The ExploreNorth Blog

I sorta got sucked in by the weather offices yesterday, but I suppose it’s okay because I really needed to hit the road for a day. The weather forecasts for both Whitehorse and Skagway were for mostly sun, clouding up in Whitehorse in the afternoon. As it turned out, I got heavy cloud all day and some moderate snowfall on the way home.

I followed this parade, led by a snowplow, for a few miles just south of the Carcross Corner, but after that there was very little traffic – 3 fuel tankers, 3 Highways Dept. pickups and 4 private vehicles during the 100-mile trip.

The flat light wasn’t particularly conducive to photography. This is a mile north of the White Pass summit. There seems to have been a heavy snowfall overnight (8-10 inches), and none of the pullouts where I usually stop to run the dogs were accessible, right from Tutshi Lake down.

Entering Alaska at the White Pass summit.

The US Customs officer questioned why I’d drive all the way from Whitehorse without a good reason – I just said that checking my mailbox is an excuse to get out with my camera on a drive that I never tire of. He, I’m sure, isn’t the only person who thinks I have a screw loose.

Skagway was very quiet – and 0°C (32°F) with a bit of a north wind. This photo shows the major construction project underway in town – $3.3 million worth of wave barrier to protect the Small Boat Harbor.

The Railway Dock – only 5½ months until the first cruise ships of 2010 arrive!

A great deal of work is going on at the Gold Rush Cemetery to handle the summer crowds more effectively. The work that was done about 4 years ago, creating paths through the cemetery, made it not worth visiting anymore – at least the current work just “improves” the parking area, foot access from there to the cemetery, and the restrooms.

There’s something sad about seeing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of railway equipment, buses and boats parked for 7 months or so every year. Some people wonder why Alaska tours are so expensive – this is the major reason why that’s the case.

There are several passenger cars sitting outside Shops, I think being readied for paint.

I like them better when they’re running

Approaching Fraser, a tiny bastion of civilization in the frozen wilderness.

Tutshi Lake. The name means “black water” – appropriate in today’s black-and-white world.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 7:38 am and is filed under Photos, Railroads, Travel, Weather, Yukon-Alaska Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.