Skagway
Skagway is a very small town. During the winter there are only 1500 residents. The population grows to 4000 during the summer. Most of the additional summer residents are tour guides. The town of Skagway was founded as an entryway to Dawson City, Yukon where gold was first discovered in 1896. About 100,000 people came though Skagway in search of their fortunes during the 2 years of the Gold Rush between 1898 and 1900. Only about 40,000 people made it to Dawson City. Many perished along the way due to the frigid winter temperatures and rough terrain. Only 200 people actually discovered their fortunes in gold in the area around Dawson City.
The time for our tour was changed from 7:30AM to 8:30AM which turned out to be a good thing. Everyone needed a little extra slep. We arrived in port arou nd 7 AM and had a chance to view the port from our stateroom. A mudslide/avalanch from last winter had destroyed part of the rock wall and port access so a number of ships had to tender into the port. Thankfully we anchored at the dock farthest from the slide so we had no issues.
Our excurson today was in three parts - gold mining, dog sled demonstration and train ride up into the Youkon. We were met at the port by our tourguide for the day, Olivia (aka Longshot Liz for the tour). Most of the tour guides in Skagway seemed to be in character which they all took to quite enthusiastically.
After getting wristbands to designate our tour group we boarded a bus to a stop of the first 2 parts of the tour. The tour was entertaining as well as informative albeit a but kitschy, but that was fine. We did get a few grains of gold from panning which we pooled together and at today’s gold rate is worth about $30. As part of the gold mining, Longshot Liz narrated a lot of the history of the Gold Rush era including some of the attempts at commercial mining that had a significant negative impact on the environment and were subsequently banned from use in Canada and in the US.
The dogsled demo was the real deal. We heard from a man and a woman who raise sled dogs and race them. Patrick, the man who presented part of the demonstration has run in 6 Iditerods. He also looks very much like my brother John.
We heard about the trecherous challenges that occur during the Iditerod’s 1,100 mile race. Racers can encounter temperatures of 50 degrees below zero or even less. They generally race in the dark between 10 and 25 miles per hour, traveling about 150 miles per day . The mushers generally sleep about 1 hour every 12 . There is one 24 hour stop and a number of shorter ones where the sleds and teams are checked by officials for carrying the right gear. and that the dogs are healthy. The boots worn by the mushers have 3 inches of insullation on the bottom and look almost like moon boots. The boots and the outerware need to withstand the frigid temperatures but Patrick did say that your feet still get very cold when it gets below -50 degrees and that the last thing you want to have heppen is to sweat, anywhere on your body but especially on your feet because frostbite will set in quickly. You can sweat even at the lower temperatures especially when the musher needs to work really hard,
The dogs themselves are a mixture of breeds that are bred to withstand the extreme cold, will race hard and are very strong. The dogs weigh about 50 pounds and have no problems enduring the 1,100 mile trek from Anchorage to Nome. We got to see a team of 8 pull a sled around a track. We also had the opportunity to pet the dogs. They are super friendly and very enthusiastic about interacting with poeple. They also stink pretty bad., but they are cute. We also got to pet and hold some 3 week old puppies who will be trained for dogsledding. That was a treat.
The final part of our tour was a train ride on the narrow gauge railroad built during the Gold Rush. When the railroad was started the intent was to support gold commerce but the Yukon Gold Rush only lasted for a few years and was over before the railroad was completed. Today the railroad is maintained and used primarily for tourism. The scenery along the 40 mile roundtrip journey was nothing short of spectacular. Charlie made a new friend on the trip and they enjoyed each others company the whole way.
After returning to the ship we had a little time to relax before an early dinner at the buffet restaurant. The food was ok but nothing special. We attended acrobatic show in the theater. It was a great show and the 2 performers were excellent.
