Whitehorse Yukon to Skagway Alaska

I AM HERE !!!!!   Not the port of entry I expected, but I am in Alaska, all the same.  Just have had no wifi to tell you about it !!

After a miserable 4 or 5 solid days of rain, I was getting more and more disconsolate because I could do nothing.  Even the driving wasn’t much fun because there were no views – I might as well have been driving up the Newell Highway, and it was starting to really get to me. Even many the tourist things are not operating, most of them because the weather has been so bad.  Anyway, a BIG thank you to those of you who have supported me through this period of melancholy !!  You know who you are, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  After a night in an expensive motel in Whitehorse (it’s a bit like Dampier – many workers, little accommodation, so they can charge what they like) because all the camp sites were closed, I worked my way in writing through what I needed to do – and it worked.  As I wrote it all out, everything became clearer in my mind, and by the time I finished, I had a plan. And from on the day just got……….better !!!

I went into Whitehorse to the Tourist Information office and found a lovely lady.  I laid out my problem that I needed to spend a week or 10 days doing something / anything, because I was too early to get into many of the national parks or campsites.  She tried to think of things, and then sent me off to the Parks Canada office in town as they would have more details. So I walked to their office, and a lady called Andre was most helpful and we went through lots of ideas and options.  The final one which fitted the bill perfectly was to drive back south to Skagway (I was not planning on going to Skagway at all), we found some campsite open there, and there were walking hiking trails there that were open, and I could catch ferries from there to Juneau and Haines and other places.  In addition, in checking the weather, it looked as though it would be fine but cold in Skagway and Haines.  So decision made !!  I was off to Skagway. Everyone said the drive to Skagway was stunning, and there would be lots of wildlife on the road, so it just got better.  Coming out of the Parks Canada office I saw a Mountain / Hiking shop and went in to get some of those handwarmers – To use on my feet !  All of me is warm in my sleeping bag except my feet which are freezing, so I plan to put these warmers in my socks like mini hot water bottles !!  While in there I also bought a small back pack as my previous big one just took up too much space in the car, so I had left it at my sister’s in Seattle.  Then I started chatting about things to do in Whitehorse, and they had all the details on the local hikes and sights, and were MOST helpful.  Thank you guys – Because of you I ended up enjoying Whitehorse !  So after leaving them, and having a quick Starbucks, I set off on a walk around the Millenium Walk around the Yukon River which flows through Whitehorse, and it was superb.  About 1 1/2 hours walk and it went right up to the power station where there is a fish ladder so salmon can get upstream when they want to, and then back around the river towards town, passing the old paddle steamer Klondike which used to ply up and down the river in the Gold Rush days and afterwards.  Just as I am getting almost to the car to head off to Skagway, I see a caravan selling Burritos and Tacos, and there was a fair number of locals buying from them, and the smell was so good, so despite the very cold temps, I bought one and sat in the park and ate it – And it was delicious !!
Then back to the car at the Tourist Information office and find a note on my windscreen – Uh oh – Parking Ticket ?  Not at all, a note from Margaret, an Australian lady at the bureau, asking if I would be willing to have photos of me and the car taken to put into their sales brochure on Facebook or something !  Of course that was excellent, so got with Steve and did that.  Also found out Margaret is going up to Missoula Montana in June for 3 months, so I told her to make sure she went to see Carl Ibsen, Sheriff of Missoula County while she was there !!   So if you guys read this – Carl, meet Margaret !!  Margaret, meet Carl !!

Finally got away, and the Mountain shop had told me to make sure I took a brief detour and went to Miles Canyon which is just outside town.   So I did – And it is amazing.  The whole Yukon River narrows down into this gorge, and reading about it, many of the gold miner’s boat sunk here in the fast flowing waters !   And this is why Whitehorse exists - Because ships could get no further down the Yukon, so the miners had to get from Skagway up to Whitehorse, then ships could go from there all the way up to Dawson.  Fascinating to see.  And where I parked there were 4 “young people” sitting in their car, not sure what they were doing, but they loved my car, although it was hard for them to see it with their hats on so sideways and all the smoke in the car !!  Anyway, we had a good chat, and they were really interested in my trip, which was nice.  I am sure they are great kids.

Then off to Skagway.  The road to start with is pretty normal -  a few mountains in the distance, but otherwise just a regular road winding through the country side – Nothing to get too excited about. Then we hit a dirt section for about 15 miles where they were “repairing the road”, and it was OK to start with, but then they had decided to water it to keep the dust down, and it became a mud bath !!  I was doing OK until some SUV went past as 100 miles an hour and sprayed me – Fortunately nothing major coming into the car !  But poor Elsie really looks like she has been on a trip now !!  Once the dirt was over, we were getting close to the mountains – And they were IMPRESSIVE in the sunshine !  Of course they are the back of the coastal mountains that all the cruise ships come to see, with all the glaciers and stuff, but I thought they were equally impressive from the land side – Especially with the sun out and the roof off !! 

