By the time we disembarked it was approaching midnight. Our ferry arrived in Skagway with a hold full of RV’s, all of which seemed to head to the same RV park where everyone competed to get one of the few available sites. It was chaos. Dad had called earlier and reserved a site but it soon became clear that any reservation we may have had was effectively worthless. No one was around to help us. We ended up driving about five miles out of town and parking at a pullout along the highway, which Mom photographed the following morning.

As we prepared to drive back into Skagway I noticed that all three tires on the right side of my truck appeared low. My tire gauge confirmed the fact. Since it seemed unlikely that all three tires on the same side of our rig would develop leaks at the same time, I wondered if someone had let the air out of them. That theory didn’t seem very likely either. We drove into Skagway and aired them all back up.

Skagway, Alaska

The White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railway is one of the major attractions in Skagway. Visitors can ride the train all the way to Whitehorse and back, taking in some impressive scenery along the way. The extra 12 hours we spent in Haines eliminated this option for us.

Now that’s a snowplow!

Skagway played a major role in the nineteenth century Klondike Gold Rush. I must confess to a personal lack of interest in this subject but we all stopped by the National Park Service visitor center and watched a film about it. It turned out to be a fascinating story that involved not just Skagway but Dawson City and other places we had visited as well. I was glad we watched the film before exploring the town. It would have been nice to watch it before we hit Dawson City 26 days ago.

These days, Skagway is a major stop for all the cruise lines heading up the Inside Passage. Depending on how many cruise ships arrive on a particular day, its population can swell by five thousand or more people. We had arrived on a day with a relatively small influx of cruise ship passengers.

After getting as close as we could to the big cruise ships and then checking out Skagway’s boat harbor – no jellies here either – we decided to stop for lunch at the Skagway Fish Company. No doubt Dad was counting the days until he could eat at a place that didn’t specialize in fish; I, on the other hand, was on a mission to stuff myself with as much premium fish and chips as I could handle.

As we walked back toward the main part of town, we encountered this boy fishing for salmon. He had attracted quite a crowd as he repeatedly tossed his line into the water and jerked it through a small group of fish, attempting to snag one of them. He was doing so at the direction of his father, who was coaching him on his technique. I was surprised this tactic was considered ethical; then I noticed the sign a few feet away that declared it illegal. Mom pointed the sign out to the boy’s father, who basically blew her off.

Skagway is nothing if not cute. Although there are a few historical buildings to tour, the main activity in town is shopping. I wasn’t quite as disappointed now about being able to spend less time here than I had originally planned. It was still enjoyable to wander around but I didn’t need the extra eight hours I had lost to do more of it.

The Boy decided he wanted to be a moose for Halloween – at least that was the argument he made to justify the purchase of this moose hat. If nothing else, I had to hand it to him for coming up with a clever argument. Time would tell whether he would be as enthusiastic about the idea three months from now.

We concluded our time in Skagway with a trip to Reid Falls and the Gold Rush Cemetery. Papa T and The Boy led the way up to the falls.

Mimi and The Boy paused on the way back down to investigate some of the local insect life.

The Gold Rush Cemetery was the most interesting part of the walk. Many of the main characters in the story of Skagway are buried here.

Frank Reid, after whom Reid Falls is named, had the biggest marker in the cemetery. Reid was the town hero who rescued Skagway from the clutches of the notorious villain, Soapy Smith. Unfortunately, Reid died in the process. His tombstone reads, “He gave his life for the honor of Skaguay.” Another tombstone belonging to a popular town prostitute invoked a variation of this theme reading, “She gave her honor for the life of Skaguay.” Gotta love that frontier humor.

Having seen enough tombstones, The Boy outfitted Mimi and himself each with a small tree branch. He explained that they were both rutting elk and that she should prepare to defend herself.

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