Haines to Skagway on the Ferry

After breakfast on Monday morning, August 16, we again drove out to Chilkoot Park to see if we could spot some bears. We had arranged to meet our friends from Dayton, Pam and Larry, for breakfast at the restaurant, but when they didn't show up we decided they must still be at the park bear-watching. We met them on the way, and they had indeed again seen the bears! We just never seemed to be at the right place at the right time--we should have followed Pam and Larry around more closely :) We spent a little more time at the park, caught a glimpse of one in the woods, but couldn't spot it again. Deciding that spending a little more time with Pam and Larry before we left on the ferry was more of a sure thing than seeing a bear, we went back to the restaurant and looked at their pictures and videos of the bears.

Chilkoot Lake

Hanging baskets of flowers outside the Chilkat Restaurant and Bakery

Ferry Columbia, which we took from Haines to Skagway

Chilkoot Inlet and some views from the ferry ride . . . we had a sunny, gorgeous day for our excursion! Much better than the ferry trip from Whittier to Valdez! I'm sure we would have like Valdez lots better if we'd been there on a day like this!

Our first view of the harbor at Skagway

Ernie and I on the ferry coming into Skagway

A cruise ship docked in Skagway--maybe the one we'd seen yesterday

After driving off the ferry, we drove around Skagway, located an RV Park, parked near downtown, walked to a little restaurant for lunch, and then walked around Skagway. It's a very touristy kind of town, catering largely to cruise ship passengers. The shops were pretty typical tourist shops which I enjoyed more than Ernie did, of course! We both liked Haines better, though!

The old White Pass and Yukon steam engine in downtown Skagway

It really is a pretty little town with the mountains in the background, but not a place I'd want to live! After watching one of the trains, we went into the train station/store where we got some information about a train ride. Ernie had been talking about a train ride the entire trip and wondering how different it would be than traveling the highway, so after getting some information and discussing it, we bought tickets for the White Pass and Yukon Summit Excursion the next day. Thanks to the generosity of GE and friends with gift cards before we left, I didn't feel guilty about spending the extra money :) It was a three to three and a half-hour excursion to the top of the White Pass Summit and back. Should be a fun trip!