Skagway
Cruise passengers are so important to Skagway's economy, the gold rush railroad excursion train originates at the dock. Mostly college kids from all parts of the country come each year to fill seasonal jobs. With no place else for them to live, a big tent city springs up on the outskirts of town.
White Pass Summit Excursion is a three hour, 40 mile round trip tour from Skagway to the summit of the White Pass -a 2,865 foot rise in elevation - aboard the White Pass & Yukon Railway. Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering landmark.
As we chugged along through town, from the window of our parlor car we saw some folks we knew.
On To Alaska With Buchanan - The story goes a teacher named Buchanan brought a group of students up here in the 1930s. They liked it so much, they painted a lasting testimonial on the rock face. The old pancake house structure is now a State Parol post.
If not terrified at being suspended on a narrow ledge between avalanche-prone rocks above and bottomless gorges below,
and depending upon your age, it was either a $50 nap or $100 nap.
The train reverses at the Canadian border before heading back.
In harbor, our Diamond Princess appears headed down main street.
Uh, excuse me, but you can't be a real Alaskan cowboy wearing THAT on your head.