Skagway & Haines

Well, one thing is for sure; Skagway is the cruise ship capital of Alaska. When we arrived on Sunday, there were two ships docked in town. OK, that’s not bad. Then on Monday, there were four.Tuesday brought five, as did Wednesday and Thursday. Finally on Friday, only one showed up, and the town of 1,600 summer population seemed deserted with only 2,000 visitors on the streets and in the shops. We’ve tried to stay out of the way of the cruise ship passengers, and by visiting the shops early and late seems to work pretty well.

We’re camped on the edge of a downtown RV park, right in front of the small boat harbor which means activity throughout the day. The town, founded in 1897, has many historic buildings, which has resulted in the formation of a National Historic Park under the protection of the National Park Service. One of the most interesting buildings is the “Arctic Brotherhood” building, a short-lived fraternal organization.
The front of the building is entirely covered by tree branches which have to be replaced every 20 years or so. We had drinks and pizza in another historic building, the Red Onion Saloon, which was one of the notorious brothels during gold rush times.


We traveled by car about 12 miles to the Chilcoot trailhead and the town site of Dyea at the base of the trail. Most of the gold seekers traveled the Chilcoot trail until the completion of the railroad over White Pass in 1898. Dyea had a population of 8,000 for about two years, but soon dwindled to nothing. The wilderness has taken over the town site, with few remaining relics of the many buildings in town.

Back in Skagway, we crossed a creek between our campsites and town. A king salmon run is occurring now, and the local hatchery has placed a weir in the creek to capture the returning fish so that they can gather and fertilize the eggs. It’s quite a sight, and it has drawn many viewers.


On Wednesday we all boarded a ferry to Haines to visit our old friends, Al and Carol, who live in a lovely home overlooking the Lynn Canal. They took us to a wonderful exhibit about eagles and other wildlife found in the area. Then, after lunch, they took us up the Chilcoot River, looking for eagles and bear. Eagles - yes, bear – no. Oh well, it is a beautiful area. Bob, Diane, LaVan and Louise caught an evening ferry back to Skagway while Debbie and Tom stayed with Al and Carol until Thursday evening.

After dinner we went back out to the Chilcoot River and saw a grizzly bear. It was about three years old, and was trying to catch a salmon dinner in the river. Actually, it was trying to get out on the fish-counting weir, but the guy counting the fish kept banging a big stick to discourage the bear from climbing on the weir. Finally the bear gave up and went into the river to try his luck. It was the closest we’ve come to a bear in our trip, so far.

Thursday morning was our time, with Al and Carol’s encouragement, to do a couple of loads of laundry and get caught up with the internet. Following that, we took another ride, this time up the Chilcat River to hopefully see some eagles. That trip, while beautiful, produced slim results; only a couple of eagles in an area where hundreds and even thousands congregate at certain times of the year.

Friday dawned with fog and rain in Skagway. We had plans for a number of activities, and for a while we thought all plans would be scratched, but the rain quit before noon, so we went out of town a couple of miles to Jewell Gardens,
a gorgeous garden with a lovely restaurant and a glassblowing studio. We got great pictures which you can see by clicking on our newest Web Album, “Heading Home”.

We leave Skagway on Saturday morning, and we’ll be heading back through Canada for a couple of weeks. We probably won’t have much cell phone or internet coverage available, but we’ll continue to write to the blog and will publish our travel adventures whenever we can.

‘Til the next time, take care.