorrow. The road less
traveled.
We are
staying at the Inn on the Lake at Marsh Lake.
A very fancy schmancy log cabin Inn on a beautiful huge lake. It is risky this time of year to find lodging etc.,
many close down for the season so we grabbed it. As we
are the only guests and the chef is cooking dinner just for us. Three courses of soup, main and dessert. The table is set with tall silver candle
sticks and a killer view out of the huge windows overlooking the lake. We may
be in wilderness but we are spoiled.
Will let you
know how dinner and evening goes tomorrow.
There is a hot tub, pool table and honor bar. The beds are big and pushy but the toilet is
in a small closet. Oh well, can’t have
it all. LOL. Sun is still high in the sky at 6PM and there
have been northern lights the past two days.
But will require 11PM – 3AM vigilance.
Later
gators.
Miles driven
Today: 191
Total miles
Driven: 1041
Skagway
