to Skagway, Alaska

Mateius, Scott, Janet, Paul, Denise, Zaaron

Thursday, May 9th we left aboard a 45 passenger Gray Line bus at 9:00 am for Whitehorse.  This bus stopped often for pictures of the group.  This picture was taken at Emerald Lake, Yukon.  We were a captive audience for the training that went on most of the 535 km (332 miles).  Arrived Whitehorse at 5:00 pm.  Again we stayed at the Westmark Hotel, meeting in the dining room for dinner.  Rooms and dinner were complements of our employer.

Emerald Lake

Friday the 10th of May we had training all day with the Whitehorse group. Today I got to use a fire extinguisher for the very first time.  How exciting.  At least I learned to point at the base of the fire and move from side to side.  Then we got to learn how to attend to “presentations”.  A “presentation” is when someone is sick on tour.  The kit contains something that acts like kitty litter and a 3” plastic shovel, as well as gown, mask & gloves.  Hope I’m not around at that time.  Lunch was provided by our employer, training finished at about 3:45 pm for Jeanne and earlier for Gordon.

At Emerald Lake

Just north of Carcross - all sandy

We went for a walk and had supper at Pizza Hut.  Not great!

Saturday, May 11, with passport in hand, we boarded the bus for Skagway, Alaska.  It took longer to clear customs than had been planned, so upon arriving in Skagway there was only time to grab a quick bite then we boarded the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway for a trip to the Summit of White Pass.

Carcross

Leaving Yukon

In 1897 when word reached the outside world that gold had been discovered along the Yukon river, people fled their jobs and homes headed for the gold fields.  “Why not”, you ask, when North America was in a depression and the “Portland” had just docked in Seattle with 68 miners and nearly 2 tons of gold.

Alaska

The quickest route from the west coast was up the inside passage to Skagway,  hike 45 miles over the mountains to Lake Bennett, then float down the Yukon River for 555 miles to Dawson City and the gold fields.  Two trails led over the mountains - The Chilkoot Trail north of Skagway and the White Pass beginning right in Skagway.  Both trails were a long hard climb because the 

Cruise Ship at Skagway

Northwest Mounted Police would not let anyone into Canada without a grubstake consisting of:

Skagway River

400# flour, 50# cornmeal, 50# oatmeal, 35# rice, 100# beans, 40# candles, 100# sugar, 8# baking powder, 200# bacon, 2# soda, 36 yeast cakes, 15# salt, 1# pepper, 1/2# mustard, 1/4# ginger, 25# evaporated apples, 25# dried peaches, 25# evaporated apricots, 25# fish, 10# prunes, 50# dried onions, 50# evaporated potatoes, 24# coffee, 5# teas, 4 dozen tins condensed milk, 5 bars laundry soap, 60 boxes matches, 15# soup vegetables, 25 cans butter.

This was not all, there was a steel stove, a gold pan, 3 

Railway visible from Highway

nests of granite buckets, a cup, plate, fork, 2 spoons, 2 frying pans, coffee pot, pick, hand saw, whip saw, whetstone stone, hatchet, 2 shovels, 3 files, draw-knife, ax, 3 chisels, 20# nails, butcher knife, hammer, compass, square, Yukon sled, 200 feet rope, 15# pitch, 10# oakum, canvass tent.  And then there was clothes - 3 suits of heavy underwear, a mackinaw coat, 2 pairs mackinaw trousers, heavy rubber lined coat, a dozen pair wool 

Train following us

socks, 1/2 dozen pair mittens, two over shirts, 2 pairs snag proof rubber boots, 2 pairs shoes, 2 pairs blankets, 4 towels, 2 pair overalls, a suit of oilskin clothing, 5 yards mosquito netting.

and it would take many trips over the pass carrying 150 to 200 lbs each trip.  On the Chilkoot Trail snow would bury the cache under feet of snow.  Hopefully your marker was high enough so you could find your cache when you got to the top on your next trip.

$10 M of British financial backing and a gutsy Irish Canadian named Michael J. Heney who said, “give me enough dynamite, and snoose, and I’ll build you a railroad to hell.”

