Tag 22: Off to Alaska! A landslide, the White Pass & long trains

3.8.24

After breakfast, we set off on the South Klondike Hwy towards Skagway.

We had absolutely no idea what to expect and are so glad we dismissed the idea yesterday of possibly driving 'quickly' to Alaska to a campground.

The landscape is simply magnificent!!!

We stop repeatedly to take pictures or simply enjoy the view. The weather keeps getting better and warmer. It’s just dreamy! We never would have expected such fantastic weather!

The next stop is a photo stop at the Tutshi Lake Turnout, but we get slowed down a few meters before by a construction traffic light.

Ok, construction again… again there's a Pilot Car that we are to follow after about a 15-minute wait.

After the first turn, we see that the light is not set up due to construction: there must have recently been a massive landslide here that not only buried the road but also our viewpoint.

The diggers and trucks are busily working to remove the debris and earth, which they then transport away by truck.

Wow, this can't have happened long ago. The road must have been closed for quite some time. Wow, we are lucky!

(Edit: I then find reports online that the landslide happened at the end of July and the road was still closed a few days ago 😱)

Lucky us!!!!

We continue on to the Yukon Suspension Bridge, which is still closed (and admission would be too expensive for us 'just to look'). We don't have time for a longer visit since we have a ticket for the White Pass Railway in Skagway booked for 1 PM.

At a parking lot, we take a quick bathroom break and see an abandoned Alaska tour bus. Upon closer inspection, we see that the bus is missing a tire...

Ouch - it seems to have been sitting here for a while..

From the Fraser Lookout, you can see the Fraser station, where a train is just leaving. What a stroke of luck!!!

We continue towards the border. Next stop: Summit Lake Lookout.

The landscape is so beautiful; we could stop and enjoy it all the time.

At the Summit Lookout, I walk the small trail over the rocks down to the lake. Halfway down, there’s a small pond before one reaches the lake down at a small beach with boats. I would have liked to explore the area further, but our train in Skagway is waiting - and it's almost 11 o'clock!

We continue towards the border!

Alaska greets us with clouds.

Oh no!!! The weather was so incredibly beautiful, I had hoped for nice weather in Skagway too. Well, let's see...

We drive down the winding road, the weather clears up and the clouds lessen. What luck!

Stop at the Captain William Moore Bridge - and the realization that we have gained another hour in Alaska 😅

Only after the bridge does the official entry to Alaska begin.

The border crossing into Alaska is relatively smooth. We are asked about cannabis and alcohol, fresh meat, and fruit. After a customs officer glances into our cooler, we are allowed to continue on our way.

After a few more turns, we soon reach Skagway.

We drive along 'Broadway' straight towards the harbor with 2 cruise ships in sight.

Just before, we turn left, as we want to go to Pullen Creek Campground, which is located exactly between the White Pass Railroad station and the harbor.

Upon arriving at the campground, we find an information board next to the office, which is closed.

I had reserved Site 26 in advance. After the time change, it is now 10:50 Alaska summer time. It seems good that I made a reservation. There are only 2 spots left 😬

The camp host also seems to be a joker....

We drive through the loop and find Site 26, park our Adventurer, and walk back to the station on foot.

The sun is shining, blue sky. T-shirt weather: unbelievable!!!!
I had previously seen a lot of videos and photos from Skagway and the train ride up to the White Pass Summit - 90% in rain, fog, or other 'nasty weather'.

In fact, not a single video was taken in sunshine.

I really thought hard about whether to book tickets for the train and if it was worth it even in the rain. But in the end, a decision similar to the one with the Inside Passage: no risk no fun - weather is what it is going to be. There’s no certainty about the weather, no matter when.

I had checked in advance when and how many cruise ships would be here. Today we are truly lucky, there are only 3 ships in the harbor - and they are small ships! Today there are only 2,890 tourists here. In the coming days, ships with almost 12,000 tourists will be docked here... 😱😱😱

And how terrible that will be, we will find out in the coming days 🙈🙈🙈

We walk to the ticket counter of the Yukon Railroad to exchange our reservation for a ticket. We are to be at the platform by 12:40, as it departs at 1 PM.

Since we still have an hour's time, we walk back to the campground and quickly grab some lunch before heading back to the platform.

