Alaska 2026: Skagway

 

On Wednesday morning June 24th, 2026 we sailed into our northern most destination, Skagway, Alaska. This town is best known for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. On previous visits to Skagway we found ourselves avoiding the train rides because it always seemed like a full day event. After further study (and listening to the naturalist presentation on our cruise ship)  I found that there is absolutely a shorter version of the long train rides that turn around is White Pass, about 20 miles up into the mountains from Skagway. 

The train cars looked historic on the outside but were very nice inside with each car having its' own heating stove and restroom. I would first like to say that anyone who has the opportunity to visit Skagway should take this 3 hour tour. It's 90 minutes to White Pass where the train turns around and now your view is completely different heading back down the mountain, almost 3,000 feet below. 

Any pictures you see of this train ride (which is well documented with YouTube videos) do not do the scenery justice. You simply have to see this for yourself. There are trueley moments when you just cannot believe what you are looking at. 

I will add that after too many shore excursions to remember, this was absolutely one of the best experiences of my life. It was absolutely the highlight of the entire week. One of the coolest views is that of another train on your same track but across a valley and one thousand feet higher than you are at the time.  

When you get to the top at White Pass, you will cross the Canadian Border into British Columbia. No need for your passport here, because you are never leaving the train. Well, there doesn't seem to be anyone here to check your passport anyway. When you look close and see NWMP, it stands for the Northwest Mounted Police. The actual border crossing station is about 12 miles down the mountain toward Skagway. 

We learned on the train that while thousands of people came to Skagway for the Gold Rush, it was very short lived as travel conditions were treacherous. Apparently, the only people that got rich during the Klondike Gold Rush were the owners of hotels, bars, restaurants.....and brothels.  

    

Alaska 2026: Icy Strait Point

While I have visited Alaska a number of times, this is a place I've never been. I wasn't expecting to see the enormous zip line with 5 or 6 people flying down the mountain all at once, as if in a race. It is one of the first things you see when you arrive. The starting point was so high in the mountain you could barely see there were people up there getting ready to fly. We were already scheduled for whale watching so a zip line ride was out of the question. Honestly, it was likely out of the question no matter what! 

I was immediately impressed by the modern technology of the gondolas at Icey Strait Point where there are two cruise ship piers. The Green Gondola takes you from one cruise ship pier to the other. We were docked at the pier without much there except the zip-line, so we immediately got on the Green Gondola to the other pier where there were stores, bars, restaurants, and the shore excursion hub. 

As we made our way to the hub where all the excursions were leaving from, we were amused by a group gathering to go search for bears. We learned there are more than 5,000 brown coastal bears on Chichagof Island (aka. Bear Island) so my next visit will absolutely include searching for bears. We learned the only difference between grizzly bears and Alaskan Brown bears is that grizzly bears have no access to coastal waters.

We had about 30 people on our whale watching boat. The boat was well equipped and provided for inside or outside viewing. It was almost an hour ride to the best whale watching area but we did see a whale or two along the way. We actually pulled in near shore to see a bear strolling along the shore. 

Whale watching was a hit as we saw a number of them, along with sea lions, sea otters, and eagles.