Day 31 - July 14 Haines, Skaguay, Carcross (YK)

Day 31 - July 14 Haines, Skagway, Carcross

We went for another look for bears before we left Haines. No joy. Then we boarded the ferry for Skagway which was a pleasant 1 hour float up the inlet. Einstein was very excited about his first boat ride. He trembled with excitement as we boarded, but soon was disappointed because he was confined to the hold below deck. Meanwhile, we enjoyed ourselves in the open air at the front of the ferry for the majority of the journey. We saw another humpback whale blow, surface, and then retreat back into the water.

Skagway AK; cruise ships stop there 3-4 times each week.
We were told Princess Cruises has a financial interest
in the town and its various tours. 

The town of Skagway is cute, like a Disney reproduction. Two intersecting streets make up the main part of town. Lots and lots of shops where we could  spend money. But that was it. We really weren't particularly impressed with the town or the people, so we decided to skeedaddle on our way and head for Whitehorse YK. 

We didn't make it to Whitehorse this evening. There was so much scenery that begged for our attention and posed for photos that the journey was longer that we expected as we stopped to capture large and small mountain lakes and streams of various hues of blues and green. The mountains seemed higher, the colors even more vibrant than what we'd already seen over the last month. And, as the Canadian border guard told us, we'd pass five (5) different types of terrain on our way to Whitehorse. Incedible!!

Of the five types of terrain, we definitely recognized three: arctic tundra, boreal forests, and high desert/sand dunes.  And of course, in all of this, mountains, mountains, mountains.

Carcross YK - portion of main street

We decided to stop in Carcross YK for the night. A little speck of a place, which belongs to the Tagish Indians, and which is remaking itself as a tourist stop for the train from Skagway to White Mountain (a gold prospecting town) and the bus tours from the cruise lines that stop in Skagway. Population at Carcross is about 350, mostly Indians and weekenders from Skagway. We took a walking tour of the town, saw two dozen log cabins and homes from the early 1900's, and learned a little of the history in the process. A number of the current shop owners are European: French, Swiss, and German. Not sure how that came about.