Alaska Day 5

Skagway is the little town that has it all. Fishing, trains, helicopters, glaciers, hiking, cycling, shopping...you name it it is there. I had picked the train up the mountain, cycling down the mountain combo. Two of my cyclists were a touch concerned about the incline of the hills, the brakes on the bikes and the precipices next to the road.

The train ride is very interesting since it follows the White Pass into the Yukon territory. The development of Skagway revolves around gold prospecting with such notables as Mr. Nordstrom (as in the retail giant). The area is also called the Klondike. The Travel Channel has an episode about the area which is excellent...but I digress...


As the train goes up the mountain we see the precipices right next to the train. Some of my fellow travelers promptly moved seats to the other side of the train car. As we cross the border into Canada and reach an altitude of about 3400 ft, we have reached our destination.



















I had to put this picture in so that you could see the wooden bridge at about 2500 ft.


We are transported by van to our starting location. Once we get out of the van we clearly see that we can't see a bloody thing. The fog/clouds/mist was so dense that you felt wet immediately. Instructions are given and we test our mountain bikes. Now or never...down we go. It is a 15 mile ride from 3400 ft. In the process, we go through US Customs (on the bikes) and pass a handful of incredible waterfalls. Yes I know we look like we have ostrich eggs on our heads. Since it was about 48 at the top of the mountain and raining we had ski hats, ear muffs...etc.


Once we got into town we had to eat something and do a little shopping before heading back to the ship.