Our scheduled activity for the day was to board the train that would take us up to the White Pass right on the BC border tracing the steps of over hunderd thousand of men that headed up north in search of gold known as the Klondike Gold Rush. Out of the 100K only about 30-40 thousands actually reached the gold fields and out of those only a few hunderds bacame rich. This railroad was also known as the ‘Railroad to Hell’. This railroad was an engineering marvel for it has to climb from the sea level in Skagway to almost 3,000 feet at the Summit in just 20 miles and has many tight curves. The construction began in 1898 and was finished only 24 months later.
We really loved the train ride on this very old train and enjoyed the spectacular views it had to offer. Within the hour we found ourselves in the White Pass surrounded by over 8 feet of snow. I got to say it was lil chilly outside where we chose to stay most of the ride as we didn’t want to miss any of the sights and picture opportunities. We were also rewarded for our preseverence when was saw a black bear eating away right by the train track. I still can’t believe that the gold diggers were able to make this journey of around 600 miles on foot even before the railroad was built. That is just crazy… and they didn’t have to make the journey just ones they had to go several times as they had to transfer all of their belongings and than some – around one ton of supplies. That is determination!
After a hot toddy and lil lunch on board we headed back out to Skagway for a hike to a few lakes and a waterfall. It was somewhat steeper than we expected but Mom did really good all the way up to the lakes. Mom & Dad turned around and Lucka and us continued to the Icy Lake where Lucka decided to wait for us as we wouldn’t let her go back by herself and Chris & I literally ran the next almost a mile to the waterfalls. They were worth it… we took a few pictures and ran back to Lucka at the Icy Lake where she was truly starting to get a lil icy.
We looked around the town for a few minutes but besides the many & many jewelry shops and gift shops there wasn’t really all that much to see… especially in the icy wind that was blowing all around. It was very nice to get back to the warmth and comfort of our ship. Oh but Mom managed to find some beautiful jewelry to add to her plentiful collection.
Tomorrow we will reach the Glacier Bay National Park.
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