Skagway to Whitehorse, YT

On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 17 we reluctantly left Skagway behind, headed up the South Klondike Highway to Whitehorse. It's basically the return trip from Haines Junction to Haines but on the other side of the water. By the way, the ferry trip from Haines to Skagway was only 15 miles by water but would have been 359 miles by road! The weather wasn't as pleasant as the trip down to Haines and the scenery not quite as spectacular, but it still had enough noteworthy scenery to necessitate several stops and more pictures out the window as we traveled!

A view of the railroad we traveled on this morning from the other side

The railroad with one of the bridges we traveled over

Pitchfork Falls and hydroelectric pipe

Pitchfork Falls

Highway up ahead winding up the mountain

William Moore Bridge spanning a 110-ten-foot-wide gorge over Moore Creek

International Border Falls

Inukshuk erected by the Kiwanis at the border

White Pass Summit

US/Canadian Border

Welcome to Alaska sign as we're leaving :(

Sad to leave Alaska!

Not too long after this we went through Customs for the second time to reenter the US--we'd also gone through earlier before we left Canada (never figured out why there were two checkpoints). We found that in the mountains the customs checkpoints are not necessarily right at the border due to the terrain--they're constructed where it's more convenient.

Tutshi Lake

Summit Lake

Tormented Valley and Bernard Lake

Tutshi Lake again, which extends for several miles

Tutshi Lake with wildflowers

Panorama of Tutshi Lake

Lake Bennett

Some mountain scenery

Ernie spotted a little side road leading down to the Windy Arm, an extension of Tutshi Lake, and thought that he and the truck needed a little 4-wheel drive time! Made me very nervous about the possibility of ruining a tire on sharp rocks, but my worry was unneeded (as usual) and all turned out well. Great views of Windy Arm--and we could certainly understand its name while standing on the rocks beside it!

Bove Island with Lime Mountain in the background

Lime Mountain

Outside the town of Carcross is the Carcross Desert, the world's smallest desert! It's an area of sand dunes of lake-bottom material left behind by a glacial lake. Very strange!

Emerald Lake, also called Rainbow Lake

I'm sure the colors would show up much better on a sunny day, but we could still see the emerald color and variety of other colors.

We finally made it to Whitehorse to the same campground we had been in when we came through Whitehorse back in July. It's our favorite campground next to the one in Haines--they too have gorgeous flowers!

I was so impressed that they had vases of fresh flowers in all the bathrooms! Only campground we were in with such a nice touch!

We stayed in Whitehorse an extra day to catch up on laundry and because they had good internet! Unfortunately it rained most of the time we were there :(

Tomorrow we start the last portion of the Alaska Highway that we haven't driven yet, from Whitehorse to Dawson Creek.

White Pass and Yukon Summit Excursion

Bright and early the morning of Tuesday, August 17, we headed to the White Pass and Yukon Railroad station in Skagway . . . well, early but not so bright--it was a cool, cloudy day but at least not raining.

The engines for the train we were riding

Some of the cars on our train--vintage restored cars

Our conductor looked the part right out of the early 1900s. The interior of the cars had been restored to their authentic 1900s look also.

The White Pass and Yukon still runs on the original narrow gauge tracks built in about 1900. The railroad was built during Gold Rush days to connect the port at Skagway to the gold fields in the Yukon. The pictures aren't the best because they were taken out the window of the train, and reflection on the windows was often a problem. But it was a very cool trip with stupendous views that we couldn't have seen from the highway. The entire trip was narrated by a very knowledgeable young lady who kept us informed about all points of interest and details about the historical significance of the sights, including lots of fascinating historical stories.

View from the train

Suspension bridge that we crossed earlier

Rock wall on one side of the train

Yukon River and South Klondike Highway leading from Skagway to Whitehorse on the other side of the valley, which we'd drive later in the day

US Customs building for people traveling south toward Skagway from Yukon

A little bit of blue sky!

Another Bridal Veil Falls--not the same one we'd seen outside Valdez (must be a popular name for falls). The railroad is the only vantage point to see the entire falls from top to the Yukon River

Wooden suspension bridge on the railroad

Another train ahead of us on the same track

Clouds and mountains (the black speck is a spot on the train window)

Another scenic view

Wicked looking clouds over the mountain

Our train approaching a wooden tunnel through the mountain over a wooden bridge

View of the valley just before we went into the tunnel

Looking backwards, a view of Lynn Canal in Skagway (not really a canal but the largest natural fjord in North America)

Yukon River far below--area known as Deadhorse Gulch because of the number of horses that died trying to traverse this area during the Gold Rush

Our train approaching another tunnel

Remnants of a footpath used by Gold Rush stampeders

Seeing the ruggedness of this unforgiving terrain, I can't imagine traveling this on foot or horseback while transporting the one ton of supplies required by the Yukon government to get to the gold fields!

The US/Canadian border

Another view of the highway across the valley

Our train rounding a curve

Another view of Lynn Canal in Skagway with cruise ships at the dock

Our train on the mountain again

Another view of Bridal Veil Falls on the way back

The lighter green stripes down the mountain are avalanche runs, where avalanches in the spring remove the vegetation, and it grows back during the summer in a lighter color.

A class VI rapids on the Yukon River, which no one has ever successfully navigated (no Ross and Tim, this is NOT a challenge!)

After our wonderful train ride ended we ate lunch at the Stowaway Cafe beside the cruise ship dock--cool little local cafe. I had a grilled salmon sandwich--my last fresh salmon in Alaska :(

Ernie finishing his lunch

Before leaving Skagway, we visited the Gold Rush Cemetery--quite interesting!

Time to leave Skagway headed out of Alaska--so sad! We'll be back in the Yukon tonight.