The Coral Princess pulled into her berth at the railroad dock in Skagway bright and early at 7 a.m. Parked next to the ship were the cars of the White Pass and Yukon Railway ready to take passengers along the same route that was traveled by prospectors during the Gold Rush Days in the late 1800's.
Our plans for the day had us traveling the same route, but via the highway in a rental car. From the ship, the walk to get to the Avis office was a bit further than what we had anticipated although probably no more than 15 minutes. The office was located in a motel and a line had already started to form prior to the 8:00 am opening time. Laurel and I sat on a bench outside while Bob and Kent went into the office to take care of the paperwork needed to rent our car. With keys in hand, they were directed across the street to a parking lot where we were to pick up our Toyota Corolla.
After walking back and forth across the parking lot, none of us were able to find the car. Pressing the panic button on the key provided no clue either. An employee happened to come by and seemed a little irritated that we couldn't locate the car, but he soon realized it just wasn't there.
A trip back into the office revealed that "our" car was still on the Avis lot at the airport, not the downtown location where we were. This could have been a disastrous end to our plans…BUT…there was one car left that hadn't been rented. Lucky us…instead of spending the day in a cramped Corolla…we got an SUV for the same price. So much more comfortable for the four of us!
Prior to the cruise, I had downloaded the free "Murrays Guide to the South Klondike Highway" onto my iPad. The guide was a mile-by-mile description of the points of interest along the highway from Skagway into the Yukon Territory. With Kent as driver, I became the tour guide reading the descriptions of what we were seeing as we drove.
Little did we know at the time we were crossing this bridge that a 5.8 magnitude earthquake had just hit nearby a few hours earlier! The park ranger that boarded our ship the next day in Glacier Bay announced that the epicenter of the quake had been just a few miles from the Coral Princess. The captain said the quake had shook the Coral enough that he became concerned that there was some type of problem with the ship. Bob and I vaguely remembered waking about the time of the quake, but whether it was the because of that…who knows. Alaska has earthquakes everyday…but this one was sizable enough to be mentioned in local news reports. Folks in Whitehorse (over 200 miles away) reported that they were awakened by the quake!
Having the rental car gave us the flexibility of stopping at the numerous pull-outs when we wanted to take photographs or just get a better look.
At one pullout we encountered a tour bus full of teenagers having a snow ball fight...they were having a great time!
At another stop we encountered a black bear eating dandelions.
The weather was just glorious...sunny with no wind...so nice after the all day rain we had experienced in Juneau the day before. The mirror-like lakes reflected perfect images of the snow covered mountains.
As the highway gained elevation, Bob spotted a couple of mountain goats. Without the zoom on my camera, they were just tiny dots.
About 14 miles from Skagway we reached the summit of White Pass...a route that took many lives during the Gold Rush.
Signs along the highway warned of possible landslides.
At Fraser (mile 22.7) we reached the Canadian border and had to clear customs before entering British Columbia.
By this point we were really appreciating the fact that we were traveling in the SUV...it made it so much easier to get in and out and we were making LOTS of stops!
It is hard for me to come up with just the right adjectives to describe the snow covered mountains that we saw. Laurel decided these looked like they were covered with powdered sugar!
This post is getting to be plenty long, so I will stop and continue with Part 2. I have so many incredible photos that it is hard for me to pick and choose just a few!
Prior to the cruise, I had downloaded the free "Murrays Guide to the South Klondike Highway" onto my iPad. The guide was a mile-by-mile description of the points of interest along the highway from Skagway into the Yukon Territory. With Kent as driver, I became the tour guide reading the descriptions of what we were seeing as we drove.
Leaving Skagway, the highway was a bit congested with traffic but thinned out the further we drove. The guide noted that the bridge below (the William Moore Bridge) crosses a very active earthquake fault and is only anchored on one side of the gorge so that it can move freely during a quake. The gorge is only 110 feet wide, but 180 feet deep!
The view up the gorge.
Little did we know at the time we were crossing this bridge that a 5.8 magnitude earthquake had just hit nearby a few hours earlier! The park ranger that boarded our ship the next day in Glacier Bay announced that the epicenter of the quake had been just a few miles from the Coral Princess. The captain said the quake had shook the Coral enough that he became concerned that there was some type of problem with the ship. Bob and I vaguely remembered waking about the time of the quake, but whether it was the because of that…who knows. Alaska has earthquakes everyday…but this one was sizable enough to be mentioned in local news reports. Folks in Whitehorse (over 200 miles away) reported that they were awakened by the quake!
Having the rental car gave us the flexibility of stopping at the numerous pull-outs when we wanted to take photographs or just get a better look.
At one pullout we encountered a tour bus full of teenagers having a snow ball fight...they were having a great time!
At another stop we encountered a black bear eating dandelions.
The weather was just glorious...sunny with no wind...so nice after the all day rain we had experienced in Juneau the day before. The mirror-like lakes reflected perfect images of the snow covered mountains.
About 14 miles from Skagway we reached the summit of White Pass...a route that took many lives during the Gold Rush.
Signs along the highway warned of possible landslides.
At Fraser (mile 22.7) we reached the Canadian border and had to clear customs before entering British Columbia.
By this point we were really appreciating the fact that we were traveling in the SUV...it made it so much easier to get in and out and we were making LOTS of stops!
It is hard for me to come up with just the right adjectives to describe the snow covered mountains that we saw. Laurel decided these looked like they were covered with powdered sugar!
This post is getting to be plenty long, so I will stop and continue with Part 2. I have so many incredible photos that it is hard for me to pick and choose just a few!
Thanks for sharing your blog links for Skagway on CC. We plan to do this drive this year mid-June. I’ll come back to look at the rest of the posts, but wanted to say thank you now for giving us the visuals to know we have made the right decision for our second visit to Skagway (did the train the first time).
ReplyDeleteI know the train is very popular, but we really enjoyed being able to stop...and stop often! Since you are a photographer I know you have made the right decision in choosing to drive. I have my fingers crossed that you will blog about your journey. I have followed along on your RTW cruise and absolutely loved seeing your beautiful photos.
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