My Birthday

Day 9, June 1, 2011

            I start the day with a walk from the campsite towards town, I need to pass an airstrip, (that Henry mistook for the road the night before and almost drove on) and head towards town.   I run into a few locals, one of which advised me not to walk the dog in the area because there are so many cougars, who would just snap up Tico.   Great, in-between the bear warning signs at every campsite, the mosquitoes so big that I think I should give them names, now I have to worry about cougars too.   Needless to say I headed back to camp. 

Carcross Post Office

We start the day with a visit to the Carcross Post Office to mail a letter; apparently the post mark is collectible.  The very friendly postmistress invites Tico to come in and have a cookie. 

We wonder around the few old historic buildings, I enter a shop, only to have the storekeeper rush out to meet Tico.  Carcross is Tico crazy, probably because small dogs don’t live here due to the cougars. 

           Carcross also has Canada’s most northerly dessert, left after the last Ice Age, one square mile large.

Now it is off to travel the rest of the South Klondike route through White Pass.

 Absolutely incredibly beautiful and stunning scenery leaves us in awe.  Emerald coloured lakes, glacial ice capped mountains, and crystal clear blue skies.   This road is worth doing.     As we approach the summit, we pass the Canadian customs, and some 37 kilometres we get to the US customs.

While Pass

  The scenery at the summit is rugged tundra, patricianly snow covered.    We now start our very steep decent into Skagway.
 The vegetation quickly changes with our decent, and now the narrow spruce trees line the side of the roads.  

Entering Alaska the first time, through the White Pass

Broadway St. Skagway Alaska

The White Pass train we took last year

Princess Diamond  in habour in Skagway

In Skagway be happen to meet Lynne & Eric from Kaleden

In Skagway we head to an RV park and totally coincidentally run into  some friends from Kaleden, Lynn & Eric Patterson.

Hanging out with Lynne & Eric

  After lunch the four of us set off for a walking tour to the downtown area.   Skagway is a unique place.  The town has about 700 inhabitants in the winter, but come the summer, the population swells to a couple of thousand plus a daily invasion of 4 to 7,000. people coming off the up to 5 cruise ships, that dock everyday.   Having been on one of those cruise ships last year, it is an odd feeling this time around.  The town presents itself has a colourful old west, gold seeking town, with lots of drinking establishments that had notorious reputations for illegal activity.   Today the streets are lined with jewellery stores packed with shopping hungry tourist off the boats.

            I eagerly await the departure of the ships in the evening.  Tico and I take a stroll around town, now that is what I call a ghost town, all businesses closed for the day, the previously crowded sidewalks deserted.  

            After watching the thrilling end to the Canucks win at the Bonanza Bar, Henry and I go for dinner and have some halibut in the harbour area, and call it a great  day.