Tuesday,
July 5, 2016: Skagway, Alaska
On the Klondike Gold Trail
We had already
arrived in Skagway by the time Llew and I awoke at about 6. 30 am. But since we
were not scheduled to begin the packaged shore excursion we had booked online
until 10.00 am, we had a bit of time to kill before we set out for the day.
After
showering, we left to eat breakfast in the Lido
Dining Room where the choices are a- plenty. I have resolved to try
something new each day—today I asked the chef to make me a custom-designed
omlette: shrimp, spinach, mushrooms and goat cheese with smoked salmon on the
side. It was awesome. I also ordered some freshly squeezed OJ for Llew and me.
He settled for eggs over easy and decaff coffee. We could already see folks
leaving the ship for the day and walking along the bridge that took them into
the city. We had no idea how far the city was from our cruise terminal—so we
were pleasantly surprised to discover that we could go back and forth in under
ten minutes. A real boon that!
Exploring
Skagway on Foot:
It
was about 8.45 am when we left our stateroom for a day that was filled with deep
interest. First of all, the main street called Broadway that runs like a main
artery through the town has been beautifully preserved to serve as a tourist
attraction. We soon learned (from the self-guided Walking Tour we took later in
the afternoon) that most of the historic buildings have been moved from other
parts of the city and brought to this main street. It is like a mini Disney
World—each building is freshly painted in its original colors. Charming shops
line the road on both sides—most of them are jewelry shops owned and operated
by Indians from India who spend 3-4 months of the year in pursuit of cruise
ships. For the rest of the year, they literally close shop and head to the
Caribbean Islands looking for business from cruise passengers there. I chatted
with a few of them and found them to be courteous and very gracious and not the
least bit pushy. What’s more, most of them offer a little charm simply for
walking into their establishments. By the end of the day, I had collected quite
a few of them and felt very pleased with myself. The charms are meant to be
worn on a charm bracelet and feature various symbols of the region—whales,
trains, bears, etc.
A
Bit of Skagway’s Gold-Digging History:
And
talking about trains, I ought to say that Skagway’s heyday were the years 1898-1900.
Just two years put this town forever on the world map. It was in 1898, that a
man found a nugget of gold quite by accident while straining mud from a pan of
gravel. That did it! Word spread literally around the world and the Klondike
Gold Rush began. The name came from the Klondike river that weaves it way
through the area in glacial green tones that are vastly appealing.
A few of the early
prospectors (also known as stampeders) made a considerable amount of money on
the gold nuggets themselves. Several made money from the business that sprouted
around gold digging such as hotels, selling apple pies to prospectors, laundry
owners, saloons for there was seriously nothing to do here except drink, gamble
and go whoring. Needless to say, whore houses did brisk business and when
drink, women and especially money (to be made from gold) is at stake, a
frontier town fills with gun-totting desperadoes who pull out their weapons at
the slightest provocation. Skagway became rife with crime and as time went by,
its chief crook was one Jefferson “Soapy” Smith who ran a huge brazen operation
in gambling and prostitution with some good old-fashioned thieving thrown in at
the side for good measure. He was the most notorious gangster of the bunch. Old
Soapy was killed in a real old-fashioned gun duel with one Charles Reid that
took place right on the main street and a plaque today marks the spot where he
fell dead. Peace returned to Skagway and to the prospectors most of whom did
not make a dime.
Since
we were supposed to pick up tickets from the Visitors’ Center that is run by
the US National Park Service (as the entire area is protected as a historic
area associated with the Gold Rush), we headed there first. We got tickets for
the 2.00 pm walking tour that is led by a park ranger—having booked them online
before we left home. With our tickets in our pockets, we continued our
exploration of the cute town popping in and out of the shops to pick up free
charms or magnets or postcards. Then, with little time to spare, we made our
way to the Golden North Hotel (no
longer in use as a hotel although once the town’s most famous inn) to pick up
our three-hour guided tour of the White Pass and Summit as well as the Yukon
Territories—for an exploration of Skagway is an exploration of its towering
snow-streaked mountains and its curving hairpin roads that lead one into the
Yukon Territory of Canada.
White
Pass and Summit Tour and Entry into the Yukon Territories:
The
Gold Rush sprouted traffic on one of the most treacherous trails—known as the
Chilkoot Trail that originated from Skagway—originally known only to the Tlingit
and Huna natives peoples who populated this region. As thousands of people
flooded the town to try their luck panning gold during what was a very
depressed time economically around the world, the US government insisted that
each of them carry enough supplies so as not to starve on the trails. It was
stipulated that they carry a ton of supplies each—needless to say, this meant
several trips up and down the mountains—a hard enough task in the summer but
essentially the area is a series of killing fields in the winter.
After a few months of
dealing with these wretched conditions, as a result of which many hundreds
died, it was decided to build a railway line that would go over the White Pass
Gulch to reach the Summit of the mountains that would then lead into Canada.
The railroad line—one of the grandest feats of Victorian engineering—was
created in 2 years, 2 months and 2 days and continued in operation until the
1960s. Today, it is a huge tourist attraction for passengers can take joy rides
(for the pricey fee of about $400) along the same railroad all the way to
Carcross in Canada’s British Columbia province. For those passengers wishing to
spend less (as in our case), you can take the 3-4 hour guided tour by coach
which follows the exact tracks of the train and enters the same territory. Ours
was conducted by Frontier Excursions and cost us $65 for a four hour trip that
left Skagway at 10.30 am and brought us back at 3. 00 pm. Needless to say, this
meant that we missed our 2.00 pm ranger-guided walking tour, but we found a way
around it pretty easily.
