Another quick trip to Skagway, Alaska
My timing was a bit off on my last drive down to Skagway. Three important things that I need to get the RV ready for the big season-opener trip to Vancouver Island weren’t in at the post office yet, so I went back yesterday to get them.
The weather forecast calls for below-normal temperatures to stay until at least the 3rd of May. This sort of day (this was Monday) makes it hard to even get my head into the trip, much less work on the rig.
It certainly still likes like winter at Emerald Lake. The ice doesn’t typically melt off until mid-late May, though, so this was the view that I expected.
I stopped at the Bove Island Viewpoint, and noticed that there are 2 new interpretive signs since the last time I paid attention.
Looking south at Km 86.4, where the concrete foundations of the 1970s Venus mine mill still have people wondering what they are.
I stopped for a couple of minutes at Dail Peak and did a scan for Dall sheep or mountain goats, but didn’t see any.
Heading up the ridge that separates Windy Arm from Tutshi Lake, at Km 75.5. It looks like we need some sort of line-straightener on the trucks that paint them.
Along Tutshi Lake, at Km 70. I only saw one other vehicle on the 100 kilometers of road between Carcross and Skagway.
This was shot right at the Km 42 milepost.
A road sweeper just north of the William Moore Bridge. The Department of Highways must think that they’re not going to need to sand the road again. I love optimism 🙂
After picking up my packages at the post office, I did my usual loop around town. This gorgeous Cessna Caravan stopped me. It’s being operated by Alaska Seaplanes – a fully-IFR Cessna 208A Caravan on amphibious floats, with a 900 h.p. Texas Turbines “Supervan” conversion. Wow, would I like to go for a ride in that. There must be something I need to do in Juneau.
Also sitting at the airport was this Wings of Alaska delivery van. The company is now history.
Driving by the huge new Public Safety Facility on the way into town reminded me that I need to get photos of the now-abandoned police station and fire hall.
The Public Safety Facility is very impressive. This is the sort of thing made possible by inviting cruise ships to visit.
Another building that I hadn’t gotten a photo of is this large log home. Back in the early ’90s, Atlas Tours rented it for staff, and I spent a fair bit of time, including 2 or 3 nights, there.
There were some really interesting frozen waterfalls through the White Pass, and I stopped for a while to get some photos of this one at Mile 10.
The “Welcome to Alaska” sign has been uncovered in the past few days – a sure sign of Spring 🙂
Getting back into Canada took a few minutes as I had GST to pay on the stuff I picked up. Then I walked across to the White Pass railway and got a few shots of the progress clearing the large rail yard and parking lot.
The bridge decking is being replaced on the Nares River Bridge at Carcross. It’s a very big job that I expect will take a couple of weeks. That should get it finished just before the first cruise ship traffic arrives.
There, that will look better! The other things I picked up were an outside-temperature gauge, and a dashcam.
As well as getting the RV ready, I have lots more to do before the planned Tuesday departure. I should have been out on my bike for a couple of weeks now, but I can’t get it fired up. I moved it into the barn for the winter, and that proved to be a really bad idea that I won’t repeat. It’s a very long push across snow and ice from the barn to the garage, and by the time I got it this far (about half-way), I felt like I was at least 66 years old! 🙂 It’s in the garage now, though.
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