Skagway AK USA

Day 14

7/4/26. Saturday

4th of July!!

Calm beautiful morning in Atlin when we woke up. The lake was like glass and it was sunny. We had hopes of going to Kershaw’s Coffee Cafe that is so cute but it doesn’t open until 10am. It’s 8am and we’re ready for breakfast so we made our own and enjoyed the view. Now we’re off to Skagway. 

4th of July Creek. We crossed this creek a few miles north of Atlin. Had to stop for a photo because today IS the 4th of July. 

Our route backtracks almost to the Alaskan Highway before we turn off to the Carcross cutoff. Our first construction stop is on this highway. They are chip sealing the road. Last night our construction friend at dinner told us they are trying to finish this project in the next 6 days. Next weekend is Atlin Music Festival and all the motel’s rooms are booked. If they don’t finish they will have to commute everyday from Whitehorse. That is over an hour away.  

American Border check. When we turn and head south again for Skagway we will cross the Canada/USA border at Fraser. We have been warned… no eggs, no raw chicken, no apples (or other fruit?). We are prepared. I hard boiled the last of my eggs last night and we are eating the last two apples this morning. At the crossing one border patrol actually came in the van and we had to show him our refrigerator and cooler contents. He took the one very old lemon and some green onions.

Carcross. A First Nations community. The last Yukon town before Skagway. We will cross back into British Columbia one more time today. We checked out the little downtown area and found a great Sourdough bakery. Our timing was perfect. After we arrived there were at least 4 tour busses parking. This must be one of the cruise excursions from  Skagway. They take them over White Pass. 

White Pass at the border. High alpine… so many rocks and pothole lakes. This was really different than anywhere else we’ve been.

Alaska! First time ever for me. The road drops very steeply and quickly downhill all the way into Skagway. We saw one bicycling tourer headed up the pass. He will come flying down the into Skagway!

Snowplow road markers. Neither of us have ever seen edge of the road markers like the ones used on this highway going up and down the Skagway side.

Skagway is humming. There are 4th of July festivities on the Main Street as we arrive. A few blocks are closed off to vehicles. The first thing we did was to go see the location of our ferry to Haines. Once we found that, we went to the Alaskan Marine Ferry office to see if we could park our van overnight in their parking lot. Even though it says “No Camping” the attendant said we could park down on the far end. People do it all the time! Beats the $85 RV park right next door.  We moved our van to its home for the rest of today, tonight and until tomorrow at 8pm. 

Cruise Ship central. There are currently 3 cruise ships here in Skagway. Today there are about 7500 passengers. If there’s 4 ships it’s about 12,000 passengers. I can see one huge cruise ship and two “smaller” ones. They leave tonight between 7:30-10pm. They have 3-4 cruise ships here daily. Wow!

By the time we started walking the Main Street most of the days festivities were over but there was a constant stream of people all over the historic area and shopping areas. 

Downtown Skagway. Typical shops are curios, jewelry, jewelry, jewelry, tshirts, bars and saloons, a few restaurants, some outdoor food quick eats and backcountry supply shops. Did I mention jewelry stores? That surprised us so much. Maybe it shouldn’t… Klondike Gold and all. They have just a few months to make hay in Skagway. It’s complete with old time store fronts and boardwalk sidewalks. 

Jim is putting the wheels on our bikes for tomorrow’s excursion to Haines. We will be boarding our ferry at 7:45am. It’s a quick 2-3 minute ride over to the small boat harbor from our parking spot tonight. It will be a cool cloudy day again tomorrow. Starting our morning in the mid 40’s and finishing about 53’F. Lots of warm clothes for the day. Not like the firecracker hot 4th of July at home in Montana that’s for sure.