A Food Dilettante's Musings: Alaska Day 8: Haines

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Alaska Day 8: Haines

We woke up to this fairytale view of Haines, which happens to be pretty much a view of the entirety of Haines. Good thing I booked an excursion to Skagway to fill up the day. The theme of our excursion is the Gold Rush.

First, we took a boat from Haines to Skagway, then hopped on a bus to the fake town of Liarsville. There, we sat through a hokey comedic account of life during the Gold Rush. That I could've done without.

After Liarsville, we jumped back on the bus that took us on a scenic drive into Fraser, Canada in British Columbia but bordering the Yukon Territory. My favorite sight on the drive up was the tundra stretch after crossing the US-Canada border. The dense fog hovering over the dry, cracked, rocky terrain gives a sense of the treacherous path the Klondike men had to endure.

Scenic ride towards Canada

Our guide

Tundra

Once we got to Fraser, we boarded the White Pass Yukon train back to Skagway, Alaska. We each received a brown bag lunch of ham quiche, strawberry kiwi yogurt, chocolate chip cookie, fruit cup, orange juice, and an Andes mint chocolate. It was so cute! I felt like a grade schooler on a field trip, eating a sack lunch on the bus!

Our trusty 1898 train

One of the may trestles that our train traversed

Back in Skagway

1898 brothel

The most photographed building in Alaska: Arctic Brotherhood building covered with 8500 pieces of driftwood

Goodbye Skagway

I walked away from this excursion with the fond memory of a series of funky restrooms.

Liarsville outhouse

Pump to flush on the train

Inviting

After 8 hours of transportation galore (boat, bus, train, boat), we arrived back at our port of call, Haines. We walked around town and headed back to our ship for dinner.