At 1 PM, our tickets are checked by a railway employee and we are led away from the station to a small house above the road. Our group is not very large, maybe around 30 people in total.

After a short time, the train arrives. We estimate that the train pulls at least 15 carriages. It goes past our waiting house and then stops. We are allowed to enter one of the middle cars; according to the train attendant, all other cars are already full of cruise tourists who can practically 'fall' into the train directly from the ship (the tracks end directly in front of the ships 😮).

Therefore, our compartment is only half full. Plenty of space!

We receive an info booklet about the route, then the train (we have a black locomotive) moves off with a loud whistle.

Behind us is a stove - we won't need it today, it's well over 20 degrees outside.

Through an announcement, we learn facts about the route. I stand most of the time between the carriages on the platform and photograph from the outside. Much cooler than seeing it through the glass 😜

During the journey, a train attendant walks through the carriage, distributes free water bottles, and answers questions about the route.

We also learn that today is the first day with blue skies and sunshine after WEEKS! It has only been fog and rain along the route for weeks, we are all truly lucky!

Yes! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

The train winds slowly up the mountain, passing old bridges, across wooden bridges (which don't look very trustworthy), and construction sites where the gravel bed is being renewed with the help of excavators.

At one point on the slope, the route becomes double-track and we stop. On the mountain, we have already seen another train coming down in the distance; another train is ahead of us on the same track.

According to the announcement, we must wait until the train coming towards us has passed. Then we can continue. It doesn’t take long, and we see and hear a White Pass Train that passes us with a loud horn and whistle - this train also has at least 15 carriages in tow.

After about 2 hours, we reach the summit. Up here on the plateau, the train makes a large curve and then travels back down the same route towards Skagway. The advantage is: if the train is full, everyone sits once at the window with a view into the valley. Since our train compartment is only half full, we can change places freely. Since I have been standing outside on the platform most of the time, now others can take a look. Most of the others seem to be less comfortable on the platform - or they prefer to sit - so I can also spend most of the return journey outside.

After nearly 3 hours, we return to Skagway.

The train now blocks the entire town with its +15 carriages 😅

Overall, we found the tour really beautiful, especially, of course, with THAT weather! Whether the train ride would be just as enjoyable during fog and rain, I don't know...

The train journey to the White Pass is definitely a tourist highlight here. We benefit from there being very few cruise tourists here, which gave us a mostly empty train.

We walk through Skagway and explore the many souvenir shops. One noticeable thing: every other shop sells gemstones and diamonds. Strange....

Bright yellow vintage cars drive through the town, the drivers are 'dressed historically' and offer sightseeing tours.

In Skagway itself, you find information, sculptures, and monuments about the gold rush everywhere. In the visitor center, we stamp a few 'Klondike Goldrush' stamps on papers (funny enough, there's a note here that you should never stamp these in your passport 🤣) and then walk along Broadway.

We briefly stop by the Skagway Brewing Company and ask if we need to reserve a table for tonight; the lady at the reception laughs and says no.

Okay, seems like not much is going on in the evening.

We walk back to the campground and sit outside at the table in the sun (since there's no table-bench combo here, we have to use our own camping table with chairs).

In the evening around 6:30 - it is still bright and warm - we set off for dinner in the Brewing Company.

My son decides on the standard 'Mac & Cheese', the husband opts for noodles with fish-cheese sauce, and I take the day's special in the veggie version (unfortunately not really tasty, as stewed cucumbers in chili sauce are quite an acquired taste...)

But the men enjoy it, well then.

We decide to skip the advertised cookie for $8. It was expensive enough. Somehow we find price indications in CAD nicer than in USD💸😅

At 9 PM, it is still bright outside; a light sweatshirt is enough, and the small town, which looks like a reconstructed Wild West town, is deserted. The 3 cruise ships are gone, the harbor is empty.

Even though it's still bright outside, we are quite exhausted. It was indeed another long and especially eventful day.

For the stats:

Campground: Pullen Creek RV Park

(82 $ ~76 €); Site 26 (water & electricity)

Distance driven: 90 km

Distance walked: 8.4 km

Photos: 622

Weather: Blue sky & sunshine, 17-22 degrees