Our
guide was the lovely Jess (aka JJ) who proved to be a brilliant narrator and
tour guide. She talked continuously as she gave us a ton of information about
the history, the topography, the vegetation, the building of the railroad, the
Gold Rush itself, the development of Skagway. There was so much we learned on
this trip from her. We left the town of Skagway, crossed the railroad lines and
the creek and made our way into the mountains. From time to time, we stopped to
see the train winding its way on the slopes—its green and yellow head followed
by a long trail of brown carriages. There were also a number of waterfalls (and
we stopped to take pictures at a few), great green vistas draped with Sitka (Alaskan)
spruce trees hung frequently with moss that is referred to as Old Man’s Beard.
We had our passports
checked at the US-Canadian border (a short and very painless process) and were
welcomed to Canada’s Yukon Territories—which are the most remote parts of
Canada. In this area, we stopped for restroom breaks and hot beverages at what
is called the Yukon Suspension Bridge. Although we did not actually walk over
it (it costs $15 to do so), we got really close. After a ten minute stop, we
headed further north towards Tushai Lake and Bennet Lake. The scenery was
spectacular, the mountain air was clear, clean and cool, peaks covered with ice
followed us everywhere and the silence of the area was amazing. We also made
one stop at a Dogsledding place where two of our passengers hopped off to take
a dogsled ride. This allowed Jess to bring in some husky pups into our coach
and we all had the chance to hold them—a real thrill for us! We got a very good
sense of how awful the circumstances might have been for 19th century
prospectors and how brave (if not foolhardy) they were in risking their lives
to make a fast buck.
It was exactly 3.00 pm
when we returned to Skagway after a four hour inland journey that had taken us
into Canada and then back into the United States–where again the immigration
process was quick and simple.
Alas!
We had missed our 2. 00 pm tour and all slots were filled for the rest of them.
Still, we were not daunted (in fact, we were quite pleased) when the ranger
gave us a very detailed brochure that allowed us to take a self-guided walking
tour that followed in the exact footsteps of the tour guide. But since it was
just past three and we had eaten nothing since breakfast, we felt the need for
some sustenance and decided to go back to our ship (just a ten minute walk
away) to get some food. It would be too
late for lunch but Afternoon Tea could be just as substantial.
Afternoon
Tea on the Ship:
And
that was precisely what we did. We headed straight for the Manhattan Dining Room where Afternoon Tea was in progress. Of
course, they offered the full three courses and by fueling up on a number of
finger sandwiches, scones with cream and jam and a selection of cakes, we had
ourselves a really nice meal rounded off with lovely decaff Earl Grey. It could
not have been a more welcome break. It was by then about 4. 00 pm and since our
embarkation time was 8. 30 pm, we had ample hours left to continue our
exploration of the town.
Taking
a Walking Tour of Skagway:
Before we began our
tour on foot of Skagway, we entered the National Parks office to watch a film
entitled ‘Gold Fever: The Klondike Gold Rush”--a 25 minutes documentary that
was highly recommended by Lonely Planet.
It was a really superb introduction to the reasons why Skagway developed from a
once sleepy First Nations People’s settlement into a thriving center of
commerce. It also set the tone for our walking tour that followed
immediately.
The self-guided tour
was a lovely way by which to enter, visit or pause at the many historic
buildings and architectural treasures of the town. We entered the old train
depot and saw the old station house (now used by the National Park Services),
we walked into the Red Onion Saloon (once
the most notorious house of sin), and the Mascot
Bar. We saw Moore’s Cabin, a log cabin
that was built by one of the most successful prospectors, the army barracks
used during World War II when Skagway became an important armaments depot. We
saw a number of interesting buildings that varied from simple log cabins to
fanciful Victorian dwellings. Most of the buildings have been moved from their
original venues so that the walking tour was very easy to do indeed. It took us
about an hour and half, so that about 6.00 pm, we decided to get back to our
ship as we were tired and foot sore and needed to do some serious relaxation.
Dinner
on the Ship:
We
decided to go for dinner early as we have at least a half hour wait if we go at
8.00 pm. At 7.00, we were easily seated in the Manhattan and finding that the priest who has been saying Mass, Fr.
Timothy McCarthy, was seated alone at a table, we invited him to join us. He
readily agreed and we had a really nice meal with him for company. He is an
Irishman who now lives in Vancouver. Now retired, he does about 3 cruises a
year mainly for HAL where he serves as ship’s Chaplain.
It
was Jacques Torres Evening—meaning that today’s menu was devised by the French
pastry chef Jacques Torres who has a flagship chocolaterie in Brooklyn, New York. Llew had the Venison Sausage Soup
while I had the Cheddar and Beer Soup (both were very good indeed). Since I
needed a salad, I decided to have the Caesar Salad with anchovies (which was
also very good) while Llew asked for a side serving of the day’s main salad
which was one with grilled chicken, mango and varied veg. They brought him
almost a full-size salad which he tried to share with me—except that for a
little bite, I wanted none of it. I had my main course yet to come: the Yankee
Pot Roast served with mashed potatoes, mushroom medley and roasted veg. It was
wonderfully tender and very tasty. Llew decided to have the Veal Tenderloin
which was equally good. I ended with the Baked Alaska made with rum raisin
ice-cream—nothing to shout about. Llew had the coffee fudge ice-cream. Throughout
our meal, we enjoyed interesting conversation with the good priest who kept us
both amused and entertained.
Country
Night at the Piano Bar and Magic Showtime:
It was time to get to
the Piano Bar for a sing-song with Jimmy Maddox, the Piano Man. But he was
doing songs with which we were not familiar and it was time to head off for the
Magic Show by Fred Moore in the main theater. It wasn’t great and my eyes were
closing. Clearly it was time for me to head back to my stateroom. Llew decided
to stay on while I adjourned to our stateroom where, a very short time later, I
was fast asleep.
Until tomorrow…
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