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Day 23 (1st September) Skagway
We docked bright and early this morning as many tours were full day tours.
Today we were on the Chilkoot Adventures travelling by both bus and rail. First part of the day was by bus travelling from Skagway to Caribu Crossing and CarCross.
Bruce, our driver, was friendly and gave lots of information along the way. He also made many stops allowing us to take photos of the scenery as well as taking photos of the various couples or family group.
Seven miles out of town we passed the USA border patrol and another 8 miles we arrive at the Canadian border patrol. The actual border is in between these two points in a spot not really appropriate for cars, buses and trucks to stop.
The Canadian border patrol is at Fraser River (This consists of the train station and the living quarters for the Canadian officials manning the checkpoint). Later in the day we would join the White Pass Yukon Railway to travel back into Skagway from this station.
We continued on through glacial valleys. The road runs parallel to the train track. We were driving through Yukon territory. Following the trail that the stampeders trudged along around 130 years ago. Under Canadian law at the time, stampeders had to each carry 1 tonne of food, clothing and tools if they wished to go to the gold fields. The meant 2 tonne if there was a husband and wife. The gear was broken up into 50lb lots which they carried 44 miles. I will let you work out how many trips they needed to make.
We stopped for lunch at Caribou Crossing. Here we had BBQ chicken, baked potato and coleslaw and homemade donuts for dessert.
After lunch we went to look at the animals. There were some goats, alpacas, donkeys and horses. The hit of the visit was the sled dog puppies. There were eight gorgeous puppies. Mum is a Siberian husky but they were unsure of Dad's breed.
While in with the pups we could hear the adult dogs barking and carrying on every so often. As sled dog rides were available here this was the reason for the commotion. The dogs go nuts the moment they see the sleds as they love their work. Once the sled takes off the remaining dogs settle down as they know they haven't been chosen. (Hopefully I can attach videos of this blog)
They have a museum with lots of preserved animals so Vince took lots of photos of animals that we had not yet seen.
Back on the bus we drove 5 miles up the road to Emerald Lake. It was a pretty glacial lake. On our way back, we stopped at Fraser where we boarded the train for the 27-mile trip back down the valley. Stunning views and interesting commentary kept us entertained for the next hour and a half. Vince spent most of the trip taking photos on the carriage front platform.
On arrival back in Skagway we walked from one end of the town to the other. (about a half hour walk which includes browsing the stores). The down town area is gazetted as part of the national trust. Many of the buildings are over 100 years old. There are timber sidewalks outside the buildings, similar to what existed in the earlier days. All signs on the shop fronts must stay within the size and style of the original town.
We then walked back to the dock and boarded the ship. After leaving our things in the cabin it was off to the Lido deck to order today's cocktail/beer before dinner. Today, Margaret had a Tropical Cable Car and Vince had one of the Alaskan beers.
- comments
Karen Barker Wow you certainly are seeing a lot of the beautiful country. How's the knee VINCE!! Gosh the scenery is awesome! Marg is the fudge as good as back home ?? Keep up the photos and the comments !!! Take care xxx