We got off the ship and walked a short distance to the White Pass Yukon Route Railroad. We decided to pay and do it as it sounded like a very Alaskan thing to do ($149.00 per person). The ride was about 3-1/2 to 4 hours to travel the approximate twenty miles up to the pass and then back down. We got to see lovely plants, flowers, butterflies – but no goats or bears. Bummer. Saw so many waterfalls! Alaska is so very beautiful!
We get out of town almost immediately and the wilderness is upon us.White Pass Railroad making the climb.Looking ahead on the curve.Looking back.The size of the mountains is daunting, gold be damned.Even if there is gold there, I will let it be. Couldn’t imagine on a bad weather day. And I remember well the 1964 earthquake.Beautiful to look at as we wind up to the summit of the pass.Looking back at where we started.A trestle that has seen better days.The rails were robbed and used somewhere else.The new trestle.Not a good place for a walk.Ice and snow melt stream.Earlier train headed back down. We pulled into a side yard to let them go by.There were always mountain sides we were looking up. This is a US and Canadian narrow gauge rail.Life on top is hard.Red lichen that could probably survive on Mars and help create an oxygen atmosphere.Headed back down from White Pass.I could not pack enough cold weather gear, guns and ammo, food and whatever to go exploring this country on foot.We are in the middle of nowhere and there is a person on the creek bank down below.A man lying down.A woman walking. Crazy!Skagway.Snow eater.Had to come by boat, there are no roads that come here.Dog looked like he was driving.The totems have lost much of their meaning.We both like glass dragons.The towns are so tiny.Everything man made appears small up here.Tourist traps have set in where the miners traps used to be.The cruise ship at the end of the street seems odd.This looked like a fun place. I wanted to go in, but do you think pretty woman would let me? Noooooo, she said.Pretty woman leading me to look at an old church.
We were very tired by the time we got back that we took a little nap. (We nap a lot and it seems to be getting worse as we get older.) After our rest we went to dinner at the Four Seasons and then watched the show – a Burt Bacharach tribute called “The Look of Love.” Good show.
As we sailed away we saw a mom and baby bear on shore. Wish we could have seem them up close or at least a little closer but now we can say we saw a bear in Alaska!
