Skagway is the legendary gatway to the Yukon, site of the beginnings of the Chilkoot Pass and White Pass trails. At one time, tens of thousands of men passed through Skagway looking for their fortunes in the gold fields. Today, they find their fortunes selling goods and services to cruise ship passengers.
I took my only shore excursion of the trip here. We started dockside by boarding the White Pass train for a ride up and over the pass to Fraser, Canada. The train ride was interesting, with beautiful views. Once over the pass, the rest of the trip to Fraser was across rock polished by glaciers. Even though the altitude was less than 4,000 feet, there was very little vegetation.
At Fraser, we transferred to a bus to take us back to the highway pass. There, we put on safety gear and got adjusted to our mountain bikes. After reviewing the rules of the road, we started down. We made several stops for pictures and water on the way down. The upper third was rather steep, the middle third was perfect, and the last third was basically flat as we came into Skagway.
Copyright © 2008 by Dana Cline
Last updated on 7/8/2008
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