A 5-day RV weekend in Skagway, Alaska
For most Yukoners, the Victoria Day weekend is the first camping weekend of the season. For us this year, it was the third camping weekend, having spent Easter at Haines and then a weekend at Skagway, but as with many of our neighbours, Skagway was once again our destination. Cathy has lots of holidays banked, so took off both the day before and the day after – having 5 days helped make it a really great RV weekend!
The weather forecast for both the Yukon and Skagway was amazing, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 20s C (low 70s F). The Victoria Day weekend in Skagway has the reputation of being extremely busy with Yukoners, and it used to be a rowdy weekend to the point that the RCMP sent some members down to help out the Skagway police. Wanting to beat the crowds at the border in particular was the reason took the Friday off, and we were the only vehicle at the border crossing. A particularly friendly Customs officer welcomed us to the United States, and by noon we had paid $160 for 4 nights at the Pullen Creek RV Park and were getting set up at site #44, which is the “overflow” parking, actually part of the marina parking lot.
We had stayed at Garden City RV Park the last time down, and while it was fine, we wanted a different experience this time. We wanted to be able to walk most places, and we wanted an awesome view. There were no cruise ships in, so Skagway was very quiet so far, but expecting to soon lose the empty spot beside us, I took this photo at 2:30 as we were unwinding with a couple of cold Alaska beer.
Having accomplished absolutely nothing on Friday other then getting to Skagway – perfect for a holiday – I was up early on Saturday to greet the first cruise ships. This was shot at 05:36, with the Celebrity Millennium approaching the Railroad Dock on the left and Holland America’s Volendam heading for the Broadway Dock.
“The Millie” was just getting tied up to the dock by the time I had walked over there 15 minutes later. Watching the ships always brings back great memories, and that’s particularly true with ships like this one, as we spent a week on her, sailing from Vancouver to Alaska and back with 4 friends from Ontario, in June 2012.
The third ship of the day, the Golden Princess, approaches at 6:10. Most of the ships report a 07:00 arrival time in their itineraries, but in reality can be there as much as 3 hours earlier than that.
The 3 ships brought 6,070 people to town, so the helicopter fleet over at Temsco was fairly busy taking people flightseeing and for some, dogsledding on the Denver Glacier a few minutes north.
We did a lot of walking on Saturday, and drove over to Dyea for a while. Dyea was extremely busy, with hundreds of Yukoners camped out on the flats as well as in the 2 campgrounds. While we could camp at the NPS campground, the bridge over the Taiya River is too low for our rig, so the city campground and the flats aren’t options for us. We’re still new to RVing, but love being able to come back to a fully-equipped home after a walk.
This is what the main part of the Pullen Creek RV Park looks like, with trees and larger sites, but no view.
On one of our walks I noticed that both of the custom parlour cars were hooked up for a run. I heard later that Princess cruise passengers can book a luxury train trip, I assume at a substantial premium over the regular fare. I got to ride in one of these beautiful cars last September – you can see the inside of the cars in the blog post from that trip.
We intended to go to restaurants for most dinners, and on Saturday night we went to the closest one, a new Mexican cafe called Pescaritos. It was called Harbor House for a couple of years, and Stowaway Cafe for many years before that. I thought that it was an excellent meal at a reasonable price but Cathy was less impressed, mostly due to the rather limited menu. The service was excellent, as was the view. We got an outside table, and having a very active hummingbird feeder beside our table was fun 🙂
It was quite chilly by the time we left Pescaritos, so sat in the motorhome and watched the world go by when we got back – including watching the ships leave in this photo. This is certainly one of the things that Molly enjoys most about RVing – there’s always lots to see.
I decided to take Bella on a much longer walk on Sunday – one that neither Cathy nor Monty would be likely to enjoy. I drove to the Pioneer Cemetery, and then we walked up an ATV trail that runs alongside the tracks. Near Mile 3 I noticed a road going off into the forest – something to check out later.
