Whitehorse - Alaska Day 3

 August 19, 2023

On our own. From our room.

After a Tim Horton's breakfast at 7:15 AM ( 7C) we walk over for 8 AM check-in for 8:30 bus departure. Nick is the driver, and explains he's not really a tour guide, nope, definitely not.

First stop was supposed to be Emerald Lake but it wasn't emerald today so we went on the Carcross.

Carcross was originally called “Caribou Crossing” because of the large number of woodland caribou that migrated through the region.

The Carcross Desert’s sandy dunes were once the bottom of a glacial lake.

Built in 1898, the White Pass & Yukon Route is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It is a distinction it shares with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.

Fraser BC White Pass and Yukon Rail to Skagway Alaska.

All Aboard!

Canadian Customs

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class III 3 ft narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad.

The White Pass & Yukon Route was built to take miners and supplies to the newly discovered Klondike gold fields. That was over a century ago, but now the gold rush of Alaska cruise ships is bringing far more business to this narrow gauge railroad than the original gold rush ever did.

Our train passed the original cantilevered, steel, bridge across a deep chasm. The bridge, bypassed by a new tunnel in 1969, is still in place. It sure doesn’t look like it would ever have supported all those Army trains of World War II. 

In Skagway US Customs came aboard the train to check passports, these people, from our bus, from the Netherlands, required visas to enter US.

SKAGWAY (TLINGIT: SHGAGWÉI)

A colorful gold rush history, beautiful setting, and a lot of cruise ships makes Skagway one of the most interesting and popular towns to visit in the Inside Passage. Location on traditional Tlingit land, Shgag̱wéi means “bunched up or roughed up water” and refers to the whitecaps that form from strong winds.

Beginning in 1897, Skagway and the nearby valley of Dyea were the starting place for more than 40,000 gold-rush stampeders who headed to the Yukon primarily by way of the Chilkoot Trail during the Klondike Gold Rush. Today, visitors are transported back in time to the gold rush days along the seven-block corridor on Broadway that features historic false-front shops and restaurants, wooden sidewalks, locals in period costumes, and restored buildings, many of which are part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

Lunch and it is chilly!! That is john with the backpack and hoodie.

There are two cruise ships in Skagway and it is crowded.

Lunch taquitos and tacos.

Then beers and bathroom at the Klondike Brewing.

Doughboy or fry bread.

Showgirls grabbing tourists to sashay down the street with them.

Back on the bus 2 PM Skagway time (3 Yukon) Bridal Veil Falls.

Canada Customs, they also came on board to examine passports and collect duty forrms.

Back in Carcross because he has to pick up/drop some people. He then loses count and we waste ten minutes as he wonders if we are missing anyone.

Nick, driver, decided to take Miles Canyon drive.

Back to the railway station and we have a two minute walk to the hotel. We decide to eat at the hotel, burgers for both of us.