Skagway - Beauty and the Beast.

June 25, 2017

At the head of the Chilcoot Inlet, nestled in a narrow valley surrounded by snow and glacier capped mountains that take your breath away lies the small town of Skagway, Alaska. On a sunny day one would be hard pressed to find a more spectacular location in Southeast Alaska. Steeped in Klondike Gold Rush history this small town boast some of the finest period architecture from the late 1800, early 1900. Minus the paved roads this town offers a glimpse into the glory years of the Klondike Gold Rush. Many of the stores are staffed by workers in period clothing which adds to the charm of the town. Friendlier people you could not find. This is the "Beauty", now the "Beast"......

Two words: "Cruise Ships". A single modern cruise ship holds 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew. Most of the ships arriving in Skagway arrive at near capacity. Many days Skagway hosts 4 ships, some days 2. Quick! Do the math. 3,000 X 4 = 12,000 passengers. Population of Skagway: 920 at best. Of course in the summer this likely triples with seasonal workers. The town has on 5 block street. Tourists arriving on the ships not only ply the single street in Skagway looking for whatever tourists in Skagway look for, they take advantage of sightseeing packages which includes glacier viewing by helicopter, bus trips to Carcross or Whitehorse, hiking tours on the Chilcoot Trail (not the whole trail), sightseeing to many of the Gold Rush attractions (Dyea Townsite, Slide Cemetery, etc.), riding rented bicycles everywhere there is a road or trail, whale and sea life watching, fishing, riding the Whitepass Yukon Railroad from Skagway to Fraser, B.C. or Carcross, Yukon, etc., etc..... The list is limited only by your imagination. Skagway seems to run like a finely tuned machine. Folks there have this tourist thing down to a science. Tourists are moved around efficiently. All good so far.

Dana and I did not arrive on a Cruise Ship and had no interest in buying tourism services. We organize our own schedules and activities. Everywhere we went there were cruise ship passengers, except maybe for the hike we made up AB Mountain. Now it's not that I want exclusive use of the country but holy crap, every time you turned around there was a group lead by a loud guide. On the highway out of Skagway and all the way to Whitehorse large and small buses zipped by in both directions carrying clients to their destinations. Here is another word for you: "Overwhelming". This is not an environmentally sustainable.

I could go on and on but I will not. I am still trying to come to terms with why I feel the way I do. I will leave that for another post. Enjoy the photos of Skagway and area.