The White House Skagway

... trestle bridges and through pitch black tunnels blasted through mountain rock. Everywhere you look it is All Alaska. There is Devil' Club plant which grows everywhere. If you trip & fall while hiking here, this thorny beast is unavoidable because it is all over the place. You will be spiked as if you fell on a porcupine, and must wait until the thorns fester & then you can painstakingly tweezer out each spiny sliver. There's ...

... trip by ferry, one stop on the way, so we booked an inside cabin, without windows, but with two bunks, and took turns going sound asleep. While writing this in the forward salon on the ferry from Sitka to Petersburg, we had a whale announcement “on the port side” and saw four or five small whales – probably Orcas, according to my window neighbor. Their signature white markings on the underside of the tail were clearly visible when they dove. Soon we were ...

For our third morning in a row, we next docked at Skagway, which was our furthest point north within the Inside Passage. Skagway is tiny – less than 700 year-round residents – and only exists because of the Klondike gold rush in the 1890's. The "city" sits at the bottom of the deep White Pass, which provided the easiest (VERY relevant term) access to the Yukon gold fields high above and north of here. A railroad was ...

... chock right out of the dock. Art saw everything as it was playing out and before the captain could even yell for someone to grab a line amidship, he had already done it. With a possible disaster diverted, and new passengers onboard, we headed to Juneau.<br><br>Marine life abounds in these waters, and a wildlife cruise, narrated by the captain, highlighted our morning voyage. We saw hanging glaciers, bald eagles, humpback whales and Dall ...

... Alaska. <br><br>White Pass &amp; Yukon Route became a fully integrated transportation company operating docks, trains, stage coaches, sleighs, buses, paddlewheelers, trucks, ships, airplanes, hotels and pipelines. It provided the essential infrastructure servicing the freight and passenger requirements of Yukon's population and mining industry. WP&amp;YR proved to be a successful transportation innovator and pioneered the inter-modal (ship-train-truck ...

... underground. The original part of the city used to<br>flood regularly so they built another level on top. The lower level<br>is no longer used, but the original shop fronts, etc are still<br>there. We were very tired by about 2pm but we came good. (Then we<br>were wide awake at 2am.) It was also Rob&#8217;s birthday. We found a<br>nice Indian restaurant to eat, then went home to a small birthday<br>cake that Jake &amp; Cathy had ...

... Her young daughter gave one of her kidneys to her mother as soon as she reached the age of consent. Wednesday, we drove to Seward - at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula - to see this major freight port. A certain amount of time was spent poking around the wharves and looking at boats, and John got a great picture of a sea-going trawler. We were surprised, however, to see a Holland-American cruise liner in this little port, especially knowing that the passengers were probably locked ...

... along the river. At the Fish Weir, the salmon are counted so it was interesting to see how many came up the river each day. The Chilkoot Lake is beautiful; there were even a few eagles. <br><br> On the way back, there were hundreds of ducks&#8212;Surf Scoters&#8212;in a group; they would follow each other diving down one row after the other in such a choreographed fashion. We were fascinated by ...

... be behind those who camped here and ahead of the Lindeman campers. <br><br> It's close to 12:30 as we see our goal, Lake Bennett, stretched out beautifully in front of us. It's been a fantastic hike, but we're ready to celebrate. Minutes later, we see the depot, where we'll catch the White Pass &amp; Yukon Route back down to Skagway. It's smiles all around as we ...

... alights in a tree near the hut, but still can't say what species he is, perhaps some kind of flycatcher?<br><br> It's a day of lakes; we pass Long Lake, Deep Lake, and Lindeman Lake, on our way to Bare Loon Lake, where we'll be camping. Also along the way is a set of rapids, which we look down on from the trail.<br><br> Lindeman City has a warden station with interpretive tent exhibits. We stop for lunch at the shelter ...