The ride into Skagway was beautiful even at 4:00 am when there was sufficient sunlight to see snow topped mountains. We were able to have a leisurely breakfast since our excursion was not schedule until 12:35. We walked through Skagway. Most of the storefront are on one main road for about 6 blocks. Skagway is a town that owes its existence to the Klondike Gold Rush. We toured the Moore Homestead, a national historic park. On that property we toured Moore’s home and saw one of many “cribs” aka one room cabins that served as homes for women. Eventually these cribs became dens of prostution. Moore was the founder of Mooresville which eventually became Skagway. Skagway population is less than 1,000 people and is almost totally dependent on tourism. In the summer with cruise ships there can be up to 15,000 people in Skagway at the same time. Our excursion was supposed to be a train to the top of a mountain followed by a bike ride back down into Skagway. The train we were supposed to take broke an axle and blocked the one set of train tracks into the town. Plan B was to shuttle us to the top via a van. The weather was good for cycling. A cold front pushed out yesterday’s rain so we had a sunny day. Temperatures dropped into the 40s in town and into the 30s at the top of the mountain. The 18 mph wind made it feel even colder. Our ride was 15 miles, mostly downhill. We stopped at several overlooks to see snow capped Mountain View’s. At one stop we saw Pitchfork Falls which descended from Goat Lake and fed into the Skagway River. At another stop we saw a train coming down the mountain so the track must have been cleared of the disabled train. Back at the ship, Laura attended the night’s entertainment while I enjoyed the Mountain View’s from the observation deck.
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