Alaska Cruise Day 5

Today our port of call is Skagway, Alaska. The first known homesteader was Capt. William Moore who, in 1887, staked out a 160 acre claim at the mouth of the Skagway River and waited for the much anticipated gold rush. Gold was discovered on the Klondike River in 1896. When the first shipload of prospectors anchored off Moore's homestead in 1897, they swam ashore, seized Moore's land and had his cabin thrown into the mud flats. Within months, the population of Skagway exceeded 20,000 residents. During the gold rush years Skagway was know as "hell on earth" because of the living conditions and unsavory people living there. Today, Skagway's downtown is much like it was in the early 1900's with false-front buildings and boardwalks. It retains much of the 1898 gold rush atmosphere. It is also home of the infamous White Pass and Yukon Railroad.

After breakfast in the Windjammer we went ashore around 8:30 am to do some shopping and to watch the July 4th parade down Main St. The parade was not made up of big fancy floats, like they have for Mardi Gras, but pickup trucks decorated and a lot of people dressed in costume walking. There were a few bands and some kids groups along with several old cars with one having the "town madam" riding in it.

After the parade we came back to the ship to get ready for our tour - The White Pass and Yukon Railroad which would take us to Fraser, BC where we boarded a bus for the return trip with a stop at Liarsville.

The train ride is a NOT TO BE MISSED tour. The views are fabulous and the train cars are very old so it makes you feel like you've stepped back in time. The train follows closely part of the trail that was used by the prospectors. We also passed by Bridal Veil Falls, Dead Horse Gulch (where over 3000 horses/mules lost their lives during the gold rush), Inspiration Point, the tunnels, the steel bridge which was build in 1901 and was the worlds tallest cantilever bridge (used until 1969) and a wooden trestle bridge, just to name a few. We also saw rapids, lakes, other waterfalls and lots of snow. The train took us just over 27 miles and climbed 2,865 feet from sea level. What a ride, one of the best train rides we've had.

Our stop in Liarsville, on the way back to Skagway, included some hot cider and cookies, a skit put on by some resident actors and panning for gold. Of course we found so much gold we needed an armored truck to bring it back to the ship - NOT! Just a few little flakes, but at least we did find some.

Liarsville was named during the gold rush days. As the story goes, the press, always looking for a good story, came west during the gold rush and when the reporters found that they would have to travel 500 miles and endure many hardships to reach the miners camps, they set up camp just outside Skagway. From there they would interview the miners that came back from the field and make up stories for their editors, making them sensational (sounds like this hasn't changed - LOL), thus came the name Liarsville.

Upon returning to the ship, we were both tired and hungry. We had dinner in the Windjammer then came back to the cabin where we retired early, around 9 pm. Tomorrow morning is Juneau and we have to be dockside for our tour at 7 am!