Yukon Highway & Skagway

The Island Princess is to the right. It took about 10 minutes
to walk from the ship to the end of the pier.  It's a decent
hike.  If you have mobility issues, they have golf carts.

June 11, 2011 - Day 3 of our cruise found us in Skagway. We rented a car from the Avis office there and drove the Yukon Highway to Carcross and Emerald Lake.  We had Murray’s Guide which we’d downloaded and stopped several times along the way to take photos.  We saw the WP&YR railroad across the canyon several times until we went through the Canadian border checkpoint in Fraser.  At that point, the train turns around and takes the passengers that took the motorcoach up back down on the train.  Those that rode the train up, take the motorcoach back. We continued on to Carcross which is quite a ways further. At one point we saw some bears at the side of the road munching away on dandelions.  We pulled over and filmed them for quite a while. They looked to be two grizzly cubs of maybe a year or two. They would check out each car that drove up, determine that it wasn’t a threat, and then go back to eating.  At one point, two motorcyclists drove up, and the bears were fascinated by them.  They probably were wondering if it was meals on wheels. Terrell was thrilled to see his bears only 20 feet away.

Mama Grizzly and her cub have a dandelion brunch.

This little guy chattered away as I snapped his photo.

Bove Island, near Carcross

Due to its length, I'm giving Carcross its own post. Here continues our drive back to Skagway: 
On our way back to Skagway we saw a black bear, so we pulled over to watch him for a bit.  The bears are perfectly fine with cars stopping, but the minute a tour bus pulls up, they are out there. 

Dandelions must be the preferred bear
snack.  This black bear munched away,
completely unconcerned at the cars stopping.

I’m so glad we rented a car rather than going with a large group; we could stop wherever we wanted and stay as long as we wanted. When we first arrived in Carcross there were maybe 6 tourists in town. When we came back the second time, four huge buses had pulled up with approximately 40 tourists in each.  All 160 people were trying to fit in the General Store and the Train Depot gift shop; not exactly our scene.

The same two grizzlies were still in the meadow eating dandelions, so we pulled over again to watch them for a while. Once the tour buses arrived and the bears ran off, we got back on the road. 

I don't know why, but I found
the difference between the
British Columbia sign and
the Yukon sign kind of humorous.

We arrived back in Skagway around 3-4:00 and returned the car.  We then wandered up and down Broadway, checking out the shops. We spent quite a while in one shop learning about ulus, and why there was such a difference in pricing.  We selected one that had a caribou antler handle and a high quality blade, since we plan to use it.  The really pretty ones with carved handles are more for display. We also bought a chopping bowl.  They shipped all of it back to our house for us. I found a really cool quilt shop with gorgeous quilts on display.  I don’t quilt, but my mom does, so I could appreciate all the beautiful patterns they had. I even bought a half yard of sled dog patterned batik fabric; who knows, maybe someday I’ll make a table runner or something.

Street scene in Skagway

The WP&YR literally runs through town.

Typical street in Skagway

While the ship didn’t leave port until 8:00, we were pretty tired so we headed back to the ship for dinner. We ran into some people we’d met earlier in the tour and walked back down the pier with them after taking the shuttle from town.  It’s quite a walk into town, it easily took us at least 20 minutes to get from the ship to the Avis office. The shuttle costs $2 each way, or $5 for a day pass. It still takes about 5-10 minutes to get from the shuttle stop to the ship, which in our case was as far away as you could get.

So...would I drive the Yukon Highway again?  No.  I was so looking forward to this drive, everyone spoke of how beautiful it was.  Several mentioned that they take this drive every time they're in port. It just wasn't that amazing for me.  Maybe it's because we spent summers up at our cabin in Lake Tahoe, and I've been all through the Sierra Nevadas.  Maybe it's because we literally live in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, we have Lone Peak right in our backyard.  I've lived in the Santa Cruz mountains with the coastal Redwoods. The summit was interesting, with its stunted pines and exposed granite surfaces.  I just don't need to see it again.  Next time, maybe the WP&YR for a shorter trip...