Then I came across a motor home parked half way across the road (Yes you were, Dave !!! Eh ?) and I was just about to go blatting past when I saw the black blob on the left hand side – BEAR !! So slammed on the brakes and turned the music off and pulled in behind the motor home – And there was this lovely black bear munching away at the grass right on the edge of the road.  I got my bear spray ready just in case (Hey, I had the roof off, and he was about 25 metres away !!), and then when the RV pulled away, I had him to myself.  So I pulled right over on the other side of the road next to him, kept the car in first gear and foot on the clutch, and started clicking away, but had to call him back because he turned to walk away !!  Luckily he liked my voice (ha ha), and turned back towards me and I got some lovely shots !!     

This was more like it – The grin was back on my face.  This was what I had been expecting !!  And because of books like James A Michenor’s “Alaska”, I knew the history of this pass.  It was Skagway where many of the would-be miners in the Gold Rush had landed after coming up by ship from Seattle, and then they had travelled by foot over these mountains in horrendous conditions, before reaching Whitehorse, and then making their way up through the Klondike to places like Dawson, where I plan to be driving to later. So I found it really exciting to be driving through the same pass – And then it began to snow, which made it even……better !!!  The atmosphere was amazing – This incredible pass winding up the mountain, the temperature slowly dropping, but, unlike rain, none of the snow came into the car – The wind deflector I have fitted to the front of the car diverts it upwards so it doesn’t even hit the windscreen – Blizzard conditions and I didn’t even need the wipers on !!

Passed the motor home and waved, then, at the (empty) Canadian Customs office, came out onto a flat area with a railway station, and a train there with lots of people – The top of the pass at Jackson, and all the tourists off a cruise ship in Skagway had come up on the train.  Most of them looked VERY cold in the blizzard conditions, and many were getting into buses for the run back down to Skagway.  There was also a van with a whole lot of bicycles on it which gives people the option to cycle back down into Juneau, but last I saw of them in the snow, no one was riding !!

Had a great run back down the other side into Skagway, with the snow no longer falling, but big mountains to the left and right – Just a magical drive down, and real Elise country.  Came to US customs, and that as pretty much a repeat of the last one – Any weapons sir ?  Just my bear spray.  Ok, off you go, Sir.    So I have still never been asked once for any documentation for the car !!

Pulling into Skagway, it seemed like a lively little town based on the history surrounding the Gold Rush, with wooden sidewalks and lots of old wooden buildings, and people everywhere.  So I drove around until I found a campsite right down by the cruise terminal at the head of the fjord – And there was the (bear) motorhome !!  So of course we got chatting, Dave and Amy, a delightful couple, and then went to set up our sites.  Then there were two Germans in their tents (sorry guys forgotten your names…See you in Fairbanks !!), and Kenny from New York.  And then a number of the people walking back to the cruise ship recognised my car from the top of the mountain pass and came over because it was right beside the road – Rhett from Mississippi, and many others !  Good chatting to you all.  I think it took me 2 – 3 hours before I even got my tent pitched !!   And then Dave came over and invited me for dinner in has RV (Sorry, Amy’s RV !!) and we had a wonderful (and very warm) evening chatting about our trips.  Delicious – thanks guys.  Then I had to go back out into the freezing cold and my tent !!!  Skagway comes from an Indian word meaning “Very Windy” and let me tell you, those guys got it spot on ! A strong (and very cold) wind blows up the fjord off the glaciers on the surrounding mountains, and the first thing it hits is the campsite – and then the rest of Skagway.  It just NEVER stops blowing !!  Luckily I got a spot behind a 4 foot high bank, and a big bush on the bank, so the tent isn’t  flapping too much, but as soon as you are in the wind, you need jackets and beanies and scarves – it is wicked.  But it isn’t raining, and I slept just fine, although the couple of beers came back to haunt me in the night and I can assure you that wind wakes you up VERY quickly when you have to get out of the tent in the middle of the night !!!   ROFL.

All in all, a top day – And probably one of the most dramatic drives, through the blizzard. The day started well, but just got………..better !!!

Photos of the day here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/WhitehorseYukonToSkagwayAlaska?authkey=Gv1sRgCPCe1OeMq5SJKw#

PS The internet is so slow here in the library that only 60 of the photos have downloaded and they are closing the library shortly.  So I will try to load the rest of them tomorrow. Sorry about that. 
Next Day, Update -- OK, should all be working now.  G