Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Another day in Skagway
By 8:00am you can hear the cruise ship horns and trains click clacking, Skagway is open for business again. I spoke with some of the “locals” today and asked about the town. The population of Skagway is around 800 then in the summer with transient workers it jumps to 2500. Of the 800, probably only about 200 stay for the entire winter (those 200 are probably families with children in school). The transient workers live just about anywhere, in trailer parks, rooming houses, tents half way up the mountain. One woman I spoke with lives in Haines a 20 minute ferry away. She told me that she has lived here for 29 years and doesn’t plan on any more winters up here as her children have finished school. She thinks her daughter will end up in a city and her son will stay in the Yukon — she called him a cave man! It was overcast and rainy today, so it was off to the museum and then shopping. The museum was well done and worth the $2 admission. The weather cleared a bit so we wandered up to the Gold Rush Cemetery and the Reid waterfalls. The “villain” Soapy Smith and “hero” Frank Reid are buried in the cemetery.
rush hour in Skagway harbour
With the high fuel prices, this may be the way to go
The very rare Alaskan spruce cactus
The rail line here is very narrow gauge,(36") I though they might be prone to rolling over on turns!
The tomb of Frank Reid
rush hour in Skagway harbour
With the high fuel prices, this may be the way to go
The very rare Alaskan spruce cactus
The rail line here is very narrow gauge,(36") I though they might be prone to rolling over on turns!
The tomb of Frank Reid
If you wish you can sign our guest book
We have added a web page with a map of our current location and route to date