On The Meandering Road: June 15, 2017 - Teslin, YT to Skagway, AK

It was a very nice morning with lots of puffy clouds that looked like cotton balls. The weather was very pleasant.

Moose was the first team to leave the campground at 9 am.. Our team, Sea Turtles,

did not leave until 9:40 am.

Nustlin Bridge as seen from the campground

We turned right to get on the Alaska Highway 1 and the gravel road was about 6 miles long. We had to slow down in order to reduce dust and gravel hitting.

We crossed Teslin River Bridge over Teslin River. The bridge is the third longest water span on the highway. Before the bridge was built all freight and supplies for Teslin,Yukon traveled the river from Whitehorse, Yukon.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, we pulled into Johnson's Crossing Lodge and RV Park at Historic Milepost 836. One of the original lodges on the Alaska Highway. Erwin had an apple turnover and some of our team members got cinnabuns. The buns were huge!

Teslin Bridge as seen from the back deck of the lodge

Cinnabun

Bill & Donna

Brian & Nancy

From left: Dee, Eileen & Richard

While traveling down the highway Richard alerted us about spotting a black bear on the side, but the beat scampered off into the forest when Richard slowed down.

We had to drive on a gravel road for 15 km before reaching Squanga Lake. We turned left to get on YT 8 (Tagish Road) from the Alaska Highway. We finally saw a fox on the side of the road, but it ran off into the thick forest when we got closer to it. 😔

We crossed the bridge over Tagish River, and the view of Marsh Lake and the mountains were gorgeous and breathtaking. The snow on the mountains made them look so attractive! Then we turned left to get on Klondike Highway (Highway 2).

We, the team, decided to stop at Carcross, YT for lunch break and sightseeing. Carcross is an unincorporated community in Yukon, and is the home for the Tagish First Nation people. The population, as of 2016 census, was around 300. The community has shops, dining, rail depot, small museum. We spent about an hour checking out places before getting back on the highway.

White Pass Rail from Skagway making a stop in Carcross

Bald Eagle

It seemed like there is construction going on every day when we are on the road. There was a road construction by Tutshi Lake and the mountains. We had to wait about 10 minutes before being led by pilot truck.

Again, our eyes were delighted to see the views of the snowcapped mountain range by the lake. We had pictures taken at the Alaska Welcome Sign at a turnout. We set the clock back one hour to Alaska Daylight Time!

Fraser

We arrived Alaska border at 3 pm, went through the customs. The border agent asked us two questions: "Are you on way to Skagway?" and "Did you purchase any fruits and vegetables in Canada?" After giving our answers we were then let go. It was a big relief that they did not tell us to go to the inspection lot because that would have delayed our arrival to Skagway, AK.

From left: Erwin, me, Ted, Dee, Eileen, Richard, Nancy, Brian, Donna & Bill
The Sea Turtles Team

Alaska Border - it was a tight squeeze for our Lil' Home

We finally made it to Skagway, AK at 3:05 pm. After crossing the bridge we continued on the way to Garden City RV Park. The campground staff was present tp direct us to the site. The site was level, had full hook-ups.

Historic Skagway saw thousands of fortune-seeking prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Realizing that there is a future in Skagway a group of British financiers began construction of the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway in 1898. The railway was completed in 1900.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring part of Skagway. We went to the boat harbor to check out cruise liners that were docked. One of them was Holland America Zaandam, the very same cruise that we went on 5 years ago.

Downtown Skagway was what we remembered when we visited it 5 years ago. Not much has changed, except for ownership perhaps, but the buildings all looked the same. The town was bustling with lots of cruise passengers. I read about Gold Rush cemetery, decided to go there because a lot of stampeders were buired there.

Downtown Skagway

Gold Rush Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Skagway and the easiest to visit This was the first cemetery for the City of Skagway and many of our famous Gold Rush characters are interred here including local kingpin Jefferson "Soapy" Smith and early tourism promoter Matin Itjen and his "world's largest gold nugget." A list of people interred at the Gold Rush Cemetery signboard. (Source: Wiki)

There is a short trail to view the scenic Lower Reid Falls, but it started to drizzle, so we did not continue to trek, turned around and went back to the campground.