Early this morning Mary Lynn and I rode the Haines - Skagway High Speed Ferry to Skagway,where we boarded the famous White Pass & Yukon Railroad. A massive gold rush started when gold was discovered in the Klondike. Within weeks of the first gold discovery thousands of hopeful miners made their way to Skagway, gateway to the Klondike, albeit a gateway that was 600 miles away from the gold fields. Six hundred miles over dangerous and treacherous trails & rivers.
The Canadian Mounted Police required every miner entering Canada to have one ton of supplies which was ~one year of supplies. The Chilkoot Pass was shorter but much steeper. A tough way to go when each person had to carry one ton of supplies up the 'Golden Stairs' (steps carved into the ice) to the summit. This usually required 30-40 trips to the summit before the RCMP would allow entry into Canada.
The alternative was to go up the White Pass. Horses were used initially however so many horses died taking the supplies up this trail a section became known as the Dead Horse Trail.
The White Pass & Yukon Railroad was started in early 1898 and in the first 20 miles it rose from Skagway at sea level to the Summit at just over 3000 feet; it required building two tunnels, scores of bridges and trestles, hairpin curves in an area that temperatures can reach (fall?) to 60 degrees below zero. Ouch!
The first run of the train from Bennet Lake to Skagway reportedly carried over a half million in gold dust. Eventually the line was used to bring ore back to Skagway. First gold ore and then iron ore for other projects, including the AlCan highway during WWII.
Anyhow, MLA and I took a three hour trip to the summit and back. What a ride! The train passes through breathtakingly beautiful mountains, snaking along the edges of streams, crossing raging streams and snow melt swollen gorges on trestles initially built of wood and eventually replaced with steel.
Today the White Pass & Yukon railroad maintains ~ 80 engines, including two original steam engines that run on weekends, and 200 passenger cars. It is a spectacular and exciting ride, one where the mountain literally falls away at your feet due to the steep mountainsides.
I highly recommend this narrow gauge adventure.
Skagway itself is very authentic, with many of the buildings dating back to the late 1800's/early 1900's although the town itself almost exclusively caters to the large cruise ships that arrive almost daily. Today there were four large cruise ships, one small cruise ship, and the Alaska ferry all in port while we were there.
The streets are packed until the cruise ships sail and then it's pretty quiet.
Regardless, it's a lot of fun especially if you don't mind all the tee-shirts and jewelry stores.
BTW- the US Mints in San Francisco & Seattle received $10 Million of Klondike Gold in 1898. By 1900, another 38 Millions dollars had been recorded making this the largest gold rush the world has ever known!
See Ya!
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