First of two tunnels

Many stampeders arriving in Skagway without funds to put together a grubstake went to work for the railway.  Altogether 35,000 individuals engineered and constructed the 110 miles of international railroad  - White Pass & Yukon Route Railway in two years, two months and two days.  The difficult and extreme conditions was a feat of epic proportions.

On August 3, 1898 tragedy struck when blasting dislodged a 500 ton piece of granite, crushing two workmen and their pack horses.  The massive boulder became their tomb.

Sights from train

Leaving Glacier Station the train starts up it’s steepest section with a 3.9% grade gaining 206 feet in elevation for every mile of track.  Because the track twists and turns the engineers used a narrow gauge track.  Standard gauge is four feet, eight and one half inches from rail to rail.  Narrow gauge is just three feet.  

Blasting grade and laying rail on Slippery Rock was done in winter with men dangling on ropes on icy walls of granite.  Shifts were usually only one hour before they were too numb to continue and had to be replaced by warmer workers.  Wages - $3.00 per day.  Total of 450 tons of blasting powder was used to complete the railway.

Sights from train

From Slippery Rock the next real challenge was Glacier Gorge, a 900 foot chasm.  In 1901, the 1,200 foot wide gorge was spanned by the famed Steel Cantilever Bridge. At the time, the 215 foot high structure was the tallest railroad bridge of its kind in the world and was one of the reasons the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a title shared with the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and the Panama Canal.  Thank goodness the bridge retired in 1969.  It still is there, and still is beautiful, but we didn’t travel over it because todays engines are too heavy.  I was really fascinated by the bridge, knowing that the rotary snowblower weighed something like

Cantilever Bridge

There are two tunnels on the rail to the Summit which is as far as we went, due to snow conditions.  We want to come back to Skagway and take the train when the flowers are in bloom and the world is adorned in shades of green.  It certainly was a highlight in our lives.  How interesting.  When we boarded the train we were in the first car.  As we were proceeding we could see many cars behind us as we turned the sharp corners.  Arriving at the summit, the engine was unhooked and taken to the other end of the trail where it was hooked up and we became the last car, so going down we could see the engine way in the distance followed by many cars.

After returning to Skagway we had a few minutes to kill before the company BBQ, so instead of getting off train at station we went to the dock where the guests from Holland America’s Volendam exited.  Got a few pictures of the ship.  Quite a sight, and Holland America have mid sized cruise ships.  Can’t imagine what a full sized one would look like.  The ocean was a smooth as glass.

Cantilever Bridge

The company BBQ was held in the repair shop and was well attended by Dawson City, Whitehorse and Skagway staff.  Food was good.  There was to be a baseball game but it was too cold and wet. Company shuttle took us back to town when we wanted to go.  We didn’t stay long after supper as we wanted to walk around and see more of Skagway.  It looks like a nice little place - filled to the hilt with jewelry stores - EXPENSIVE jewelry stores.  It was raining so we didn’t spend as long as we had wanted to.  We hope to get back there before coming home.

Sunday, May 12  was a travel day, a very long day.  We left Skagway at 9:15 am and arrived Dawson City at 10:25 pm  It is 715 km or 444 miles between these two points.  We stopped twice in Whitehorse and a couple of other times just to change drivers or a bathroom break, although they were not much fun because most of indoor plumbing is still frozen.

View from last car

Monday, May 13 was a day off, so I spent the day doing laundry and cleaning and going through the last bin of uniforms.  Janet even suggested that I wash some of the shirts I had discarded because they were dirty.  I washed eight shirts - all I could get in one washer load, and salvaged one.  She said it wasn’t worth the time.  We have a washer and dryer in the house but every time the brake comes on in the washer I think the house has fallen in.

Looking down the tunnel

Gordon went with Paul, the logistics manager, and did the gold field run.  They discovered the road was washed out, so they only got to King Solomon’s dome and had to retrace their route.

More train behind

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The grave of the two workers

Skagway Cemetery

Cruise Ship in Skagway

Yukon River south of Dawson

Water over Highway north of Carmacks

Sun in sky 8:30 pm

Can't really tell how high the sun really was.  I was taking pictures out of the bus window on Sunday evening on our way home.

Signing off for now.  Wishing you all a wonderful week.