Day 7: Train trip to Skagway

The bus groaned and complained all the way to Fraser. The road wasn't overly bumpy, 70 km maximum speed limit but still the creaking continued. We stopped for a few photo opportunities and at Carcross for a drink and loo stop. Here we saw more quaint engines and bicycle parks and listened to Lorde singing Royal for the second time since arriving in Whitehorse.

The passing landscape was alpine, trees stunted through poor nutrition (would get my two hands around 95% of the trees). As we got higher the trees grew more like bushes spreading their roots and branches wider covering the rocky landscape.

 

At Fraser we boarded the historical train. Bus loads of people were loaded onto separate carriages so we could all be processed at the border efficiently. Magnificent scenery, boulders and scree stood high and proud. Little lakes dotted the area, with splashes of colourful mosses and lichens. This is where the gold miners came to search for gold along the Klondike. It is called the tormented valley. A small trail, for miles and miles, not wide enough for horses to carry their loads. The path is called the Horses Gulch - a tribute to the poor tormented animals that fell to their death.  Jack London famous for White Fang (can't believe this was on the reading list at primary school) wrote....

" Gold Fever! Deadly Cold! ...In 1897, the California native went to the frozen North looking for gold. What he found instead was the great American novel.

I do not have the writing skills to describe the landscape so here is Jack London himself.

"Through the window of a small plane, I look out over the vastness of the Yukon Territory—an area bigger than California with only 33,000 residents. It’s an austere landscape of glaciated mountain ranges, frozen lakes, ice fields and spruce forests. Then the mountains are behind us, and there are low hills and tundra to the horizons, and a big frozen river starting to melt. It was this stark wilderness that 100,000 prospectors tried to cross on foot, and in homemade boats, during the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s. The “stampeders,” as they were known, were desperate to reach the gold fields around Dawson City, but the journey took more than two months, and was so punishing and dangerous that only 30,000 made it through. In the first wave was a tough, stocky 21-year-old from San Francisco named Jack London".

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gold-fever-deadly-cold-and-amazing-true-adventures-jack-london-wild-180973316/ 

Past the broken wooden viaduct and down the slope to Skagway.  The weather was cloudy for most of the trip. It didn't make for great photos but added to the atmosphere and helped us develop some empathy for the gold miners who endured so much for so little.

 

 

At Skagway we were met by US customs. Always an experience not to look forward to. The officials past through the train checking everyone's IDs and asking when we were last in the US.  Our answer was a few years ago, and so with a group of Japanese our passports were taken and we were told to meet over at the office.  Then with a slight smile, the customs officer took our fingerprints and photos (all this after having an ESTA and paying an addition $6 to complete an online I94) and returned our passports.  

Skagway is a quaint little Alaskan town, rich in history. It was busy. 3 cruise ships were berthed in the small harbour.  It had that feeling of Picton, a sleepy little town overrun by tourists when the boats were in). It was buzzing in the centre with people enjoying the unique buildings, taking photos, eating lunch or looking through the souvenir shops of which there were heaps. We ate our crackers and organic delights (the bakery in Whitehorse will miss us when we leave) and were grateful we had listened to the local who told us that it could take a while to get food. Queuers stood patiently outside the popular cafes while we had the time to wander the streets.

Two hours later we were on the bus ready to drive back to Whitehorse.  But the bus didn't move as the driver was still helping people fill out the Canadian border forms thirty minutes later (I must admit the form was not made for people who spend only a couple of hours in the US). The driver had one of those "I do not get ruffled and take my time" demeanors, which I would love to have, but it did mean a late start and a long trip back. 

Day 6 Bike ride to Mikes Canyon

Another leisurely start - not being a morning person a "when I feel like waking up" morning followed by a leisurely breakfast is the way to go. There was a reason - the bike shop did not open until 10.00 am.  The shop was a few blocks away, and it just so happens we had to pass the corner bakery again - we looked at each other with a grin (more cheese sticks, pesto and cheese rolls, raspberry and cinnamon buns).  After seat adjustments, instructions, maps and helmets we were off. 

We rode alongside the river, the path we had walked a few days before - and then on to unchartered territories.

Out first stop was the float planes (some people moor their boats, others have float planes).  And then along the path and onto the Alaskan highway for a while - up a fairly steep hill (glad we decided to go electric - or pedal assist is what they call it over here) with a great view from the top and then onto local roads.  

I must admit I still find it disconcerting riding on the wrong side of the road.  I keep wanting to veer left, and think the traffic is coming towards me when it isn't.  Harry tells me that driving is made easier by the steering wheel being on the left - but somehow that doesn't apply to biking!!

Our destination was Miles canyon.  Bikes chained to the fence we wandered down the steps.  We spent a while enjoying the scenery, watched a paddle boarder navigate the swiftly flowing Yukon, took photos from the bridge and the other side and stopped for a snack.  

The trip back was fairly circuitous - after all we did not have to return the bikes until 6.00.  We followed the river to the end of town, through suburbs and commercial areas.

Day 5 wildlife refuge center

It was a slightly slower start to the day as we had booked a 2.30 tour to the animal refuge centre and hot springs. Half day tour doesn't mean 3-4 hours like at home. This particular trip finished at 8, and our half hour bike trip tomorrow starts at 10 and can finish anytime before 6.

We wandered back down to the river front, peered in a few more shops and visited the McBride's museum (named after its founder). A walk through history, from the indigenous people's lifestyle before and after the arrival of the Europeans. No need to say more! Through the ages of the gold miners  paddle steamers, opening of the first telegraph station, then the telephone, the building of the Alaskan highway, the forestry industry and forest fires. 

Then back to our favorite coffee shop "would you like the senior discount" we are asked and to a food caravan for fish and chips. The last of the summer lunchtime music shows. Country and western this time. Half way through the singer talked (he talked a bit too much really) about the diverse cultures in Yukon. He had been to New Zealand and said something like "over there the indigenous language Maori is taught from grade one. They about 20 years ahead of us". 

We were the only two on the tour and our guide was Ray from the trip to Kluane. No need for introductions more like "what did you get up to since I saw you last?".

The wildlife centre is a refuge for injured animals. Some are returned to their wildlife homes but those that can't be are housed in expansive fields with trees, swamps, rocky outcrops depending on their preference. We saw elks, bison (no photos as they stubbornly sat in the middle of the paddock), thin horned sheep, musk oxen, foxes, moose, caribou but not the lynx (in hiding for the day). The day was cooler, if it had been hot we probably wouldn't have seen as much. We also saw a fox and ground squirrels that theoretically weren't invited but probably came for the free food. In winter the animals go into the trees for shelter. 

We were then taken to some hotpools where we relaxed outside, in the sauna and then the relaxing room (listening to soft pan flute and piano music to the smell of eucalyptus). 

Walking back to the apartment, we saw a fox leisurely walk down our street.