On the Road to Skagway

Leaving the whereabouts of Watson Lake, and heading north as always, spectacular scenery continued to unfold in front of me.

  

I stopped at a small pull-out and walked a long boardwalk back to the river for a nice view of a waterfall. These kind of spots abound along the road, often only indicated by a small blue sign with a camera on it. I am learning to stop at these signs whenever I see one!

  

Rolling into the village of Teslin, I crossed a very impressive bridge and pulled off at the Teslin Lodge, where a really nice wildlife gallery is free for the traveller to view. Hey, free is good, and the gallery is absolutely top-notch! See it if you are passing by.

  

The animal displays are so realistic that some of the shots look like the real outdoors. That’s about as close as I ever want to get to a grizzly!

  

  

  

Just north of Teslin is a very nice provincial park and campground, where I spent the night. These parks offer free firewood, nice secluded sites, and are inexpensive… no hookups, but that’s OK. Jon and I drove up to a microwave tower on top of a nearby hill to get some great shots of Teslin Lake and the surrounding countryside. I would like to stitch these into a panorama, but haven’t quite figured out how to make it happen.

  

  

  

The next stop along the way is Carcross, originally called Caribou Crossing. The town has a very new visitor center, restaurants, and shops (tourist trap) but also a number of truly historic buildings and unique features. Several of the Goosey Group arrived, and we strolled the town.

  

The town was created by the White Pass and Yukon railroad, a narrow gauge steam train line that is still in operation today. The train allowed incoming gold rushers to get up the mountain from the port of Skagway without having to hike all the way along the Chilkoot trail, a big improvement, for sure. In the late 1890s, many of the folks looking to make their fortune in the Klondike gold rush landed in Skagway and the only way forward was to make the trip up a mountainous foot trail, carrying all of your belongings and supplies on your back. Not everyone made it, and the hardships many endured did not end in riches. Check this excellent site for a description of the trails and the conditions that the gold rushers faced. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/gold/trail.htm

The White pass and Yukon railroad still operates both diesel and steam trains over the White Pass route, and one of the reasons I’m headed for Skagway is to ride that train. Here are a couple shots of a train and the Carcross station.

  

Also in Carcross is the oldest operating general store in the Yukon. Still selling stuff today, but mostly souvenirs. It is worth a stop, as the original store, and all the old stuff it used to sell, is still there, so it’s like a museum. plus, they have ice cream cones… yumm!

The area has some unique geology… it is very sandy, and the lake actually has a very respectable beach. How many miles are we from the nearest ocean? Pretty far, I’m sure, so there were no seagulls, but the ever-present wind was just like every ocean shore I can remember.

  

This sandy environment and wind have created what is billed as the smallest desert in the world… the Carcross Desert! About the size of a WalMart parking lot, it is still very desert-y… or, is that dessert-y? The former, I think.

  

Just north of the desert is a jewel of a lake… or perhaps a “gem” of a lake: Emerald Lake. The pictures fail to really do it justice, as the water is the most amazing shading from a super light blue green to dark turquoise. Simply stunning, and easy to overlook, as once again, there is just one of those little photo opportunity signs. I’ll be passing right by here again on my way out of Skagway, and I’ll try to get some better pix.

  

The nice folk at the Carcross visitor’s center turned us on to a free campground right in town, so the evening was spent in quiet discussion of the day’s sights, and appreciation of a nice campfire. Tomorrow, I’ll head down the long mountain grade to Skagway.