Alaska Cruise Vacation - Fourth Port of Call, Skagway!

I hope you enjoyed our tour of Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Cave

adventure I shared with you in my last post, because today we are  visiting our

fourth port of call, Skagway for two excursions there I know you will enjoy

hearing about as much as we enjoyed taking them! Now, we were originally booked

into Royal Caribbean's Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion seen here:

However, at dinner that evening, we decided that since we had just

taken the most amazing glacier tour with the best couple and new

friends we had made in Koko and Steven, that we would cancel our

canoe trip to another glacier and do something else that might allow

us to see more of Skagway and the surrounding area. Besides...

We were already feeling our earlier canoe row across Mendenhall Lake!

Following dinner, we visited the Excursions Desk where we learned

there was still space for us to take their White Pass Railroad and

Alaskan Dog Sled Experience excursion in Skagway. Since both

excursions require nothing more strenuous than sitting on a bus and

a train, we were sold. And, since it was quite a bit less expensive than

our original excursion, the difference was added to our ship account!

When we returned to our stateroom we found the itinerary for Skagway!

As well as the weather forecast... Which provided reassurance that we

had made the right call nixing that Davidson Glacier canoe excursion!

Notice the time for sunset? Yeah... The sun never really set! Anyway,

since our new excursion was an earlier one, we ordered breakfast in bed...

Showered, dressed for the weather and then,

made our way ashore to explore Skagway!

We enjoyed reading the tags on this impressive wall of granite along

the wharf, which is known as the Ship-Signature Wall. It's where

ship crews have autographed the wall since 1928 as a way to forever

commemorate their first sea voyage to Skagway. Pretty cool, huh?!

Ship crews weren't the only ones to sign here though... As evidenced

by one very enthusiastic shopper named Michelle on her trip in 1978!

After a short walk, we located our motor coach

and were whisked away to our first stop...

To visit a seven-time Iditarod musher and his racing dogs for a

mushing demonstration and, to hear all about what it takes to run

these incredible animals in such harsh and unforgiving conditions!

Meet Matt Hayashida - He and his wife and their year-old daughter, Lily,

all run this sled dog camp. Matt told us that some of what we paid to be

there would go toward sponsoring his qualifying for the 2017 Iditarod!

Matt gave an incredible talk about his dogs and the process of running

the Iditarod. Everything on the stage with him were things he used during

the races. Those bags, printed with the names of the different race stages,

were used to carry dog food that was shipped to each stop in advance. Each

team is provided a bale of hay at each stop, which is used to create beds for

the dogs to sleep for the night. That bucket you see is used to melt snow for

the water Matt needs to mix the dog food and to water his dogs. Each dog is

examined by a Veterinarian at each stop and, if a dog is determined to be

unfit to continue, it is removed from the team and shipped back home. If this

happens, mushers cannot replace the dog with a spare; they just end up being

down a dog (or two, or three...) for the remainder of the race. That's why Matt

stressed, that it is so critical to care for his dogs during every stage of the race!

See those little black things hanging above the bags? Those are booties

(socks) worn by every dog to help protect their paws from the cold, rocks

and other hazards of the trails traveled during the race. Between the two

sleds you see, the one on stage is a sled Matt has used during his races...

The other sled, on the floor is one Matt

told us was featured in the film, White Fang!

Matt's dogs are very cool! They don't at all look like the Huskies often

associates with Alaska and sled dog teams. They are very long and lean!

And, all of them were very eager to show us what they could do!

After watching the team run around a practice track set up

near the kennel, it was time for Matt to break out... The Puppies!

If you tell Leo this happened, I will swear you're lying!

It was freezing outside on this stop; therefore,

after a quick squeeze and cuddle of this puppy...

I made a beeline inside to visit the bathroom!

After a quick spin through the gift shop, where we bought hot chocolate and a

cookie, we got back on the bus where our driver had kept it toasty-warm for us!

Shore excursion itineraries are never well defined by the cruise line

so we didn't find out until we got back on the bus that the depot, where

we would board the train, was an hour and a half away... Back in Canada!

Which I guess makes sense, since the end of the route was way back

in Skagway where we left the ship. It also made sense now that we had

to bring our passports with us too, since we were crossing the border!

The bus ride took us through some beautiful country! We even got

the opportunity to see what the train looks like from the other side!

We also had a great driver who knew everything there was to know

about the area, the train and the people that passed through Skagway

and these mountains... In hopes of striking it rich, when in July of 1897,

word flashed around the world of gold discovered along the Yukon River

in the Canadian wilderness. As North America remained in economic

depression, it was a rousing event when the steamer Portland docked

in Seattle. The ship's cargo, fresh from the gold fields, carried 68 miners

and almost two tons of raw gold! As the news spread, people gathered up

their savings, left jobs and families and headed for the Promised Land! The

Klondike Gold Rush... The World's last great adventure was now underway!

