Whitehorse Again & Skagway, Alaska

Well, we found a small metal pin stuck in the 5th wheel tire and got it fixed pretty quickly.  We were on the road by noon on Friday and had about 4 hours to drive to Whitehorse.  We got in at about 4:30, set up in our site and decided we wanted to stay for a few days for some down time.

Today we decided to go down and visit Skagway, Alaska.  If you look at a map there are several cities that can only be reached by going back and forth through Canada and Alaska.  The lower part of the “panhandle” has several cities that can only be reached by air or sea.  Those are the cities most frequently visited by cruise ship passengers.  Skagway is at the top of the “panhandle”.

The panhandle is at the bottom right

So we had to pass through U.S. Customs again and then Canadian Customs on our way back to Whitehorse.

Of course the scenery along the way was incredible.  Mountains, lakes, rivers.  Just gorgeous.

Emerald Lake

Bove Island on Lake Tagish

 

And even wildlife!!  This black bear didn’t even pay any attention to us.

Have you ever seen a bear this close???  I LOVE my 300 lens!

We arrived in Skagway and were pleased to learn there was only one small cruise ship in port so no crowds.  In fact, the town was pretty deserted.

More than a century ago, thousands of prospectors flooded through Skagway, Alaska, on their way to the Klondike gold fields of Canada.  They came, they spent money, they went up over the Chilkoot Trail in Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.  Today, Skagway has been described as the country’s best preserved gold rush town.

Nowadays Alaska state ferries dock here, the town is linked to the Alaska road system (via Canada), air service is available from Juneau, and cruise ships make hundreds of port calls during the tourist season of May through September.

The town looked pretty deserted but we did find some food to eat

On the way back to Whitehorse we again had to pass through Canadian Customs.  The lady was shocked when we said we had no alcohol or tobacco.  She said, “Well, what did you buy?”  LOL, all we bought was a few souvenirs.

We saw a roadside attraction called the Yukon Suspension Bridge and thought it would be interesting to check it out.  Well, they wanted $18.95 per person just to see it.  It had a tall fence on the property so you couldn’t see it for free.  I got down on my stomach and took a picture under the fence.  I do what I can.

This bridge we could see for free since we had just gone over it.

More beautiful scenery

Tomorrow we’re going to hang around the campground getting things cleaned up and ready to travel again.  They have a pressure washer here that takes Loonies (one dollar coins) and Toonies (two dollar coins) so we should be able to wash both the truck and the 5th wheel.

We picked up a rock chip on the windshield from a car going the opposite direction the other day on the Alaska Highway gravel road.  There are a few places here in Whitehorse that can fix it but nobody was open this weekend.  Hopefully, we can get that fixed tomorrow and leave here on Tuesday and make it to Watson Lake where we’ll pick up the Cassiar Highway down through British Columbia.