Skagway, our second port of call

The two towns most north in the Inside Passage are Haines and Skagway: both can be reached by land, riding on Candian roads. A few weeks ago, we had made it on the bikes to Haines and intended to go to Skagway as well, but due to a flood alert at the time, did not go there. The people in Haines warned us: while their town was a true little Alaskan gem, Skagway on the other hand became a sort of Disneyland, over-flooded with tourists from the cruise ships and that looked more like a shopping mall than an Alaskan town. We were about to see how true that statement was.

The Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park

As we walked towards town that morning, we saw from a distance the colorful buildings lined up on Broadway St. We also passed the rail tracks used for the historic train that was initially build for the Gold Rush and now serves to transport tourists to the White Pass and Yukon Route. We heard that it was a nice ride through the mountains but it would have taken all our time on shore and it was quite overcast that day so we were not sure how scenic the ride would have been anyways.
Instead, we went to the Visitor Center and were surprised to learn that most of the town is a National Historic Park. The original buildings from the gold rush are owned and restored by the Park services who rents them out as stores, hotels or bars. No wonder they looked so well maintenance, with bright colors (except the back, not painted:) We had to admit, it looked a little like Disneyland Mainstreet.

A little history lesson about the Gold Rush

As we followed a park ranger into town, he started to tell us the story of the Gold Rush era. Initially, another town close by called Dyea was the entry point for the Sourdoughs (person looking for Gold) to head up north to Dawson in Canada where gold was found. Dyea was the start of the Chilkoot trail, discovered a long time ago by the natives, and one of the routes that Sourdoughs would follow to become rich. It was no easy route as you had to go through a narrow and high pass and avalanche risks were common. A few years later, another route was discovered starting in Skagway: the White Pass trail. It was a longer route than the Chilkoot trail but with a more gentle grade. For years, the two towns were rivals and claimed they were the easiest starting point to get gold. Skagway eventually won the battle, thanks to its deep waters port and the railroad that was eventually constructed there. Dyea is now a ghost town and there is little left there to be seen but today, some people still hike the Chilkoot trail for fun, a 3-5 days hike. Very few Sourdoughs actually made it to Dawson: many died on the way, and the few that made it there found a town where all the claims for gold were already taken. They did become rich as they hoped but underwent an amazing experience through the wild that would change their lives.

As we went into the Red Onion Saloon, we found a little taste of these Gold Rush days, tourist style, with the girls dressed like in the old days. Skagway is today a town where numerous boats still come in town, however no longer loaded with people pursuing gold but with cruisers looking for a feel of Alaska and a good shopping bargain. It was not really our favorite town in Alaska but we learned a lot about the gold rush adventure. Now, if you see an Alaskan license plate, you will understand what it represents: the the line of people climbing a mountain were the Sourdoughs in search of the precious metal going up the Chilkoot or White Pass trail.