Day 6

Another early day. At approximately 0700hrs. We are docked in sausage, Alaska. 59 Deg 27.07' N 135Deg 19.40'W We were off the ship at around 0730 to met up for our trip into the Yukon. The docks for the cruise ships had a small road that led right into the center of town. If you walked on the road you would be in sausage in about 5 minutes. The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway, a narrow gauge railroad has tracks leading up to the docks as well. The railroad true to its name travels through the White Pass and into the Yukon. It is not used for mining anymore and the passengers are tourists. The other half of our party took the tour on the railroad, half rail, half motorcoach.
I, however, boarded a small bus and arrived with a group of about 20 people. Our event for the day was to board six Jeep Wrangler hardtops and head out on the Yukon highway for a tour. Every vehicle had a two way radio, bottles of water, and a pair of binoculars on board. Our guide, Stephanie, was in the lead vehicle while our group brought up the rear. Stephanie called us the "tail gunners." We set out for the 160Mile round trip and ended up on the Yukon Highway. The scenery was again amazing and on a scale that photographs have a hard time capturing. There were mountains and lakes and spectacular views at every mile. Stephanie would narrate and explain the areas we were traveling through as we went along. Eventually we crossed over the U.S./Canadian border and entered the Yukon Territory. There we found areas such as Dead Horse Gulch. It got its name because miners that were traveling through the area had to bring literally a ton of supplies to survive the winters in the wilderness. Many of the horses used to carry supplies died because they were being overworked. At least 3000 horses perished in the area, providing it with a name. And since the elements were harsh other names, such as Tormented Valley, are used. Our trip into the Canadian Yukon brought us to Carcross, a small town of about 500 people. In addition to being very small the town also had a RCMP station there. We stopped in the town and Stephanie laid out some refreshments, cheese, crackers, Reindeer sausage, and sliced granny smith apples. After the stop for food, photo ops and exploring, it was back into the Jeeps for the next phase of the trip, off-roading. I'm not a big fan of the Jeep Wrangler, for personal reasons that I won't go into, but on an unpaved road in four wheel drive they get the job done. Our half hour or so of off roading over a rocky trail really beat the jeeps up. The company doesn't get more than two years use out of a jeep before it's done for. When we got to the top of the trail we noticed that the path appeared to keep going. We were told that just a short distance down the path was nothing. It had been wiped out by an avalanche. Both on the way up the trail and on the way down we twice had to cross over areas where the trail was washed out. Once at the bottom of the trail we got back onto paved roads for the trip back into the U.S. We got back to the start of the tour and were in Skagway by about 1400Hrs. Once back in the city we took a short walk. Judging by my limited contact with the people of Skagway I believed that they were of two minds. They knew that the tourists who come off of the cruise ships, there we three docked today, are vital to their economy, but I think they would just like to be left alone. Every time these ships dock their tiny town is invaded by as much as 6000 people. Skagway has attempted to keep itself small by not allowing any buildings larger than 3 stories. But yet again you find the t-shirt and gift shops in this small town. You know that the locals aren't buying the t-shirts. Both our parties finished up their tours at approximately 1430hrs. From then on if was back to the ship to spend the rest of the day until we left port at 2100hrs. It was a long day so we turned in early and slept in late.