The Klondike Highway to Skagway.
Emerald Lake
Once we reached the summit it was VERY foggy!
I like the fireweed in the foreground!
Interesting body of water. Actually it is two but they are only separated by a small spit of land about 5 ft. wide.
Hike up to Lower Dewey Lake
Lower Dewey Lake
Fall is approaching...
Spruce Tip Blone AlePerfect ending to a wonderful time in Skagway!
The weather today was cloudy but at least it was not raining for our drive to Skagway on the Klondike Highway. Our first stop was at Emerald Lake. It is aptly named because of the color of the water. We stayed in the turn out for quite a while hoping the sun would break through the clouds and light up the water. But unfortunately it never did. We were not the only ones to stop by there. In the 40 minutes we sat there 5 or 6 tour buses stopped. We watched as everyone jumped out to take a picture and as soon as the cold wind hit them they scurried back to the warmth of the bus. As we continued on we saw an area in or near Carcross that was sandy just like the desert. I never thought of there being places here in the Yukon where you could see sand dunes. The drive along the Klondike was pretty but I missed seeing the snow capped mountains and the glaciers. That could be partly due to it now being August. Even though it has not felt warm to us it is to warm to keep snow frozen. It was still very pretty. The jagged mountains in some places reminded me of the Grand Tetons near Yellowstone. We stopped for lunch at what we thought was a historic site of an old log cabin. While we ate lunch in the warmth of our “home” we watched the low clouds move over the mountains like smoke billowing out of a chimney. When we finished and walked over to what we thought was the boardwalk to the cabin we headed up. At the top of the boardwalk we got to the building and realized it was a bathroom. We laughed so hard when we realized there wasn’t a log cabin just information boards telling about the time of the gold rush and why this area was called “Log Cabin”. It is still pretty funny! I wonder what it is about laughing hard that makes you just feel so good! We needed that laugh because about 45 minutes later we were in the kind of fog that my parents call pea soup! Chip had to drive about 10 miles per hour in the worst part. We could not see 10 feet in front of us. At one point Chip pulled over to allow a car and semi to go past us since we were moving so slow. Plus he thought that way he could follow someone who knew the road. Well, the 2 vehicles passed us and before we could pull back out on the road (and it didn’t take long), we could not see them any longer. They could not have gone more than 75 ft and they were gone! Luckily, when we crested the summit the clouds stayed high and we eventually dropped down out of them. It only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes but felt like it was a lot longer. The rest of the drive was a piece of cake after that! We spent 6 days in Skagway and thought it was going to be too long but it turned out, as long as we avoided the downtown area during the day it was a pretty nice place. There were no less than 2 cruise ships in port every day. Some days there were 4. That is a lot of people on the streets. The weather while we were here was awesome. We had 3 days of gorgeous weather. Chip actually wore shorts one day. That is the first time in months. We even heard a few locals saying “this is the first time all year that I have worn shorts”. It was NICE! We took advantage of the weather and went for a hike. The hike took us up to Lower Dewey Lake and for the first 1/4 mile or so it was straight up. I could feel my heart pounding when we got to the top. As we walked the trail around the lake we came up to 3 young adults, 2 guys, a girl and a dog. As we approached of course we exchanged Hi’s and one kid named Ezra told us “get your camera ready I am going to jump”. At the point where we were on the trail it was close to 50 ft. above the water. I got my camera ready and he jumped! I got an e-mail address to send copies of the pictures. The next time we saw them there were 6 or 8 of them and they were all spread out on a flat grassy spot next to the water soaking up all the sun they could. The hike was listed as a ¾ mile hike round trip so we figured we would be gone 45 minutes. 3 hours later we were back at the Motorhome with a huge hunger! The ¾ mile measurement was just to the lake but we hiked all the way around it so it worked out to be over 3 ½ miles. But it was worth every minute! And made going to the brewery sooooo sweet! There’s nothing like an ice cold beer on a HOT day. I never thought I would say that about Alaska!
The weather today was cloudy but at least it was not raining for our drive to Skagway on the Klondike Highway. Our first stop was at Emerald Lake. It is aptly named because of the color of the water. We stayed in the turn out for quite a while hoping the sun would break through the clouds and light up the water. But unfortunately it never did. We were not the only ones to stop by there. In the 40 minutes we sat there 5 or 6 tour buses stopped. We watched as everyone jumped out to take a picture and as soon as the cold wind hit them they scurried back to the warmth of the bus. As we continued on we saw an area in or near Carcross that was sandy just like the desert. I never thought of there being places here in the Yukon where you could see sand dunes. The drive along the Klondike was pretty but I missed seeing the snow capped mountains and the glaciers. That could be partly due to it now being August. Even though it has not felt warm to us it is to warm to keep snow frozen. It was still very pretty. The jagged mountains in some places reminded me of the Grand Tetons near Yellowstone. We stopped for lunch at what we thought was a historic site of an old log cabin. While we ate lunch in the warmth of our “home” we watched the low clouds move over the mountains like smoke billowing out of a chimney. When we finished and walked over to what we thought was the boardwalk to the cabin we headed up. At the top of the boardwalk we got to the building and realized it was a bathroom. We laughed so hard when we realized there wasn’t a log cabin just information boards telling about the time of the gold rush and why this area was called “Log Cabin”. It is still pretty funny! I wonder what it is about laughing hard that makes you just feel so good! We needed that laugh because about 45 minutes later we were in the kind of fog that my parents call pea soup! Chip had to drive about 10 miles per hour in the worst part. We could not see 10 feet in front of us. At one point Chip pulled over to allow a car and semi to go past us since we were moving so slow. Plus he thought that way he could follow someone who knew the road. Well, the 2 vehicles passed us and before we could pull back out on the road (and it didn’t take long), we could not see them any longer. They could not have gone more than 75 ft and they were gone! Luckily, when we crested the summit the clouds stayed high and we eventually dropped down out of them. It only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes but felt like it was a lot longer. The rest of the drive was a piece of cake after that! We spent 6 days in Skagway and thought it was going to be too long but it turned out, as long as we avoided the downtown area during the day it was a pretty nice place. There were no less than 2 cruise ships in port every day. Some days there were 4. That is a lot of people on the streets. The weather while we were here was awesome. We had 3 days of gorgeous weather. Chip actually wore shorts one day. That is the first time in months. We even heard a few locals saying “this is the first time all year that I have worn shorts”. It was NICE! We took advantage of the weather and went for a hike. The hike took us up to Lower Dewey Lake and for the first 1/4 mile or so it was straight up. I could feel my heart pounding when we got to the top. As we walked the trail around the lake we came up to 3 young adults, 2 guys, a girl and a dog. As we approached of course we exchanged Hi’s and one kid named Ezra told us “get your camera ready I am going to jump”. At the point where we were on the trail it was close to 50 ft. above the water. I got my camera ready and he jumped! I got an e-mail address to send copies of the pictures. The next time we saw them there were 6 or 8 of them and they were all spread out on a flat grassy spot next to the water soaking up all the sun they could. The hike was listed as a ¾ mile hike round trip so we figured we would be gone 45 minutes. 3 hours later we were back at the Motorhome with a huge hunger! The ¾ mile measurement was just to the lake but we hiked all the way around it so it worked out to be over 3 ½ miles. But it was worth every minute! And made going to the brewery sooooo sweet! There’s nothing like an ice cold beer on a HOT day. I never thought I would say that about Alaska!
PS: We decided not to take the all day trip to Juneau. It just seemed like a lot of money on a maybe that we would see whales and we have been to Juneau before. So that will be something to do next time! Plus we may see whales on the ferry to Wrangell.
No comments:
Post a Comment