Skagway, Alaska
August 26, 2023
Cinnamon Rolls must be the siren song of travel to and from Alaska, and we’ve tried to be polite by sampling the most famous. I know it’s a job, but someone has to do it! 🤣 We stopped at the Braeburn Lodge, where Steve served up an enormous Cinnamon Roll that we almost finished in one sitting while we chatted with him about the Yukon Quest since this lodge is one of the stops on the famous sled dog race.
Full of a sugar rush, we drove the Whitehorse, where we did a some shopping, washed the rig off, and visited the Beringia Museum. It was too early in the season for the museum to be open when we were here in early June, so we were especially pleased to have a chance to tour it. Beringia refers to a vast shelf of land connecting Canada, Russia, and Alaska. Not the Bering Sea land bridge so many think of, this was a barren landscape that did not invite migration but was influential in the region’s shared history.
We drove to a boondocking spot near Conrad, and the weather lifted for us to spot mountain goats on the slopes across Tagish Lake.
The following day we drove Klondike Hghway into Skagway—and were blown away by the stunning scenery and multiple changes in climate zones. We had a lovely day for the drive and took our time exploring.
In Skagway, we stayed at Garden City Skagway RV Park, on the outskirts of town but just a 15-minute walk away.
On Saturday, August 19, we walked to the docks and took the Fast Ferry to Haines.
It was a quick 45-minute boat ride up the arm of the Fjord on calm waters.
In Haines, we first walked a mile to the Mountain Market for a breakfast burrito and coffee before going to the visitor center.
A friendly local (originally from Hawaii) helped us with ideas and suggested a car rental from Captains’ Choice Hotel for the day. We followed his excellent advice and were so glad we did. Our first stop was at Chilkoot State Recreation Area, where we watched a mother grizzly bear fishing for her two cubs on a weir. She was catching humpies (pink salmon) and sometimes sharing them with the cubs.
So, this guy, calmly counting salmon with his back to the bears?
Where does a wet bear cross the road? Wherever it wants to!
There were locals hooking salmon in the river below to watch as well.
The rest of the day, we visited the Chilkat Recreation Area to the south, where we circumnavigated the small islands to enjoy the views, ate an excellent lunch of halibut fish and chips at the Bamboo Room, and toured the Haines Sheldon Museum.
Our ferry ride back to Haines had us back at the campground by 8:30 pm, and – surprise – it was getting dark at night now! Just a little reminder that our endless Alaskan summer is drawing to a close, though we still have plenty of adventures planned!
Skagway is always bustling with people during the day as it is a cruise ship town, and it was fun to walk around and see everyone enjoying their vacations.
One evening, we took in the Days of ’98 Soapy Smith Vaudeville Show in town, proceeded by “gambling” in the hall with $1500 in chips given to each person. We enjoyed playing blackjack until the show started.
Another day, we walked into town and hiked to Lower Dewey Lake above the port for some exercise and views of the Fjord.
On Tuesday, August 22, we took the Fjord Express catamaran for a 2.5-hour ride to Juneau.
It was a picture-perfect day with views of the mountains and waterfalls around the Fjord and visits by Dall porpoises, humpback whales, bald eagles, Stellar Sea lions, and sea otters.
In Juneau, a bus picked us up from the dock and dropped us off in town for three hours of sightseeing. Our first stop was lunch at Pel’Meni for beef and potato Russian dumplings.
Since it was such a gorgeous day, we took the tram to Mount Roberts and enjoyed the spectacular views.
We watched the film about First Nations and met a gentleman who was a true artist carving a totem pole, but it would be nice to have a longer time in Juneau to do the longer hikes on and around the mountain.
Fortunately, we timed our tram ride down to have a very short wait and were able to explore the town before taking the ferry home. Captain Ketch and deckhand Hannah served us salmon chowder, sourdough bread, and a chocolate chip cookie, and the way home was just as scenic as before.
Just kidding, this is the lifesize humpback whale sculpture in Juneau, but Larry had fun positioning himself to make it look real!
One evening, we walked into town to take the Whitepass and Yukon train, which covered some of the scenery we saw on our drive into Skagway. Larry stayed on the back platform the entire ride and got the best pictures on a hazy Alaska evening.
We spent an entire day exploring the upper end of Skagway, including the falls and the cemetery at the edge of town with the gravesites of some of the characters mentioned in the Soapy Smith play.
The abandoned townsite of Dyea was the start of the Chilkoot Train for the 1898 Gold Rush Stampede, and there is a walking trail to some of the old building foundations or locations.
The cemetery there had many of the stampeders who died in the Palm Sunday avalanche that deterred others from using the trail. The deadly avalanche and the opening of the railroad spelled the end of Dyea. The Floridian below died in the avalanche.
The first part of the Chilkoot Pass Trail is steep, narrow, and rocky, and hiking makes you admire the men who carried 50 to 100 pounds on this trail, 40 trips to the Canadian border and back, bringing in the required one-year supply of goods.
The bridge over the Taiya River at mile 3 washed out over a year ago, so much of the US portion of the trail is closed. Cruise ship tours only walk in a short distance, but we went to the (missing) bridge and back—the bears have gotten used to having the trail to themselves, and we saw lots of prints and tons of scat.
Although we had our bear spray, the brush was very close without much visibility, and we were concerned to find a fresh, steamy pile of scat on our way back that wasn’t there on our way out.
Our last day in Skagway was Friday, August 25, and in between chores and getting ready to leave, we wandered back into town to the Skagway museum.
We’ve enjoyed seeing this town and this part of Alaska. It’s hard to believe this is almost our last stop in Alaska, and as we crossed back into Canada early the following day, we thought about how blessed we have been to enjoy all these adventures this summer!
“August is like the Sunday of summer.” – Unknown
Next up – more bears!