The Agnew Family aboard the "Dog House"

Everywhere you look there is a mountain. The town is nestled in a small valley. The town has number avenues from 1 to 22 (the blocks are very small) and is four streets wide. The west most part of town is taken up by the airstrip and the east side is the train tracks You can walk around the entire town in about 1 hour! Skagway (the oldest incorporated town in Alaska) owes its birth to the Klondike Gold Rush. Skagway sprung up as thousands of thousands of gold seekers arrived to follow the White Pass and Chilkoot trails to the Yukon. By the summer of 1899 the stampede was all but over and by 1903 Skagway’s population dwindled to 500. The arrival of the cruise ships has revived Skagway at least in the summer. The main street is full of shops catering to tourists and lots of excursions are available (a train ride to the summit, horseback riding, river rafter, bus tours, 4x4 jeep tours and more). Margaret and I did a tour of the shops this morning (we both showed great restraint!) and then went to see a show about the notorious Soapy Smith (the villain of Skagway). A drive out the Dyea Road to the remains of the town of Dyea (just some boards on the ground are left) was the next adventure. The road was a lot of fun — I was glad we weren’t pulling trailers — up, down, right bend, left bend, one lane and single lane wooden bridges. I’m still not use to these extra long days – I took Zaph for a walk at 11:00 and it felt like 7:00. Skagway was very quite as the cruise ships had left, a couple of guys were playing horseshoes, a few people beside myself were out walking and a few people were in the bars.


Broadway Street, Skagway Alaska






This town's OK - there's kids willing to give you belly rubs!


Man, they grow big rhubarb here!


Pretty nice parking jobs, eh!


Harbour traffic.



But mom... I want to go swimming!


Rare wild Iris's.



All that remains of the realestate office is the false front. Dyea townsite.



Skagway River from Dyea Road.