Part 2 – Skagway, Alaska to Yukon Territory Canada

Part 1 closed as we approached the Skagway airport after a scenic flight from Gustavus on Glacier Bay. 

As we approach the airport, we can see 4 very large cruise ships at the docks of Skagway.  Each ship averages from 4,000 to 5,000 passengers.  That's somewhere between 16,000 to 20,000 tourists eager to soak up the local sites and to spend on trinkets to show the home folks.
 

Skagway has a population of 968 at 8 AM and by noon it is 21,000, which is about the size it was during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898.  BY 7 PM, it is back to 968, plus a few travelers who have come in by other means than cruise ships.  Our travel agent has booked us into the White House, a very nice bed and breakfast.  It rents out 10 nicely furnished rooms; it was built in 1902 and renovated recently.  After checking in, the owner offers us coffee/tea and fresh-baked blueberry muffins.  Then we hop the shuttle (bought an all day pass for $5 at the airport), while the others walk to the downtown area.  We arrive downtown at the same time.  The weather is sunny and much warmer than in Glacier Bay.
 

The streets are packed with tourists; they seek out one of the 36 jewelry stores, many cafes and restaurants, souvenir shops and 1 quilt store.  After a pleasant lunch at the Harbour Lights Café, we split up to pursue our own interests.  Incidentally, the Italian sausage sandwich is very good here.  You know of Elaine’s quilting interest no doubt; that was our first stop after lunch.  Elaine found some fabric and a kit that she just had to have.  Back home, she is trying to find the time to piece the kit.  It will be a very beautiful souvenir.  It is the second quilt pictured here.  As of today, Elaine has it all pieced and ready for quilting.  No, you can’t have it, it is for our enjoyment and use.
 

While the others nap and enjoy afternoon tea, I do laundry at the B & B.  That evening we go to a brew pub and enjoy pub grub and Alaskan beers.

Skagway was one of the main routes that the prospectors of 1898 traveled to get to the Klondike.  Those leaving from Skagway would take the White Pass trail, also known as the Dead Horse Trail, to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.  The Dead Horse Trail name comes from the harsh conditions on the trail.  Many people were starving as they were not prepared for the rigors on travel in this environment.  Some survived by eating off the many dead horses that had expired along the route to Whitehorse.  It was easier than the more famous Chilkoot Trail that originated in the now deserted town of Dyea.  However, Skagway was controlled by a gang led by the locally infamous, Soapy Smith and many took the more arduous Chilkoot to avoid anything to do with Skagway.  As the Klondike was near Dawson City, Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) sent detachments to the border with Alaska to maintain law and order, which they did to a remarkable degree considering the flotsam and jetsam of society that gold fever attracted.  One requirement to cross the border was that each person bring with them enough food and supplies (tools, tents, etc) to last for a whole year.  This amounted to about 2,000 pounds.  That meant that you did not make just one trip through the mountain and over the pass, some 33 miles on the Chilkoot Trail.  You had to make up to 40 if packing in without horses or hired porters.  That’s 1,200 miles through the mountains that had a very short summer travel season.  Many with gold fever gave up before ever entering Canada.  They were the smart ones.  The smarter ones never left home in the first place.  Let's think about this, travel thousands of miles, get fleeced by gangs, endure the harsh climate, eat carrion to avoid starving, etc. or stay home and keep your job.  Which would you choose?

Of course, there are several sites tied to the Soapy Smith days.  One is a humorous production at the local Eagles Club, “The Days of 98”, dramatizing the last days of Soapy Smith.  The cast is made up of young theater majors from various east coast universities.  Audience participation is part of the production and one man is selected to act in the production and later two women from the audience help dance the “can can” much to the rest of us with laughter and relief at not being chosen.

Several buildings remain from the 1898 era, some are museums; some are souvenir shops with displays of the gold rush era.
 

British investors decided to build a narrow gage railroad connecting Skagway with Whitehorse.  It was completed by 1900.  Unfortunately for the investors, the rush was over by this time, as all the good claims were taken.  The railroad actually operated until 1982.  In 1988 it was reopened as the White Pass and Yukon Route, primarily to cart tourists from Skagway to Fraser, British Columbia.
 

As we are following the heart of gold trail to Dawson City, we are booked on this train.  While we are in the depot Elaine notices an unusual sign in the women’s bathroom.
 

Apparently the many Japanese and Chinese tourists to this area are not used to western-type toilets.  I remember these toilets from when I was stationed in Okinawa many years ago; Greece also has this type of bathroom also...  Basically they are, a small room with a tiled floor with a small target of water to aim at; no fixture at all.  Unsurprisingly, many think that you are supposed to squat and aim on the stool.  The sign hopes to educate those from areas with Asian and Greek toilets.

The rail trip from Skagway winds though a heavily forested steep mountainous region.  A derailment would be most unwelcome.  The views are spectacular.  I cannot imagine packing 2,000 pounds of supplies along this up and down route.

