Skagway & White Pass/Yukon RR -- 6/11/11

The Lynn Canal is 90+ miles long and dead-ends at Skagway, and it’s deep – more than 2,000’ in some places. Also, the canal isn’t much more than a mile wide in some areas, with boundary cliffs rising a couple thousand feet ... quite awesome to see ... it’s North America’s longest fjord. We leave our drapes open all night on our balcony doors, which means with sunset at 10:17 and sunrise at 3:46 here in Skagway, we don’t sleep much in the dark. The sky appears vaguely light all night. Easy to wake up very early, as we did today; our ship docked approx 6:15 am.

 

According to our Officer’s Daily Log, Skagway gets its name from the Tlingit people: “A windy place with white caps on the water.” A neat segue into the following: When we first looked at Skagway shore excursions in a brochure, one of the tours available was riding the train up to White Pass and riding a bike down to Skagway. This sounded great, very exciting even, but this deal is no longer offered. Now that we're here, and realizing how windy (Force 5) and chilly (High: 51°) it is today, NOT pedaling down the mountain didn't break our hearts. Fact is, we might have frozen to death!  Instead, we hopped aboard the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway for the 20-mile trip to the summit (2,865’) … and its return!

Completed in two years, two months and two days (1898-1900), this narrow-gauge railroad was built during the Klondike Gold Rush. It’s called the “Scenic Railway of the World,” for good reason – it is a breathtaking ride. We sat in vintage parlor cars with wide windows; an oil stove warmed each car. The tracks rose quickly from sea level into the snowcapped peaks and blue-white glaciers of the mtns, and with every mile, the temperature dropped. The train snaked, climbing and grinding toward the Pass, looping across cliffhanging cuts, over scary-looking trestles, and thru two tunnels. Countless waterfalls careened down toward the river hundreds of feet below. At the summit, the thermometer read 32°. The train didn’t tarry. Our return to town was just as fascinating as our ascent. The Railway is recognized as an international Historic Civil Engineering Landmark (along with the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, and the Panama Canal). We thoroughly enjoyed our train excursion!

Back in town, we joined a ranger-led four-block tour of the town, learned a lot about that bad ol’ con man, Soapy Smith, more than we ever thought we’d know, and spent the better part of an hour in the City Museum, which is housed in a beautiful building. We returned to our ship and she pulled out of Skagway around 8 pm.