Alaska Trip 2011: May 26 - White Pass & Yukon Railroad

This is page 15 of our Alaska 2011 trip journal. Click here for the first page. If you want to bookmark this journal, http://jeanne-travels.blogspot.com always links to the newest page.

Today we took a ride on the Yukon & White Pass Railroad. They started building the railroad during the Gold Rush, and for many years, it served not only the mining community, but also served as a transportation route for passengers and other goods. Today it operates as a tourist excursion. It once went all to Whitehorse, but we only rode as far as the Canadian border at Summit Lake and back. They do have longer excursions, but for this trip, you do not need to deal with customs and border crossings.

Rotary Snowplow

They keep this rotary snowplow on display near the depot for most of the season, but in the spring, they actually use it to clear the winter snow from the track. An interesting side note - they actually take passengers for this expedition. Even though they can't promise when it will be, because that depends on the weather, the trip is still usually sold out a year in advance.

The Train

Not sure if this is the actual train we rode, or another that was leaving near the same time, but we took these pictures outside the station before we left.

The Mountain Side

For the ride up to the summit, we were sitting on the mountain side of the coach. This is a very different view from what you see on the other side. You can see into the woods, or try to catch a glimpse of many little waterfalls on the way by, or look up to the top of the mountain.

The railroad donated this caboose to the forest service. Hikers & backpackers use it for an overnight stay on the trail.

We took several pictures of the other side from where we were sitting. Most of them did not work out very well, but a couple turned out ok. This one is a view of another train on the upper side of a long hairpin turn. We will be at that spot in a few more minutes. The other shot is an old wooden trestle that is no longer in use.

And here are a couple more Mountain Side views...

White Pass Summit

The US-Canadian border here follows the summit of the mountains, so this was as far as we could go without going through customs. The train pulled into a passing track, and then everyone switched sides so we all had a chance to see the view on both sides. The engine went around to the new front of the train and we went back down.

Summit Lake is still frozen right now, but it thaws out later in the summer.

You can see where the snowplow cut through the snow here. It was probably even deeper than that when they first cleared it.

The Northwest Mounted Police eventually became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. During the gold rush, the Mounties were concerned that people would get out in the wilderness and starve to death, so they did not let them into the country without a full year's supply of provisions.

The train dropped off a couple of hikers at the summit. The tour guide referred to them as bear bait.

The Scenic Side

Here are some better views of the old wooden trestle

Don't look down! These pictures show just how steep it is on parts of the route. If it looks almost straight down, that's because it is. At this point the train track is well above the trail used during the gold rush. This area of the trail is known as Dead Horse Gulch. Unlike on the Chilkoot trail, prospectors taking the longer White Pass route were able to use pack animals to carry part of the load. Demand far exceeded the supply, and people started shipping in horses otherwise bound for the glue factory. They were nowhere up to the task, and to make matters worse, they were generally overworked and underfed. When they died, the miners just went back and got more. Thousands of horses died on this trek of futility.

Can you stand just a few more scenic views from the train?

This engine was on display at the maintenance shop. They described it as the little engine that could, but can't any more.

---

Alaska Trip 2011: May 25-29 - Skagway, Alaska

This is page 15 of our Alaska 2011 trip journal. Click here for the first page. If you want to bookmark this journal, http://jeanne-travels.blogspot.com always links to the newest page.

We spent a few days in Skagway, doing a little bit of sightseeing, mixed in with a little bit of rest and a little bit of catching up the trip journal. We took one day on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, which I will put on a separate page. So things will not quite be in chronological order here, but they will be in a more logical order.

The Gold Rush

During the Gold Rush of 1898, there were a lot of routes that people took to get to gold fields. In this area, people sailed north up the Chilkoot Inlet and then had to choose one of two ways across the coastal mountains. They could take the shorter, but steeper route across Chilkoot pass, or they could take the longer, but more gradual slope across White Pass. In this terrain map, you can see the dividing line where they had to choose one side of the mountain or the other.


View Larger Map

Skagway - A Different Kind of Gold

The city of Skagway was born of the 1898 Gold Rush. Prospectors who wanted to take the White Pass route landed at what is now Skagway. Starting as basically a tent city, it quickly grew into a boom town.

Nowadays, the gold rush in Skagway comes in by way of cruise ship. It is basically a tourist town, with all the jewelry, knick-knack, and t-shirt stores that go with it.

Yep, a couple of tourists...

But there is history mixed in there as well. Buildings in the historic district may be selling jewelry and souvenirs instead of food and mining supplies, but they have maintained the vintage look in most of the buildings.As part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Park, the Park Service has restored some of the downtown buildings, though I am not sure which ones other than the restored depot that serves as their visitor center. They also have a nice museum covering the gold rush

Red Onion Saloon inside and out

Dyea

The town of Dyea was the start of the other route across the mountains. Before the gold rush, it was a small trading post town, which provided access to the Yukon via the Chilkoot Trail. It became a boom town in 1898, but within 5 years, the town was pretty much dead. It was not the gold rush that killed Dyea, at least not directly. When the White Pass & Yukon railroad was completed, it naturally became the preferred means of travel. With Skagway becoming the center of transportation, there was no more reason for Dyea.

We drove up to where Dyea used to be. There was no town left, but there were some nice views along the road.

Look at these huge clumps of pine cones.

Tidal Flats

Slide Cemetery

Near the remains of Dyea, we stopped by the Slide Cemetery. There had been heavy snows for a couple weeks. Locals and natives warned people to stay off the trail, but many of the miners did not listen and forged on anyway. On April 3, 1898, there was a huge avalanche, which buried about 100 people, most of whom died.

Gold Rush Cemetery

Skagway had an old cemetery as well - here you can see the graves of some of the famous - and infamous - city residents.

Railroad Excursion

While we were in Skagway, we also took an excursion on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. I'm putting those pictures on a separate page.

---