 

We cross into Canada and go through Canadian customs at Fraser, British Columbia.  They look at your passport and that is it.  No stamp on your passport or anything.  At the rail station there is an old customs stamp that you can enter on your passport if you wish – we did.  As the train empties, many buses pull up to the parking lot to take most of the passengers right back to where they came from by bus.  These same buses have disgorged people who board the train also go back to Skagway.  I imagine during the height of tourist season the train is full both ways, as are the buses.

A bus arrives to take us to the Whitehorse bus drop off.  It is a short 2-block walk to the hotel.  If you are the type of tourist who wants to be dropped off at the hotel and have your bags carried to your room, please do not take this trip, as you are pretty much on your own.  The weather is probably in the 60s; however winter temperatures regularly get to 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, the record cold recorded in the Yukon was in 1947 when thermometers froze at -84 Fahrenheit.

Whitehorse is the territorial capital of the Yukon Territory.  The territory is about 2/3s the size of Texas with about 34,000 population.  Of that, 28,000 are in Whitehorse.  Of that, most are First Nations People (read Native Americans).  Totem poles are seen outside several buildings and in the parks.

As there is some daylight left, we walk a half-mile on Front Street, paralleling the Yukon River.  The Yukon is a fast flowing river that originates in British Columbia and flows nearly 2,000 miles before dumping into the Bering Sea.  We noticed a big paddle-wheel boat on our ride coming into town and it is within walking distance.  It is too late in the day to go aboard, so we appreciate it from the outside.  The river boat Klondike was one of the last of the cargo hauling sternwheelers.  It operated from 1937-1950.  It was restored in 1966 and sits on supports on a bank of the Yukon River.
 

I had hoped to visit the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center, but it was closed for the day and we were leaving early next morning.  Should you find yourself in Whitehorse, I’d advise a stop there.  The center focuses on the movement of peoples and animals from Asia to North America in the distant past.   

Early next morning a 12-passenger van arrives slightly late to carry us and 6 others to Dawson City (332 miles).  It is driven by Frank, who has a treasure trove of knowledge of the route, which he shares with those who can hear him, as he does not use a microphone.  Frank seems to have a desire to become a plumber by the way he wears his trousers.

The road is two lanes and paved, with much patching and repairs due to the winter frost damage. We are told the road is kept open year round.  We are in the tundra now.  What trees there are keep getting shorter and shorter as Frank drives north.  The permafrost (soil that does not thaw) can be hundreds of feet in depth.  There are rest stops along the way.  Remember the winter temperatures?  Pipes would undoubtedly freeze, so the long drop facility is used throughout the frozen North.

We parallel the Yukon River for much of the way and see some very beautiful sights, such as the Fiver Finger Rapids and Tintina Trench, which was formed by the Tintina fault line, extending from British Columbia, through the Yukon and into Alaska.
 

After a long drive we arrive in Dawson City and check in at a very nice hotel, part of which is a row of restored main street buildings. 
 

Dawson City was founded in 1897 and was at the heart of the Klondike Gold rush.  Its population was about 40,000 in 1898 and the mining claims along the Klondike Creek had another 30,000.  Today, it is a sleepy town of about 1,300 year-round residents.  Many of the buildings date to the gold rush era, and many have been torn down for lumber and firewood or have collapsed.  A typical block will have a couple of buildings and many vacant lots where buildings used to be.


 

Dawson City served as the Yukon’s territorial capital from 1898 until 1952 when it was moved to Whitehorse.  The old territorial capital building has been restored and now served as a museum. 
 

 The main focus is about life in Dawson City, the gold rush days and the First Peoples of the area.

 Another building houses the dust gathering rolling stock of the defunct railroad.  By the time rails were laid, the boom was over and the city began a rapid decline, making the railroad unprofitable.

 There are relics of gold mining seen rusting away throughout the area.  This is a dredge that was used to churn up the riverbeds in the search for placer gold.  Wherever the dredge operated, it left behind rows and rows of rock piles.  It is pretty ugly, and there is no way to restore the environment to its original appearance.

 

The 4 Catholics in the group of 6 attended services in the local church.   The priest was from Nigeria and the church service is held on the 2^nd floor.  There are many pictures showing the history of the local church.  After church we decide to try our luck at the local casino.  At the door we are told there is a $12 admission – as we object to paying to lose money we skip the casino.  We later learn that the casino is really a theater with 1890s type shows with dance hall girls.  Supper at the hotel was delicious and not too expensive because of the weak Canadian dollar.

Along the various small creeks and rivers gold mines are still in operation.  Gold Bottom Mine gives tours of its placer mining operation. 
 

The Millar family has operated their claim since the 1970’s.  Unlike the old time mines, they do not use chemicals in separating out the gold.  Cyanide and mercury were commonly used in the past.   The family lives on their claim.  Their son, Justin picks us up at the hotel and takes us to their claim.
 

