Skagway

As we came up the Lynn Canal to Skagway, the landscape has changed here - the mountains seem even higher, the vistas starker and glaciers hanging down the mountains. We left the ship and boarded the White Pass and Yukon Railroad right on the dock. We sat in Parlour cars with a potbellied stove for warmth as we started off on the Scenic Railway of the World. We climbed 3000 ft. in 20 miles over the White Pass through 3.9% grades, cliff hanging turns, wooden trestles, steel bridge/trestles and 2 tunnels coated in ice. It is truly a breathtaking panorama of moutains, glaciers, deep gorges like Deadhorse Gulch, waterfalls and historic sites of the Klondike Gold Rush up the Chilkoot Trail. Remember that was in 1898, before this rail-line. At the Summit, we entered B.C. and saw the NWMP (Northwest Mounted Police) early headquarters, the size of your bathroom. They were the ones that demanded that prospecters bring a years supply of goods to survive. That would mean carrying 2000 lbs up to the Summit, then down the other side to get to the gold fields. This uniquie trip is on a narrow gauge rail, the only way they could fit the terrain, which is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
At times the track was squished between rock and the snow drifts were 8' tall. The track is kept clear with a unique rotary snowblower mounted to the front of the engine. We had blowing snow up on top which was fun but cold on the platform for taking pictures. This was an inspiring trip.