We visited Skagway Alaska three years ago on a Princess Alaskan Cruise from Seattle. When the cruise ship docked Jeff saw RV’s parked at the end of the docks and said “We will be back” – well, we are! The view is from standing in front of the motorhome on the afternoon we arrived and we are two blocks from downtown Skagway and across the street from the loading point for the White Pass and Yukon RR tours. 
Shortly after leaving MukLuk Annie’s in Teslin we left the Alaska Highway by taking the Carcross cutoff to the Yukon Highway over the White Pass of the Coastal Mountain Range down into Skagway. It was a rainy morning in the mountains but a hauntingly beautiful drive with clouds hanging over the many lakes along the route. 
Carcross YT (Originally Cariboo Crossing) was the loading point for all the miners of ’98 who climbed the White Pass Trail to board boats or rafts to float down the Yukon River into the gold fields in Whitehorse and Dawson City. It is the terminus today of the White Pass & Yukon RR that carries tourists up over the pass from Skagway. 
Leaving Carcross on the Yukon Highway we soon crossed the smallest desert in North America where ice was still on the lakes and started down the13 mile steep downgrade into Skagway.
On the way down the pass we caught up with one of the YPYR trains on its way back to Skagway. Three years ago we sat in the train watching RV’s negotiating their way down the pass and this time played the reverse role! US Customs is eight miles inside the border down from the upper pass because of the winter weather up on the White Pass they would encounter passing to and from work. 
We pulled into the Pullen Creek RV Park around 1:00PM and Jeff spent the afternoon getting the mud off of the CRV and m/h while Sue visited the Alaskan Garden Nursury here in town. The mixture of calcium used to keep the dust down on unpaved highways in Canada along with the local fine soil creates a clay like substance that coats vehicles with a hard coating that is very hard to remove. 
Skagway (originally Skaguay) became the first incorporated city in Alaska as the seaport for the rush of gold seekers headed to the Yukon during the Gold Rush of 1898. Miners would leave Skagway or sister community Dyea by climbing the White or Chilkoot Passes into the Yukon. Within a year the White Pass & Yukon RR was completed over the pass to meet the demand of the miners. With the end of the gold rush the city remained the main access into the Yukon from the sea via the RR and Skagway survived while Dyea became a ghost town. During the construction of the Alaskan Highway the US Army leased the WPYR and made Skagway its main supply channel for the construction equipment and supplies for the northern part of the highway. After the war the RR was shut down as trucks replaced the narrow gauge RR hauling ore and supplies to and from the Yukon Territory. Skagway saw many depressed years until it became a cruise line stop for tourism in the late 1970’s. Today the 900 population community swells to over 10,000 for the day as up to four cruise ships dock early in the morning and leave in late afternoon or early evening. After the ships pull out Skagway displays its charm without the crowds of people. Locals and non-cruise tourists get to enjoy the evening hours and uncrowded restaurants. 
Tomorrow we take the ferry down the Lynn Canal to Haines.