The tour starts at their office, which houses a collection of bones, fossils, pelts and other things found on their claims.  The yellow on the map shows their claims, all of which border a creek or river.  The size of each claim is 500 ft. of riverbank by 2,000 feet from the riverbank.  For those of you who wish to give it all up in the hopes of finding some color, a claim costs $10 to file and $200 a year to maintain.  Of course, every inch along a stream of water already has an owner.  See www.goldbottom.com for more info.
 

The next stop is where they are actively mining for placer gold.  Placer gold is gold that has washed away from an underground vein.  It is found on top of bedrock and in streambeds.  The big problem is that there is from 30 to 100 feet of permafrost above bedrock.  This must first be melted, dug through or washed away.  The old time miners would light fires to melt the permafrost down to bedrock.  Then they would haul the gravel and dirt out of their tunnels to see if there was gold.  This process soon denuded the land for miles around of its trees.  Look, we now find two eager miners at the mine.
 

Once at bedrock, front loaders scoop up the loose gravel.  This gravel is then washed off on a sluice type channel.  As gold is much heavier than soil and other rocks, the gold settles to the bottom of the sluice, where one simply picks it out.  Sounds easy doesn’t it?  One can only expect an ounce or so of gold for every several tons of gravel washed, if you are lucky.  It is understandable why so many left without ever making any profit.  The photo shows a small sluice and the other shows a machine that sorts the gold from the iron pyrite by means of a spiraling design with a steady flow of water.  The gold progresses up the spiral, while the other material goes the other way.
 

 

Back in 1898, you panned for gold.  The principle is the same, wash the dirt and rocks in a pan and pick out the gold.  We try our hand at panning.  First, we go to a pile of dirt and rocks and fill our pan.  Then we go to Hunker Creek and plunge the pan and our hands into the ice cold water.  After 10 minutes, I had enough as my hands were turning purple.  I do not know how those prospectors did it.

 

As you can see, Elaine found a nice nugget which she put on a chain.  Not bad for a novice sourdough.

 

Well, not really.  This is the largest nugget (3 oz.) found on this claim by Justin’s grandmother in the 1970’s.  Gary, Elaine (other Elaine) and Dennis did find a few specks of gold.  The Sluti’s return to the lower 48 as washed out placer miners.  It was refreshing that the mine owners don’t try to sell you jewelry with what little gold you found as a part of it, unlike most of the touristy gold mines.  Those actually salt the gravel with gold so that everyone “finds” gold in their pans and then pays several hundred dollars to make an earring containing their find.

 

Later that afternoon, we get on a van that will take us the 379 miles from Dawson City to Fairbanks via the Top of the World Highway.  The trip takes 10 hours.  Mathematicians will calculate an average speed of just less than 38 miles an hour.   It was a very long day.

 

Over 140 miles is on unpaved, winding roads.  Most of the time it is drizzling.  We are really far north now, as very few trees are seen.  It is miles and miles of tundra.  The tundra consists of shrubs and grasses.  They are changing to fall colors, so it is quite pretty.  Would have been better for pictures with sunlight.  Oh well, next time.

 

This photo shows some small trees along with the other fall colors.  These are spruce trees.  Because the permafrost is nutrient deficient, they grow very slowly.  A tree just 4 inches in diameter may be over 200 years old.  No chance of a lumber industry up here.  Due to the occasional thaw, the trees often lean over at unusual angles.  A gathering of these trees is known as a drunken forest.

 

After a few hours we reach the border of Alaska at Poker Creek.  The driver collects our passports and shows them to the border patrol and we are then on our way.  This sounds like a great place to smuggle things into the USA.  Only problem is getting whatever you intend to smuggle into Canada first.

 

A dinner and rest stop at Chicken, Alaska (population 39) is a highlight.  The townspeople originally wanted to name the town ptarmigan, after the native bird.  Since agreement on the spelling of the bird could not be settled on, they chose chicken, as the bird is also known as the “snow chicken.”  We see evidence of a fire that swept from Fairbanks to Dawson City in 2004.  It burned over 12,000,000 acres and will take many decades to recover.

 

Dan, the van driver owns 16 vans and has lived up north most of his adult life.  I would guess that he is in his 80’s.  He is a wealth of knowledge of the history of northern Yukon and Alaska.  Only wish that he has a microphone, as those of us in the back 2 rows of the van couldn’t hear a word he said.  Dan has arranged a sack dinner for us at Chicken.  Naturally, the dinner is chicken salad cranberry sandwiches, potato chips, a mandarin orange, a chocolate chip cookie and a bottle of water.  On the counter of the bar where we picked up our dinner there are several pieces of yummy looking blueberry pie.  I could not pass that up and bought a piece to go. 

On the go again, we drive by a section of the Alaska pipeline.  It is getting close to dusk, so the photo isn’t very good.

 

At 11:30 PM we finally arrive at River’s Edge Resort in Fairbanks, where we will be spending the next two days.  Our adventures in Fairbanks and beyond will be the subject of part 3.