In today's video.
We're going to talk about the Skagway Alaska where it is
what there is to do there in a little bit of its history
that's coming right after this.
If we're meeting for the first time, my name is Ken Edmonds
and on this channel.
I help people that travel with difficulties travel better
avoid the pitfalls and I also share information for their
friends and families as well.
So the first question is, where's Skagway?
Skagway sits on the northern point in the Inside passage
and the Inside passage is basically the area in Southeast
Alaska where ships can travel without going out into the
Gulf of Alaska.
They're basically protected by a row of barrier islands.
And so it makes a much more comfortable Journey than if you
had to go out and sail on the outside. This slide you can
see that Skagway sits at the end of this long Channel and that
channel is actually called the Lynn canal and it is one of
the deepest fjords in North America.
It was carved by a glacier.
And so it's interesting that even when your ships dock
right up against the mountain in Skagway that there's still
hundreds of feet of water below the ship because the sides
are almost vertical. As we look at this next slide what you
can see is that Skagway is a z long narrow town and I say
long it's not hugely long.
It's a very small town.
It's really only home to between 900 and 1000 people year-round.
Now in the summer the population grows significantly as workers
come in to help with taking care of the cruise passengers.
And when the harbor's full of ships the population can go
from let's say 1500 people, too.
Probably 10,000 people Skagway is actually the second busiest
port, in Alaska so the question comes up, why is Skagway
here. And it has to do with the Klondike Gold Rush?
The miners had to pack in about a thousand pounds of food
and gear with them to go into the Yukon Territory to put
to get to the gold fields of the Klondike and they were looking
obviously for the shortest easiest way to get there.
Most of the Prospectors were traveling in from the lower
48 and so they were looking for the closest easiest port
to get into the gold fields and those two ports were Dyea
and Skagway. Now, there's nothing left to Dyea except some
ruins. But Skagway survived the absolute shortest passage
for the miners from the coast up into the Yukon Territory.
Was the chilkoot trail which headed up out of Dyea the problem
with the Chilkoot trail was that it was steep and they couldn't
use animals to pack equipment in so the miners were when
they went in from Dyea they would pack as much as they could
carry up part way go back and get more and make a couple
of trips till they
got all of their gear to a spot and then they'd move up to
like to the next level and this was a real real challenge
for the miner. the this picture shows two views of the Chilkoot
trail. And this is an area on the trail is called the Golden
Staircase. In the picture with the miners going up and you'll
notice that it's winter and they literally carved steps into
the snow and ice so they could climb easily now you can see
in the modern day and we've got a hikers climbing up the
same area and without the steps and you can see what challenges
that would exist. Now imagine again
you have to carry a thousand pounds of gear up that hill.
So because of that there was a need for a different route
as I mentioned that was that went in from Dyea. The
route that went in from Skagway actually went up what's
called White Pass and that was a much easier climb, they
could use animals.
However, it was very hard on the animals.
In fact, it became known as the Dead Horse Trail because
the novice miners were trying to pack too much on the
animals and pushing them too hard and a lot died in the process.
It was significantly farther, but it was so much easier than
Both routes were popular just for different reasons.
So the question of the day, have you been to Skagway?
And if so, what did you do there?
I need you to put an answer down in the comments below join
in the discussion.
Thanks.
So in this map what you see is the downtown area of Skagway
and the area that is of interest to the tourists
really is basically two blocks wide and six block deep.
As I said, it's a very small town.
It's very easily walkable.
One of the things about it is nice.
It's a basically an entirely flat town and there are ramps
available on the most of the sidewalks so it works well
for those that are traveling with a wheelchair or with a
scooter. This is a satellite.
view of the port in Skagway and from above we can see that
there are currently three ships tied up there is space for
another ship to dock so they can dock at least four ships
And most days if you go to Skagway on a cruise, you're going
to wind up a docking occasionally if they get very busy,
they'll have to Tender in but for the most part you can expect
to dock in Skagway, which again makes it much easier for
those that have mobility challenges.
So if you're heading out from the port area in Skagway, this
is what the road looks like. Again.
like I said, it's nice and flat and there is a transportation
available. Most everybody will just walk because everything
is so close. In this next picture.
we've gotten a little closer to town and on the right what
you see is Centennial Park and there's a statue there and
so it's a great place
to get a picture and just passed at that red objects.
