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 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 2nd 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.
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.
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.
