In the footsteps of the gold-seekers

When gold was discovered in the Klondike (the name given to the whole area in Alaska AND the Yukon Territory of Canada where gold was unearthed in great quantities starting in 1896), thousands of people from around the world anxiously made their way to port cities like Skagway and Dyea (in Alaska) to start their climb northwards. That is, they had to carry 2,000 pounds (about 750 kilos) of equipment and supplies (mandated by the Canadian Mounted Police, who had put themselves in place to manage the mad-house and prevent death) over the mountains and then build a boat that would take them the rest of the way to Dawson City, the city that served as the supply base and stopping off point for prospectors.

These days, you can drive or take the scenic White Pass Railroad (which was completed 2 years after the big gold rush started) up to Dawson with your supplies and equipment. It’s a long drive, which we did in about 12 hours, but when you compare it to what those hearty souls did in 1898; we were in the lap of luxury.

Dawson is a fantastic place – dirt roads, restored gold-rush era buildings (lots of saloons!) and lovely setting along the mighty Yukon River and, on the day we were there, warm sun and blue skies. In fact, the sky was so clear, that Michiel got to experience his first true midnight sun. Driving into town at 8:00 pm, the sun was still so high in the sky that it felt more like 3:00 pm in the afternoon and at 11:30 pm, there was still plenty of ambient light. Of course, we haven’t even had the longest day of the year, yet.

We spent the evening enjoying excellent hospitality, good food and drink (Yukon Jack, a whiskey-based liqueur) and chatting with the new “Captain” in charge of the Sour Toe Cocktail. (This is a tale that Sheri has told before, so rather than repeat it here, we’ll refer you to the following website: http://www.donreddick.com/tr_27.html )

Skagway

Alaska is one of the few places in the world where in order to reach some of its towns by road, you have to enter through another country. We had already entered Hyder, Alaska by way of Stewart, BC and, in fact, once you get to Hyder, you can't get anywhere else in Alaska by road - it's a dead end. Given this strange circumstance, it seems quite ridiculous to have to go through immigration check points (American and Canadian).

To get to Skagway, you head south from the Alaska Highway, passing through the Yukon and BC and facing very strict Homeland Security questioning at the US/Canadian border. From Skagway, the only way to continue is by ferry boat, which can take you and your vehicle to other Alaskan towns, to towns in British Columbia or all the way to Washington State.

We left Whitehorse in miserable gray and cold weather and as we approached the high pass of the coastal range mountains, the skies cleared and we dropped down to sea level at Skagway under a gorgeous blue sky.

Skagway has been completely restored as a National Historic District to faithfully re-create the look and feel of a gold rush town (even the crowds of people coming off the ever-present cruise ships faithfully re-create the throngs of gold-seekers waiting to make their way over the pass and northwards.) Even the narrow-gauge train (The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway) that was built to ease the burden of getting to the gold in 1900 is still operating and full of tourists .

After looking around a bit, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and the fantastic scenery to take a hike up to an alpine lake. The hike was brutal - steep and unrelenting and we weren't able to achieve our final destination at the lake, but we did get incredible views of the surrounding mountains and had a good time trekking in the snow.