Near Mile 4, this tunnel that I’d never seen on any of my many train trips caught my attention. This sort of tunnel was typically used for dynamite storage during the construction days 115 years ago.
Just north of Mile 4, we met this train. While I enjoyed the encounter, it terrified poor Bella, and that was the end of our walk, as the ATV trail ended here and the tracks were the only place to walk.
Walking back towards town, it was clear that the road I had seen earlier was actually a section of abandoned rail line about a mile long, and it looked like a pleasant shaded walk. Not far down that trail, I noticed another tunnel, but this one far above the tracks, perhaps 100 feet or so. A mine? I really have no idea.
This really was a pleasant place to walk. I still almost always keep Bella on an extenda-leash, as she’s quite impulsive and I don’t trust completely that she won’t take off chasing something. In open areas she can run free, but not in a forest where she could quickly vanish. On the 20-foot lead she still has enough freedom to do lots of exploring, and there were plenty of good smells for her along this trail.
This time of year is wonderful for people like me who love waterfalls. This one is on Reid Creek just 100 yards down the ATV trail from the Pioneer Cemetery.
Monday was the only day that we had a planned activity – we had booked our annual Victoria Day train ride for 08:15. There was some sort of delay down at the docks, and the train didn’t arrive to pick us up until 08:40.
We were underway within a few minutes. The expansion of the White Pass yard where they store the passenger cars seems to just keep getting larger.
I have taken literally thousands of photos on past WP&YR trips, so sat inside with Cathy most of the time on this one. I can never have too many pictures of some spots such as Clifton, though 🙂
Bridal Veil Falls was certainly taking away a whole lot of melted snow!
This day was as perfect as any I’ve ever seen for riding the train. As many times as I’ve seen them, these mountains still thrill me.
Tunnel Mountain is “the” iconic photo spot on the entire line, though the shadow makes this a not very good shot.
We had a lengthy delay at the summit before starting back down to Skagway. One of the passengers had dropped his cell phone off the train a couple of miles south, and they actually sent the locomotive back down to retrieve it for him!
That night, we went to the Skagway Fish Company for dinner. Several years before the fire that wiped the restaurant out 2 years ago, the halibut portions had gotten so small that I quit going, and this was their opportunity to convince me to return. We expected to be able to eat outside, but instead were seated inside, which has little atmosphere compared to the old place or to the Skagway Brewing Company, which has been my Skagway go-to place for halibut since I quit “Fishco”. My halibut and chips, though, was very good, and Cathy’s stuffed halibut was even better. Add excellent service, and they almost made up for not seating us outside – we were told that the outside tables aren’t licensed for food service (really???).
Tuesday was the first 10,000+ passenger day of the season, with 4 large ships in. When I shot this at 05:48, the Grand Princess was just joining the Crown Princess, Celebrity Summit and Noordam.
Our plan was to head home about noon, so as well as several dogs walks, I went for a short photography walk. These women in National Park Service uniforms were doing some work on the roof of one of the many NPS buildings in town.
There’s more work being done around Locomotive 195 which sits behind the museum, but I don’t know to what end. Several old trucks have been set on a new line of track, and a lot of brush has been cut, though
Locomotive #195 was one of 11 Mikado style 2-8-2s ordered from Baldwin by the US Army when they took over the White Pass & Yukon Route during WWII – it was built in February 1943. Nicknamed “MacArthur”, these engines were significant contributors to the speedy construction of the Alaska Highway.
Broadway gets to be a very busy place with 4 ships in. You only need to walk a block off Broadway, though, to find quiet spots – as many merchants trying to avoid the high-rent district have discovered over the years.
We packed up and were headed north just before noon as planned. There was a long stretch of re-surfacing being done north of the Yukon Suspension Bridge, but the delay was minimal, and we were home just after 3:00.
The only problem with having a wonderful weekend by extending it to 5 days is that now I want 7-days ones! 🙂
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