Day 65 (8-4-12 Whitehorse, YT to Skagway, AK)

 We left Whitehorse and drove the Alaska Highway to the South Klondike Highway toward Skagway.  We drove 55 miles to Carcross and set up camp at the Carcross Tagish First Nation’s Campground.

The ride to Carcross was okay until we got to Emerald Lake.  There is nothing in the travel brochures that we read that told us of this natural beauty.  The multi colors of the lake and the reflections of the clouds in the water took our breath away. Emerald Lake is absolutely gorgeous. 

A little further down the road we stopped at the Carcross Desert.  It is the world’s smallest desert.  It reminded us of The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, (only a lot smaller). 

Ferny Kat had to get out immediately when we parked at the campground.  She has been sleeping for the last couple of days at Whitehorse and was ready for an adventure. We took her out and she rolled in the dirt, and chased birds, squirrels, and bugs as far as her lead would take her.  She really enjoyed herself.  She loves this campground.  It is primitive and secluded.  She has a keen eye for the lay of the land and the best campground.  If Ferny Kat is happy, all of us are happy.   

After parking the camper at the Carcross First Nations Campground, and eating lunch, we headed 65 miles to Skagway, AK.

We had been debating for a while if we wanted to go to Skagway.  This was one of those if we have time, we will go, but this is not on our bucket list.  We were not expecting anything spectacular.  The trip to Skagway pleasantly exceeded our expectations. The drive was fantastic.

The drive from Carcross, YT to Skagway, AK is the most unusual scenery that we have seen this trip.  There are a lot of mountains, a lot of lakes, and as Lauren said, “it looked like we were on the moon”.  We later realized that the scenery is referred to as moonscape.  This is the best word to describe it.

When we got to the edge of the city limits of Skagway, we took the Dyea Road for 8 miles.  We viewed fantastic overlooks of the town of Skagway, the Skagway River, and the lay of the land.  We stopped at the flats and watched the Pink Salmon running.  We could see the salmon in the clear, shallow, water.  Three people were fishing in this area and were pulling pink salmon in, one after the other.  Lauren thought about going fishing, and then remembered, we don’t have any freezer space. 

We returned to the main road and went into Skagway.  Skagway is a neat little town.  We shopped for a while and headed back to camp. We stopped on our way out and talked to our acquaintances from Texas that we met on the glacier cruise. We must be traveling in the same circle.

We are glad that we didn’t miss out on Skagway.  This is one of those days of the retirement party that we got more than we expected.

Pics  https://goo.gl/photos/SBJYQUBd13LG5pfBA