After we crossed the border back into Canada, we hopped aboard the

White Pass Railroad. The quickest route, from the West Coast to find

gold was up the Inside Passage (exactly the way our cruise took us) to the

head of the Lynn Canal at Skagway. Once in Skagway, the trick was to hike

forty-five miles over the mountains to Lake Bennett and, from there, float

five hundred, fifty-five miles down the Yukon River to the gold fields! There

were two trails to Lake Bennett over these tall mountains, the Chilkoot Trail,

starting north of Skagway and the White Pass, with its trailhead conveniently

positioned over Skagway itself! Even before news of the rich gold strike...

A canny British investor named William Close was exploring the notion of

building a railroad from tidewater to the head of the Yukon River. Skagway,

with its natural harbor and passageway over the mountains beckoned. Close

sent three top railway men to Skagway in April 1898, who all spent long days

scouting the daunting landscape. All three came to the same conclusion...

It could not be done!

The three men made their way back down the mountain

to Skagway where they prepared to relay the bad news to their

boss, Mr. Close. As the three checked in at the St. James Hotel...

They noticed a rugged looking but charismatic man there... Michael J. Heney

had just returned from making his own survey for a railroad over the same

forbidding mountains. The four of them talked through the night, and by

daybreak, Heney, an Irish Canadian railroad contractor, had convinced

them that not only could a railroad be built, he was the very man to do it!

Backed by ten million dollars from William Close and his British

investors, it took 26 months and 450 tons of blasting powder for

Michael Heney and his work force to turn the dream into reality!

Give me enough dynamite, and snoose, and I'll build you

a Railroad to Hell - "Big" Mike Heney, Railroad Builder

As we made our way down the mountain back into Skagway...

We learned more more about the people that made this trip...

And, of the loss of pack animals as we passed over Dead Horse Gulch,

where over 3,000 of them died on this trail from being over-packed,

over-worked and due to the extreme weather conditions. Many of

their bones still lie here, deep at the bottom of Dead Horse Gulch!

No thank you...

This would have not been the adventure for me!

Despite conditions, there were relatively few human casualties during

this project to build the railroad. That doesn't mean they didn't happen...

Because on August 3, 1898 tragedy struck when blasting dislodged a

500 ton piece of granite, crushing workmen Alex Juneaux and Maurice

Dunn, along with their pack horses. The massive, unmovable boulder

became their tomb. A simple black cross that was erected to mark the

site was called out to us as we made our way down the big mountain...

By midsummer of 1898 there were 18,000 people at Dawson, with more

than 5,000 working the digging. By August many of the stampeders

had started to make their way back to their homes... Most of them broke!

The next year saw a still larger exodus of miners when gold was discovered

at Nome. The great Klondike Gold Rush had ended as suddenly as it had begun!

Towns such as Dawson City and Skagway began to decline. Others,

such as nearby Dyea, disappeared altogether, leaving only memories of

what many consider to be the last grand adventure of the 19th century!

When we arrived at the station, where our bus waited to take us back to the

ship, we realized the only thing we had eaten all day was that cookie at the

dog sled camp. So, since we were starving and really wanted to see Skagway...

We waved good-bye to the train...

And, set out to see Skagway on our own!

But not before getting a recommendation from our driver about where to

find the best eats in Skagway... To which he replied, Skagway Brew Co.

Unfortunately, he said his bus didn't go that way... We could

either wait for a shuttle or walk the few blocks on our own!

We have never run so fast to get to food!

Only to arrive and find out that every other cruise ship passenger

must have been given the same recommendation! The line of people

waiting was out the door and the wait for a table was over an hour!

Nevertheless, I added our name to the list and then flagged down

a waiter to place an order for an appetizer and drinks. Yes! We were going

to have their hot, soft pretzels standing up, leaned against a doorframe...

While keeping a sharp eye out for movement at the bar,

where we were told it was first-come-first served seating!

It took less than five minutes for two people to leave so I pounced on

their chairs and we ordered! It may have been because we were starving,

but the food at Skagway Brew Company was as good as our driver promised!

After a short stroll through a very small Skagway downtown with a stop

at the gift shop for more postcards and a few trinkets to take home...

It was time to get back to the ship for the last couple of days of our cruise!

I sure hope you enjoyed this tour of Skagway and that you

also stay tuned for our next adventure. A day at sea...

With a long idle of the ship at the face of Hubbard Glacier!