You see will get a little better located in a few minutes,
but it is a rotary snow plow that was used to keep the snow
off the tracks so that the trains could make their way up
White Pass. This viewer looking down Broadway toward town we're
about even with the statues at Centennial Park.
You can see a little better view of the rotary snowplow And
Broadway is the main thoroughfare in Skagway. Then if
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So we're going to talk a little bit about the history of
Skagway and then we'll go into what there is to see and do
in Skagway. Skagway got its start when Captain Moore and
some native guides found a pass that became White
Pass. This was a much easier track into the Yukon than the
Chilkoot trail from Diane.
And so he recognized that the potential value of that property
and he decided to claim a hundred and sixty Acres at the
foothills of the mountains there at the bay. Nine years later
in 1896.
They found gold.
Gold in the Klondike and as word of that got out people started
packing their bags and heading toward the Klondike.in 1897.
Just a year later of the there were hundreds of Prospectors
arrived and the White Pass Trail opened for people to travel
in to the Yukon and then on down to the e Gold Rush
area in the Klondike.
By 1898 the Skagway's population that exploded and gone from
basically one family living there to between eight and ten
thousand people living there.
The town was a rough Frontier Town.
It was filled with saloons bordellos and gambling halls and
your occasional gunfight in the early spring of 1888 and
the the white - railroad started to be organized and in May
they started Construction and by July
They had enough train track laid that the first train
trip went fourmiles out of town.
So not a lot, but from again from the spring until July they
had gotten four miles of track laid, and they had a equipment
arriving and in place by February of the following year 1899.
The train was able to reach the summit of White pass. In July
of 1899 the railroad reached Lake Bennett and that was important
because Lake Bennettt was where the miners would build boats
or by boats and sail down the Yukon river till they got to the
Klondike so that provided an easy Transportation.
Once they got too Lake Bennett. The train had transformed
what had been a multi-day excruciating trip.
Into a 3 hour train ride. 1899 was really the last real year
of the Klondike Gold Rush. About that time gold was found
in Nome and all the people that were looking for gold were
now instead of heading in to the Klondike.
were heading to Nome and they were going via ship to get
to Nome.
The result of that was the town of Skagway started to shrink
in size and by 1900 it was down to just a little over 3,000
inhabitants. It's interesting that Skagway was the first
incorporated city in the state of Alaska it be Juneau by one
day. And in 1900 they completed the White Pass Railway
all the way from Skagway to Whitehorse.
If you're getting value from this video and I hope you are
I need you to do me a favor.
Please hit the like button makes me feel good when people
like the videos. Much of Skagway is part of What's called
the Klondike Gold Rush Historical Park.
This is a National Historic District and it comprises of
four units.
The first unit is actually not in Skagway.
It's in Seattle and this is because Seattle was where the
miners would start from. If you're planning.
a cruise to Alaska that's going to stop in Skagway and you're
interested. You can see the visitor center in Seattle, which
is the jumping off point for the Prospectors.
There were headed toward the Klondike. When you get into Skagway
about half of the downtown area six blocks is part of that
Historical Park and so you'll get a chance to see a lot of
buildings and a lot of history.
in Skagway.
In fact, you could say that a lot of the activities in Skagway
are focused on its history. When we think about the Historical
Park and historical area of Skagway the National Park Service
owns 14 buildings there.
Some of them are used as museums one is the Park Visitor
Center some are restored buildings that are on lease to tenants
and some are buildings that they're still waiting to restore
the final
two units that make up this historical part are the Chilkoot
trail, which is interestingly enough the world's longest
museum the trails 33 miles up to Lake Bennett and it is a
part of the museum.
And then also there is the last piece is there's some remnant
pieces that you can hike of the White Pass Trail.
So we're going to take a look at a few of the historical
buildings. I'm going to do another video later on that'll
be a kind of a walking tour of Skagway and then we'll have
a chance to look at talk more about all of these buildings
Though the first building we're going to take a look at
is the old White Pass railway station at that point in time.
The train actually went up Broadway.
And so the train stations right there and this also now serves
As the visitor center for the National Park Service.
So it's just as you come into town on the right side.
