We made the tourist stop at Jade City....World Famous Jade Capital! This area accounts for 75% of the world's jade supply. They have shipped several large amounts to China for the 2008 Olympics and had another 300 ton ready to ship. China is using the jade to make sculptures, gifts, pendants etc. for the 2008 Olympics. I got a pretty necklace and earrings at their outlet store.

Richard was leading today and saw this bear right by the side of the road as they went by so we were able to get some pictures. His coat was beautiful.

We had a beautiful blue sky today. We haven't seen hardly any jets the last 3 months.

8/27/07 - Skagway to Teslin, YT - 160 miles

It seemed like when we left Skagway...we really were on our way home, even thought we will be going to Hyder, AK. When we catch the Alaska Highway we will be going over some of the same roads we did on our way up in June. When we opened our email tonight we had a note from Carla & Cindy (the two hitch-hikers that we had pickup up on August 9th). They were back home in Salt Lake and again thanked us for picking them up. They said their hitch-hiking only got better. The second ride after we dropped them off, took them to Tok, AK. They spent the night at the lady's house. Her husband is a pilot with the Alaska Fish & Game and they were flying to Juneau the next day. The girls paid them $50.00 and they dropped them off in Skagway on the way to Juneau. Pat said this brought a whole new meaning to the word hitch-hiking. They had looked for us in Skagway but we were later getting there from what we had told them. We were just glad to hear from them and that they were okay and had a wonderful two week vacation. Wildlife sightings today: 1 Deer (We haven't seen deer for a long time). If you want to see where we are currently (9/1/07) go to: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.vfm?user=2430

Karen and I had to run to the Wells Fargo Bank to get some Canadian money before leaving Skagway. There were 5 cruise ships in town.....the streets and stores were packed with shoppers. I know I'm not going to miss all these people. We left Skagway about 11:30 and headed up the mountain on the South Klondike Highway. We stopped a number of times and then at Carcross took Tagish Road to catch the Alaska Highway at Jake's Corner.

The scenery is endless here...I don't want to sleep while traveling....I'm afraid I'll miss something!

Going across the border back into Canada. This is the first time we have had a border agent come inside the motorhome....but she didn't have a jacket on and we think she just wanted to stay warm....didn't ask hardly any questions and talked to Cody & Addie most of the time and didn't even ask for their papers.

Haven't been looking forward to traveling in Canada again....but here we go with the conversions again and no phone service.

We stopped for a break at Carcross and walked around a little. As you can see the dock had seen better days and the houses across the river were sitting in the river. We stopped at the General Store and had some ice cream and took a few more pictures.

Marsh Lake (on the Tagish Road) and the water was just like a mirror....we would have loved this for our water skiing days....but I'm sure it would be COLD! We only saw one boat on the whole lake.

We stopped at Teslin for the night and these were the beautiful sunset views we had over Teslin Lake.

8/25/07 - 4th Day in Skagway

Today we took the White Pass & Yukon Route Steam Engine Excursion to Fraser Meadows. Pat wanted to take the steam rather than the diesel train. We had originally booked the trip for yesterday, but since it was pretty cloudy and overcast we were able to change our reservation to today with no problem. No other railroad is quite like the White Pass & Yukon Route. Against all odds, the narrow gauge iron trail was carved through some of the North's most rugged terrain in 1898. This engineering wonder climbs nearly 3,000 feet in 26 miles of steep grades and cliff-hanging turns. On July 21, 1898, two months after construction began, the railroad's first engine went into service over the first four miles of completed track. The railroad was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months over a centry ago. Building the track was a challenge in every way. Construction required cliff hanging turns of 16 degrees, building two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles. Work on the tunnel at Mile 16 took place in the dead of winter with heavy snow and temperatures as low as 60 below slowed the work. Thirty five thousand men worked on the construction of the railroad....some for a day and others for a longer period. Wildlife sightings today: None If you want to see where we are currently (8/31/07) go to: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=2430

Steam engine #73 pulled our train.

Another day of pretty scenery. First picture is looking back down at Skagway.

Bridge we crossed.

One of the two tunnels. we went through.

The White Pass Trail was 10 miles longer but its summit less steep and 600 feet lower than the Chilkoot Trail. Some prospectors chose the shorter White Pass Trail believing that pack animals could be used and would be easier. The White Pass Trail earned it the name Dead Horse Trail. In the winter of 1897-1898, 3,000 horses died on the trail because of the tortures of the trail and due to the inexperience of the stampeders overloading them and mistreating them.

Views just before we arrived at Fraser Meadows.

Flags at the railway border crossing: US, Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia and Canada

An old cantilever bridge spanning Dead Horse Gulch.

On the train ride down we saw these hikers...don't know if they were on their way up or down...but they sure had a lot of coolers with them.

On the train.

8/25/07 - 3rd Day in Skagway

It was a lazy day today. Got up late and then did some shopping in the afternoon. Skagway is called the "Garden City of Alaska". In walking around shopping I couldn't believe all the jewelry stores I saw...Karen had counted 25! This town is definitely geared towards the cruise ship traffic and shopping....but I can't imagine how that many jewelry stores can survive...didn't know that many people go on cruises and buy jewelry. They told us at the visitor center that 70% of the cruise traffic spends over $100.00 on jewelry in Skagway....hard to believe! The four of us went out to dinner and then to The Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith. Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith was a notorious outlaw. All events depicted in this original play are taken from the Skagway historical records and center on Soapy Smith's reign over the town during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 and 1898. Karen was selected to get up and dance with the Can-Can girls...glad it wasn't me! Wildlife sightings today: None. If you want to see where we are currently (8/31/07) go to: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=2430

8/24/07 - 2nd Day in Skagway

We drove out to the old townsite of Dyea and a couple of side roads in that area. In the evening we went to a film and presentation by a Park Ranger at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Visitor Center. It was very interesting information on the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. After the Park presentation a local entertainer by the name of Buckwheat recited a number of Robert Service poems. Before doing the Cremation of Sam McGee he picked Pat out of the audience to play the part of Sam McGee. Pat played along with him and did a great job. There was a lot of interaction with the audience so it was a very enjoyable evening. Wildlife sightings today: 4 Harbor Seals, Lots of Eagles. If you want to see where we are currently (8/31/07) go to: http://map.datastormusers.com/user2.cfm?user=2430.

Looking back down at Skagway.

We saw four Harbor Seals in Long Bay.

Pretty view looking back out Long Bay

We saw a number of eagles in the trees as well as down at water level - looking for fish.

There is hardly a trace of the old town site of Dyea. There were buildings that housed an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 people and 150 businesses at the height of the gold rush in 1898. Fewer than 500 people remained after the summer of 1898. The 33 mile Chilkoot Trail linked tidewater Dyea, AK to the Canadian headwaters of the Yukon River, which was a navigable route to the Klondike gold fields over 600 miles north. Gold seekers using the Chilkoot Trail had a 1,000 vertical foot (1/4 mile climb) as their last obstacle on the Chilkoot Trail. Most of them had to scale the pass 20-40 times in order to shuttle their required 2,000 pounds of goods. The Northwest Mounted Police required this amount of supplies (a years worth) to allow them entry into Canada. If you notice on the Alaska license plate...it depicts this image.

Down at sea level.

Slide Cemetary Historical Site. The cemetary contains the graves of over 70 men killed in the Palm Sunday avalance, April 3, 1898 on the Chilkoot Trail.