ROAD TO SKAGWAY, AK.  What could have been one of the most beautiful drives of the trip was again spoiled by smoke and dust haze in the air.  Anything over 100 feet away was not worth photographing.  It was plain, however, that in good light, this would have been a wonderful time to get landscape photos.

There were lakes just before Carcross Desert in Yukon Territory that could not be successfully photographed due to poor lighting.  Carcross Desert is another desert like the one in Oregon that is produced by strong winds that drive sand from the west into a conifer forest.

Betty Poses Beside Carcross Desert Sign

Carcross Desert

 Moving into Alaska the road borders waterways and mountains that would make outstanding photos in good light.  Betty got this one from her seat that is pretty nice.

Betty Took This Shot Along the Road to Skagway

Pitchfork Falls Along Highway

Skagway is a tourist town now.  There is a large harbor that can dock as many as five huge cruise ships at once.  When the ships release their passengers, the town is mobbed with a herd of humanity. 

Skagway was first famous for dropping off fools from around the world who wanted to go to the gold fields in the Yukon to get rich quick.  The Canadian Mounties required them to bring a year's supply of food and equipment, so most had to take several trips hauling freight many miles up to Dawson City, then returning for the next load, mostly on foot.  That pathway was littered with the carcasses of dead animals and humans, along with discarded supplies that could no longer be carried.

The town of Skagway has its own Gold Rush Cemetery outside town.  Below is an image of the sign out front of it.

Skagway Gold Rush Cemetery

A commemorative stamp of this gold rush was created by the U. S. Post Office, and a large exhibit of it is displayed in the Skagway Post Office (see below).

Commemorative Klondike Gold Rush Stamp

Skagway was the first taste of Alaska we had, but had absolutely no phone or internet connectivity. They would sell you some WIFI downtown for a high price, as if it were gold, which so much of Alaska historically has been all about. Gold rush this and Klondike that. We visited the only grocery store in Skagway, and it had no produce to sell. They complained that the barge did not have anything when it arrived that week. Little else to sell us. A couple days later we walked in to get something else and they had bananas and some sorry looking strawberries that another barge had brought in. But there were very many crowded stores downtown, all 6 or 7 blocks of it, all selling things to tourists. The sounds of horns from cruise ships in the harbor and White Pass railway trains taking tourists on the gold rush train route can be heard all the time. A town for tourists. Would not want to live there.

State Street in Skagway

Skagway, Tourist Town

Outside of town many bald eagles can be seen.

Bald Eagle in Flight

Bald Eagle on Perch

Bald Eagles Eating Along River Bank