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August 20, 2013 Tuesday
Day 44
This morning we took the Taku, the fast ferry, to Skagway. It was about an hour ride and we arrived in Skagway around 10:00am. First stop was to confirm our seats on the 1:30 train on The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway, a 40 mile round trip train ride from sea level in Skagway to the White Pass Summit at almost 3,000 feet.
Next we walked around town, checking out the shops. Skagway, population 968, has Gold Rush era buildings. The town still has historic buildings dating back to 1898, because it wasn't ravaged by fire like so many other Alaskan towns. Today, though it is in a beautiful location, it appears to be another touristy town, crowded with people from several docked cruise ships.
We had read about the Red Onion Saloon, established in 1898, "where our business is your pleasure", so we squeezed through the crowd to get to this historic saloon and take their "brothel" tour upstairs. This was the part of the saloon where ladies used to "entertain" their customers.
After the tour, we headed to the depot to board our train.
Our ride was curvy and steep with cliff hanging turns, numerous bridges, trestles and two tunnels. This railway was completed in 1900. It is a narrow gauge railway, built to navigate tight curves (the rails are only 3 feet apart on a 10-foot wide road bed). From the train, we could see the Trail of 98, which was the trail so many gold seekers took in order to get to the Klondike gold fields. We also had great views - Carmack Glacier, mountains, Bridal Veils Falls to name a few. Passengers were allowed to step outside on the platform at the back of our train car while the train was moving. Michael did this several times to take pictures, it was a bit harrowing for me, though.
After our train ride we visited the
Parks Service Center, and saw a good film about the Klondike Gold Rush.
We caught the 6pm ferry back to Haines, then had dinner at the Bamboo Room - salads with fresh, organic greens and fish and chips with sweet juicy halibut.
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