You're you're actually wanting to want to stop there and
that's a good place to get your visit to Skagway started
because They'll have Maps they have tours.
They have quite a few things that are there to look at and
you can get a better feel for what there is you might want
to take a look at this building is called the Martin Itjen
house and he was he formed the first streetcar company in
Skagway and this house he's you can see who's kind of the
founder of the tourism business to because he sold tours
from this house. This house belongs to the park Service as
one of those places you can stop and visit while you're walking
around in Skagway.
This is another building that had been restored by the park
service it originally started out as a Penniel
Mission now in the Parks, Service uses it as dormitory
space for their seasonal workers that come to Skagway during
the season.
This is the oldest building the Park Service owns in Skagway
and they don't know exactly when it was built.
But it by 1897 and shows up in the photograph.
So it's one of the older buildings in Skagway and it's hasn't
been restored.
Its kind of still the shape.
It was in the Park service is waiting to fund restoration
of that building. It started Life as a cigar store.
It's not a lot of other things.
I thought this was an interesting photograph because it shows
the view down Broadway in May of 1898 and then a much more
recent picture of that same vantage point.
So it's kind of interesting the difference and some of the
similarities this last photo is the White Pass Railway.
I thought this was kind of interesting too because that they're
obviously in the process of clearing snow as they're trying
to make their way up toward the summit.
This is evidently before they got the rotary snow plow.
So what is there to do when you get to Skagway?
Well, the number one attraction in Skagway is the White Pass
Railway and it is supposed to be an amazing journey.
I haven't had a chance yet to take the railway the two times
we've been to Skagway we've driven in the Yukon Territory.
So it's on my list for our next visit. Probably the second
most popular attraction is the history that's available in
Skagway. There are seven museums multiple reenactments of
things that you could see So if you're into history, this
is a great choice in Skagway For a lot of people another
great choice is shopping.
There are numerous stores in town that are based there in
Skagway or in Alaska selling Alaskan made goods and then
there's the usual Diamonds International the tanzanite, you
know, the cruise line Affiliated this stores as well and
there are some amazing things if you get out and shop in
some of the local stores. Now for me.
One of my favorite things to do is check out the food scene
in various towns and in Skagway, you've got a variety of
choices again.
It's a small town.
So there's not hundreds of restaurants, but there are quite
a few restaurants a lot of them feature food based on what
they can catch there so you tend to find a lot of salmon
and those kinds of things there are interestingly enough
a Thai restaurant and gets really good.
reviews and a Mexican restaurant and in association of that
if you're if you get thirsty easily, there's a variety of
pubs available and saloons that some of them are very much
like they were back in the day.
And so those are an opportunity and they typically serve
you could say Pub grub as well.
A lot of people like to do outdoors things in Skagway and
it's a great opportunity out of Skagway there 12 major Trail.
including the Chilkoot trail, which is 33 miles one
way. I'm not thinking that the on our typical cruise is stop
you have time for that.
But there are several shorter trails, you know up to half
a day that take you up into the mountains see some of the
lakes so there's some amazing places to go hike if you like
to hike. If fishing is more your cup of team and they do have
some great king salmon fishing there.
There's a lot of other water activities whale watching is
not big in there though.
They do have some transient orcas that move through occasionally,
but there's a lot of things that you can see from the water
in Skagway.
So the last thing we'll talk about from Skagway is actually
not in Skagway, but it's the trip into the Yukon Territory.
Now, you can make that trip on the train there are tour guuides.
Or you can rent a car and drive it but there are some amazing
things to see in the Yukon including the world's smallest
desert the Carcross Desert about a mile square, but it looks
like the desert you seen other places.
There's also one of the more photographed lakes and Canada
Emerald Lake and it is absolutely stunning.
Just a quick credits the street viw pictures that you saw as
we started this segment.
Those are courtesy of Google street view the maps that you
saw and satellite views are for courtesy of Google as well.
And then the the historic buildings are courtesy of the National
Park Service.
So if you're interested in more information about the White
Pass Railway, I'm going to have an interview with the Jacqui
Taylor. There's a link to it right here.
And then we're going to talk about the history of the railroad
a little more.
We'll talk about About what you can see on the train ride
and I think we've got some video.
We're going to share.
Then click on the link that will take you to that interview.
We'll see you next time.