Thursday, August 18, 2022 - We leave Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and the Pioneer RV Park to head for Skagway, Alaska by way of Carcross, Yukon. Carcross is only about 50 miles from Whitehorse and it boasts the smallest desert in the world. There is a small section of land as you enter town from the north that is made up of rolling sand dunes. It is very small, but you can tell that it is a desert (sort of) and the the dunes are real. We then continued on towards Skagway and ran into Emerald Lake that is a spectacular blue-green color with white all along the shores. It is quite spectacular and unique for having white sands along the shores. About half way to Skagway we began to drive along the shore of a big lake that never seemed to end. It just went on and on and it was quite wide too. This lake had to be about 30 to 40 miles long and it had huge mountains along all shores; quite spectacular. We then climbed into the high country where the mountains were spectacular and we were above the tree line. There were small lakes on both lsides of the road and we continued to climb to the summit. The views of waterfalls and high mountains were gorgeous. We then began a down hill drive into Skagway. The gradient was as much as eleven percent and it went on for about eleven miles. Since we did not have any traffic, we just set the truck into second gear and descended with only engine braking at about 30 miles per hour. I did not want the speed to get away from me although we had all the braking to use. The truck worked perfectly and we easily descended the grade. About half way down the grade, we had to stop at the U. S. Customs station where we entered Alaska. The U.S. is very concerned about the Bird Flu virus, so they confiscated our eggs (just bought for $4 a dozen in Whitehorse) and also what what was left of a bell pepper. We had to push out the slider to offer access to the refrigerator for the agent. We made it into Skagway and found the Garden City RV Park very easily just as we entered town. We were a little perplexed though. The park could hold about 60 RVs and we were one of two that were there. That made us wonder a little about what was wrong with this site. As it turns out, the City of Skagway owns two sites and the one farther into town is more popular, but not a friendly to large rigs. The city tries to fill that site first (makes access to the downtown for shoppers much easier) before they filled the Garden City site. We decided to stay right where we were and it worked out extremely well. Easy in and out with only electricity and no sewer or water. We were "boondocking" with power.

We then decide to take a walk into town to check out the scene. It is a typical "cruise boat" town with lots of shops to buy trinkets, jewelry, and food. We walked around town and then decided to have lunch at one of the local eateries. I got a hamburger with mushrooms and cheese and Lisa got a halibut sandwich and small salad. It was good food and total cost was just over $60 with tip. Inflation is a real nuisance plus we are a long ways from cows are raised, and it is a tourist town! After the lunch, we had just enough time to make it to the third showing of the day of a musical play about "Soapy" Smith, a con-man who lived during the gold rush of 1898. He basically conned all the people of the town, but eventually 'got his just due" when he was gunned down by a group of town vigilantes for robbing a miner of $2800 and not giving it back. Cutes songs and dance. Even had a Can-Can by the two ladies in the cast. The cast was made up of Soapy, a piano player, and two hookers. It was cute but barely worth the $26 per person entry fee. After the play, we walked the streets of Skagway and went down to the railroad station near the docks. We got our printed tickets for tomorrows ride on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad up Chilkoot River to White Pass. Then it was a walk over to the cruise ships to watch the "goings on" there. Those ships are sure large. There were three in port at this particular moment. Lots of people in town and on little adventures in the area. We then proceeded to walk back to our RV in order to get some miles in for the day. Getting exercise is sometimes difficult when you are doing so much driving from place to place. We then decided to take it easy at our RV and plan out tomorrow's activities.

Friday, August 19, 2022 - Just after we awoke and had breakfast, we decided that we would take a drive to the historic town of Dyea (pronounced; dye-ee). When the gold miners of the Gold Rush of 1898 arrived at Skagway, they had two options on how to get to the top of the Chilkoot Pass that led to the Yukon River and a boat trip to the gold fields near Dawson City. The first option was to take the slower and less dangerous route from Skagway to the top of the pass. Most miners were in a great hurry, so they would opt for the second route which was to continue over to Dyea and climb the steeper and more dangerous route. This second route was a challenge since the bay was shallow and tides really hampered the ships from reaching the town. There was also a wharf built, but it was not accessible during low tides, so much of the miners gear had to be taken ashore in small boats that often floundered in the surf. There is not much of this old town left to see. After the gold played out in 1900, the town dried up and was abandoned. We almost arrived at the town itself, but Lisa and I realized that we had better head back to town to catch our scheduled departure on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad train to the top of White Pass that was leaving at noon. That turned out to be the highlight of our day, and our stay in Skagway.

Saturday, August 20, 2022 - We depart Skagway for Watson Lake and our next trip down the Cassiar/Stewart Highway.