On Through The Yukon And Back To Alaska

After Skagway we drove the 50 or so miles back to the Alaska Highway and continued on up through the Yukon, stopping for a night in Whitehorse. And then another night at Beaver Creek. And then back into Alaska, and another night on the Matanuska River, 20 miles or so short of Palmer, site of the Alaska State Fair, already underway.

Nice scenery along the way

Huge expedition rig seen in Whitehorse; we used to think these rigs
were cool...

Most photographed church in the Yukon; see below; very similar to 
one we saw in the Orkneys...same vintage

Standard Pacific Rim signage

No end to the ugly Black Spruce

As we entered Alaska, some of the really big coastal mountains emerged
through the clouds

Tongue of the Matanuska Glacier, 2025

Same, in 2002

We went out walking on it in 2002

Compare the retreat with the 2025 shot

Lives in a minivan down by the (Matanuska) river

Seen at a parking lot in Palmer, Alaska...near the end of a trek from 

Argentina...in a '77 truck

S

Skagway

Skagway is at the top of an inlet (fiord?) (fjord?!) and is notable historically for being a major debarcation point for the 1897 Yukon Gold Rush. It is in the US, on that curious narrow strip of land that separates Canada from the sea all the way to Juneau and beyond. We shall see more of this strip later on. We had not stopped at Skagway in 2002, but knew of it from cruiser lore, and decided to visit it to break up the Alaskan Highway monotony. Skagway would be a ghost town but for the US National Park Service presence there and the many Alaska cruise ships that, for a few hours, put in there. The town shuts down immediately after the last ship departs, about 5PM. Seriously. Really. If  you want a quart of milk you'd better find the grocery store before the ships hoist the Blue Peter. We stayed in the local campground. 

The road to Skagway became fairly scenic

Tourist train; a must if you're a cruiser: only way to see the beautiful upper 
canyon

Ghost signs on a canyon wall

"What do you mean, there are no doggie biscuits?!"

In the excellent Park Service visitor center

The Canadian government required all the gold-rushers
to carry a year's worth of provisions and equipment...1,000
pounds or more; I guess a carry-on and a day pack would
not have cut it

Two of the four cruise ships in town the afternoon we arrived

Industrial-sized snow blower; also makes hamburger

Popular saloon

Now on a hike, up the canyon a bit, beyond the giant faux nugget

To see the waterfall

And the gold rush era cemetery

Sort of a Haunted House feature

We'd see more of the Klondike as we continued on through the Yukon
and back into upper Alaska

Into The Yukon

We drove on, following the Alaska Highway, just as we had in 2002...remembering little because, well, for the first thousand miles or so, there is little memorable...

Mostly it looked like this

Every now and then, there would be another vehicle or an animal warning sign

Sometimes it was hilly

Always there were the intensely, relentlessly ugly and useless black spruces

Occasional mountains

Canyons

In this amazing photo, Vicki captures the emptiness, both fore and aft

But we are not alone...there were bears

And woodland bison

A small herd

At last we are at Watson Lake ("elementary!")

And its world-renowned Sign Forest; begun by a a homesick American
soldier in 1942; definitely something memorable

People vandalize and steal from their home towns to bring
signs here on their Yukon/Alaska pilgrimages

Acres and acres of hometown signs

After spending the night among the signs, we drove on  into
the Yukon, the scenery getting far more dramatic...